Journalist researching article info on t-girl admirers

[CreativeMind]

Originally Posted by Peter Berton

Hi, I'm Peter Berton, a freelance writer who lots of experience covering the t-girl niche.

I am currently researching t-girl admirers. I am trying to find out what it is that t-girl admirers like about t-girls, what attracts them, how they view themselves, and so forth. I am seeking answers to the following questions for an article in the Capital Xtra! newspaper.

Here are my questions. You can send answers to me via this forum's private messaging system.
Whether or not you use your real name is up to you; I respect your privacy...

You know, I have some questions TOO...

1) Speaking as a published writer myself, if you're "Peter Berton, a freelance writer" why is it that I plug your name into Google and nothing comes up?

2) Better yet, if you're "Peter Berton, a freelance writer who lots of experience covering the t-girl niche" how come I plug your name into Google and add secondary search term like "t-girl" (which you used) or shemale, transsexual, TS, ladyboy, etc., and nothing still comes up?

I mean, you described yourself as having "lots of experience covering the t-girl niche".
Well, if you have so much experience, why can't I find any of it?

3) Also, how come when I call up the Capital Xtra! website, which is located here...

http://www.xtra.ca/public/National.aspx

...And likewise plug your name into THEIR search engine, looking for any previous articles you've done, you STILL don't come up?

4) If you're a journalist...or even a writer trying to slap together an article which you're then hoping to sell on a freelance basis...why didn't you FIRST contact the site's administrators/message board moderators and provide THEM with proof of who you are and who you're working for? For example, send them an email that clearly shows it came from Capital Xtra, at which point the Admins/moderators could have introduced you to everyone by saying "Hey, this guy's for real! Everyone feel free to help him out, if you feel up to it!"

Or you could have had someone from Capital Xtra contact them as well, to likewise make a professional introduction and to say, "Hey, we're planning on doing an article and we'd love some help. So, we're going to be sending a journalist along, and here's who he is."


No offense, Mr. Berton, but it seems to me you either went about this all wrong...you went about it rather clumsily...or, worst-case scenario, this is a scam where a person (you) is hoping some of the people here will reveal who they are, send you some pictures, or give out their private e-mail addresses (such as when a reporter might request that for "follow-up interviewing and fact checking").

Look, it's an open forum. If any of you are interested in responding to this guy, that's your business. Many of you have seen my posts here, I've been a member for a while now, and you should all know that I respect everyone's opinion -- because I do. So, you're all free to do as you like. But personally, speaking as a professional writer myself, I'd also strongly recommend that everyone here absolutely, positively, NOT give out their REAL names or ANY type of private identification AT ALL. And I say that just for your own online security.

Sorry, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but as someone who learned the hard way that the Internet is filled with more than it's fair share of scammers, people who try to get all kinds of info out of other people for their own jollies, I'm just trying to raise a few red flags. In fact, here's a scary and cautionary tale you should all read and take to heart...

http://www.laweekly.com/2007-10-11/n...-jesse-james/1


Truth be told, "Mr. Berton", here's a tip for you -- from one professional writer to the next. Just a little something for you to think about. Literally ALL of the questions that you're seeking answers to are ALREADY on public display here, for your reading pleasure, within the loads of message board threads at this site. So, since this is a public web site, you could have already read through a zillion comments and pulled the research you need for your article. Which is another fact that again makes me a bit wary.

But hey, maybe I'm just the overly cautious type, you know?
I'm just sayin'...

[rollon]

If i find a girl like Eve Longoria with a dick I think I fall in love.

By the way Im hetro.
Never bean with a boy and only like feminine girls like Amy from www.ladyboygold.com

[aa2239]

Originally Posted by CreativeMind

You know, I have some questions TOO...

1) Speaking as a published writer myself, if you're "Peter Berton, a freelance writer" why is it that I plug your name into Google and nothing comes up?

2) Better yet, if you're "Peter Berton, a freelance writer who lots of experience covering the t-girl niche" how come I plug your name into Google and add secondary search term like "t-girl" (which you used) or shemale, transsexual, TS, ladyboy, etc., and nothing still comes up?

I mean, you described yourself as having "lots of experience covering the t-girl niche".
Well, if you have so much experience, why can't I find any of it?

3) Also, how come when I call up the Capital Xtra! website, which is located here...

http://www.xtra.ca/public/National.aspx

...And likewise plug your name into THEIR search engine, looking for any previous articles you've done, you STILL don't come up?

4) If you're a journalist...or even a writer trying to slap together an article which you're then hoping to sell on a freelance basis...why didn't you FIRST contact the site's administrators/message board moderators and provide THEM with proof of who you are and who you're working for? For example, send them an email that clearly shows it came from Capital Xtra, at which point the Admins/moderators could have introduced you to everyone by saying "Hey, this guy's for real! Everyone feel free to help him out, if you feel up to it!"

