"on mumsnet this week" in the Mail. Is this a new thing

[jujumaman]

Came across this this morning when I should have been working

Is this a new weekly rip-off by the Mail? Or has it been going on for months and I'm behind the times as usual

I'm not quite as virulently anti the Mail as mnetters, find it silly rather than the end of civilisation as we know it. But still ...

a brand needs to maintain its current base and ethos and still braodly appeal to other customers.perhaps this is what MN is trying. raise the profile to a different audience

the rub will well and truly be whether current posters here are happy with this DM association. given the histrionics people have on MN about the DM i think probably not

but nancy can't you see that it's actually quite likely to happen in the pregnant sackee scenario?

They are LOOKING for a reason to get rid of this woman. She's probably about to fight a tribunal. They may well be actively seeking mud to throw.

That's exactly why this is the type of problem that should NOT have been used for the column.

I think SM is right and if people are angry about this they need to stop posting, evenn if it is a one day boycott.

Conspiracy theory alert, rather prolific old time posters leave mumsnet and set up private forum. Several months later an old time prolific poster creates an article publishing mumsnet threads.

The thought of having a Mumsnet personality and a real life personality always makes me laugh. I don't have two personalities. But that isn't the same thing as wanting the whole of the world to know I once had a third degree tear. Most of my school gate friends don't know that, why would I want the DM readership to know that?

and you're just a dm hackette blah blah blah and (like myself) probably not particularly exceptional.

but what about the people whose lives are exceptional either because they are suffering violence in their homes, because their kids have special needs and they need emotional support, because their husbands are waiting on heart transplants, because they are dealing with the legacy of abusive parents, because their work situation is a disaster? (oh, hang on, she's already outed that one... )

i agree with tyv (i think it was her). it's the chance of someone going 'hang on, i recently sacked a member of staff for being pregnant... it couldn't be, could it?' and hitting MN's search facility that creeps me out, not the threat posed by someone snooping on whether i use st tropez or fake bake.

and you know that the chances of the stories remaining that innocuous are very slim, as are the chances of Aloha continuing to write it in the longer term [understatement].

café's must be heaving with discarded DM.as no one on MN buys it eh

fwiw,i wouldn't like a post of mine to be reproduced elsewhere but posting on public forum that is chance taked.but i suspect im too anodyne for DM.

and not frequenting café's it is discarded in and not reading it i may never know

Youngvisitor - no, cannot see that at all. At best they might suspect it is their former employee.

She's already been sacked.

"and you know that the chances of the stories remaining that innocuous are very slim, as are the chances of Aloha continuing to write it in the longer term [understatement]."

Completely agree. It's all very well having a nice fluffy "regular" posting our private lives, but what happens if/when they hand it over to a Jeremy Vile-alike?

Which brings us back to whether MNHQ have editorial control (I doubt it, knowing the DM).

Ooh Nancy you're all heart

I frequent three cafes, 2 always have the mail in, the other sometimes

Aitch - I think the prospect of the DM getting sick of the column after a few weeks is very real, as that tends to be how they work.

Somebody in the situation you describe surely has a personal responsiblity that they don't place themselves at further risk by giving away their ID on a popular and easily accessed internet forum don't they?

I still firmly believe that there cannot possibly be any damaging repercussions as a result of today's column.

if next week's column is 'my amputee husband has left me for my idential twin sister' then, yes, i'll change my mind.

LOL i have genuinely never been to any cafe that has discarded DM

lots of Guardians,telegraphs,Scotsman,Herald

no, tyv, the first thing MNHQ knew about it was when it was in the paper last week, as i understand it. they contacted Aloha (recognising her name?) and were told that it was an ongoing thing and they've made their peace with it. i find the ill manners of not running it by them pretty staggering, tbh, except insofar as it is highly revealing about the fact that the writer knew that it would go down like a shit sandwich on here.

LOL shit on a sandwich.mental.henry healy classic dont ya know

Scottishmummy - but the point is that the DM aren't paying MN anything, they didn't even ask permission. They are claiming 'fair use' which may or may not be the case.

But MN have decided that it's OK as it will drive more traffic to the site. I, for one, don;t think it's a very well thought out policy (although I am aware that behind it may be the thought that they can't afford another big legal kerfuffle). More people may leave, the USP of MN - anonymous honesty and support - has been tainted.

I also don't think that the journalist has promised anything, or has even contacted Justine etc. MN are just relying on her being 'a good sort' and one of us, formerly not to do that. Which seems a bit daft in the face of this week's column.

right enough yes, that's also true, nancy.

ayde there is the rub,MN have acquiesced to the print relationship

Aitch, I knew that last week's one was a surprise to Justine but I wondered if they had come to some kind of agreement regarding ongoing columns? At the least I think if I was their press officer I would have asked to see the column prior to printing, even if I expected to get a no.

Agree it's pretty staggering to run the column without checking first - apart from anything else it looks like an associated piece.

Evening all,
Can I just point out to those that might be joining the conversation late that we knew nothing about this column until it appeared.

The first we heard of it was last week when someone posted on MN they'd seen it. However we recognised the author as a Mumsnetter and so I wrote to her a couple of days ago to ask if, as it seemed it might be from the title, going to be a regular thing. She confirmed it was. The Mail did not ask us first or seek our approval and we certainly didn't seek the association.

On the issue of fair use in general and journos lifting stuff from MN it has always been our understanding that they can legally, but we'll look into it again because it's clearly an ongoing issue.

On the copyright issue (this with particular reference to point Swedes has made about shared copyright) we have actually sought some advice on this and we in the process of amending our current wording to make it less extreme. In other words it's on someone's to do list but there's lots to be done. Anyway we'll make sure we get to it pronto particularly as our Pregnancy book is due out quite soon and it's bound to be raised again then.

We do understand your concerns about privacy in general. All we can really advise at this point is that if you are worried about being exposed then you do need to be careful, as MN is a public forum. We also will always try to assist as quickly as possible if something wants a post deleted because they've said something injudicious.

In a month or two hopefully we'll have something slightly more constructive to offer in the way of private fora for special groups that we really hope will be a good solution for those with concerns.

But going back to your analogy, Swedes, surely Justine is just running the bar where the DM spikes your drink?

swedes doesn't post in mental health then
Nor was she born under the sign of Gemini...

interesting thread. Would love to know if it is a regular thing. Also would love to know whether we all should change our names each week and blow techs equipment maintain anonymity - including from each other lol