Liz Jones in Somalia

This post was first published on Tumblr on 4th August 2011.

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Surprise! @LizJonesSomaliais a fake! Oh wow. No-way! Pah! Who knew?About two thirds of you, actually – which is great, because if I’d got 50 negative replies a minute I’d have stopped a long time ago. I’m genuinely delighted that so many people get the joke and totally appreciative of the responses and RT’s. A lot of it is very close to the bone – and if you want to see the best comments from the haters have a look at my favourites.I’ve tried to be really careful about never making famine, drought or death the target of the joke. This account is not about that. It’s about highlighting the crisis in East Africa and opposing the staggering crassness of sending a crossbreed of Glenn Beck and Anthea Turner to Somalia to cover it.

Liz Jones’ new role is highly offensive. It shows an insensitivity far exceeding what we should expect from our press and in our society in general. I could pontificate for hours – but instead here’s 2 articles that express the objections in far more succinct and articulate ways.

Ros Coward, the Guardian  //  Brian Kellett, ‘Raised Expectations’

I’ve always liked those zeitgeist Twitter accounts which pop up from time to time – @ChileanMiner @CatBinLady etc – which are wildly successful for a brief period and rightfully pass on. They get a lot of attention very quickly, and often focus debate on a certain subject. Wouldn’t it be ace if that attention could be used for the power of good?

So. Boo! Surprise again! This is actually a sponsored tweet-drive. Although you didn’t know it yet. Surprise!

I’m doing this for charity now. I want your money.

If you’ve enjoyed the feed so far, and have replied or RT’d then perhaps you’d consider a donation for the DEC East Africa Appeal? There’s almost 6500 people following this account now. If everyone gave just £2 we’d be able to immunise 13,000 children. Tell me that’s not the perfect harnessing of social media?

I’ve set up a Just Giving page. All proceeds go directly to the DEC. Gift aid too. You can pay with debit cards, credit cards, PayPal and direct debit. It’s 100% safe. I don’t see a penny of it. In fact, I’ve put £50 in as an opener.

Please click that link.

Plus – wouldn’t it be really cool if when the real Liz Jones returned from Somalia, ready to blow the story wide open, we’d already done something far better? Instead of just facing the normal hoo-haa she gets each time she writes another one of her gufftastic exhalations she also discovers that we all turned that around and raised a shitload of cash. Wouldn’t that be really satisfying? I think that would be really satisfying.

Also, let’s face it – the Mail seems to think Twitter is all about telling each other what we had for breakfast. We could stick it to them a little bit too.

My Liz Jones will be in Somalia until Sunday, which is when I’m lead to believe we’ll see the first article from the real Liz Jones. We have 3 and a half days.

So. To summarise.

• Donate £2. Get a funny Twitter feed.
• Save thousands of lives.
• Turn all of our anger at Liz Jones into something positive.
• Stick it to the Mail a little.

Who’s in?

Sincerly

@DMReporter

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Legal stuff: I’m not Liz Jones. I do not claim to be Liz Jones. This is a parody account. I have no direct connection to the Daily Mail or the DEC. Neither organisations are aware of this account or have sanctioned it. I genuinely mean no offence – this account is created as a satire.