Or you could have had someone from Capital Xtra contact them as well, to likewise make a professional introduction and to say, "Hey, we're planning on doing an article and we'd love some help. So, we're going to be sending a journalist along, and here's who he is."


No offense, Mr. Berton, but it seems to me you either went about this all wrong...you went about it rather clumsily...or, worst-case scenario, this is a scam where a person (you) is hoping some of the people here will reveal who they are, send you some pictures, or give out their private e-mail addresses (such as when a reporter might request that for "follow-up interviewing and fact checking").

Look, it's an open forum. If any of you are interested in responding to this guy, that's your business. Many of you have seen my posts here, I've been a member for a while now, and you should all know that I respect everyone's opinion -- because I do. So, you're all free to do as you like. But personally, speaking as a professional writer myself, I'd also strongly recommend that everyone here absolutely, positively, NOT give out their REAL names or ANY type of private identification AT ALL. And I say that just for your own online security.

Sorry, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but as someone who learned the hard way that the Internet is filled with more than it's fair share of scammers, people who try to get all kinds of info out of other people for their own jollies, I'm just trying to raise a few red flags. In fact, here's a scary and cautionary tale you should all read and take to heart...

http://www.laweekly.com/2007-10-11/n...-jesse-james/1


Truth be told, "Mr. Berton", here's a tip for you -- from one professional writer to the next. Just a little something for you to think about. Literally ALL of the questions that you're seeking answers to are ALREADY on public display here, for your reading pleasure, within the loads of message board threads at this site. So, since this is a public web site, you could have already read through a zillion comments and pulled the research you need for your article. Which is another fact that again makes me a bit wary.

But hey, maybe I'm just the overly cautious type, you know?
I'm just sayin'...

CreativeMind, you're right to be so diligent, thanks for your cautionary comments. You can simply never be too careful online these days! Paul Berton, if you're for real, please excuse my skepticism, but it would help your cause if you followed some of CreativeMind's sound advice... you'll generally find that once everyone's comfortable with your presence on the forum, you'll have no shortage of willing respondents.

[smc]

I have worked as a professional journalist at various points in my career, both in the United States and France, and it is by virtue of having had that experience that I second many of CreativeMind's points. My first step was to Google Peter Berton / journalist, and I came up empty. However, assuming that Peter Berton is a "legitimate" journalist (and in these days of IndyMedia and other social media "journalism" it is becoming increasingly difficult to stick by the old definition of legitimate in this context), his approach to gathering information here is unconventional enough to warrant strong skepticism. Further, the answers to the questions he asks are of the sort that, in some circumstances, could have a profoundly deleterious effect should the identities of those who answer be uncovered.

One final thought: without a more journalistically acceptable approach to identifying, aggregating, and measuring the sources, Peter Berton's article itself would be suspect as actual journalism. I suspect it would come across more like a picaresque story of adventure through whatever answers are most [fill in the blank] to him as a reader rather than as a writer.

[charlietwobeans]

Way to go. thanks for looking out for all of us. Not sure how responding to this guy's questions could hurt, but thanks for taking the time to at least research him a little. I would have been dumb enough to respond without thinking of any consequences.

[crossingoceans]

I really think that a moderator should get into this, and ask him a few more questions...

[aa2239]

Originally Posted by Icekiller

I really think that a moderator should get into this, and ask him a few more questions...

Good idea, if it hasn't already been done... he hasn't posted again since his initial request, so maybe he's been challenged and found out (or maybe he's already got the responses he wanted from other users).

[ila]

Originally Posted by Icekiller

I really think that a moderator should get into this, and ask him a few more questions...

The OP has requested permission from the owner of the site to start this thread. I cannot vouch for the veracity of him being a journalist. Everything the OP has asked about can be found in various threads throughout the site. It is up to individuals on this site to decide whether or not to answer the OP.

[tslust]

Originally Posted by charlietwobeans

Way to go. thanks for looking out for all of us. Not sure how responding to this guy's questions could hurt, but thanks for taking the time to at least research him a little. I would have been dumb enough to respond without thinking of any consequences.

You might be surprised at how little information someone needs to damage your life.
This guy just came off a little creepy. I mean a "journalist" that nobody has ever heard of is is asking members of a Shemale Porn Forum some personal questons as reasearch for an article for a paper that he doesn't even write for. It's all a little too creepy for me. Call me paranoid, but I think he is either someone who wants to be a journalist and is just too lazy to do his own reasearch; or maybee he is simply running some sort of scam, or worse.