No help for heroes in tabloid press

Not all heroes wear capes or actively court publicity. Some prefer to work quietly in the background keeping us all safe. Maintaining your anonymity is understandable when you are fighting international criminal gangs and stopping the bad guys from winning.

But the tabloid press doesn’t like its heroes to remain anonymous. It likes to share their stories with the wider public and in doing so – put them at risk. They can look after themselves – they’re heroes after all.

When the NHS was attacked by hackers, demanding ransom money for the return of the computer files unharmed, a 22-year-old superhero came to the rescue and stopped the hackers ransomware in its path.

The press, of course, picked up on the story – with initial coverage protecting the young man’s identity. But within days of the attack being foiled the press had tracked our hero down, had journalists and photographers camped outside his house and his image all over the media.

In a series of tweets, our hero (who despite already being named by the media – I will continue to support his wish for anonymity) attacked the tabloid press, stating: “I knew 5 minutes of fame would be horrible but honestly I misjudge just how horrible….British tabloids are super invasive.”

He continued: “Tabloids here don’t care about the story, they care about every detail of the person behind it and will go to extreme lengths to find out.”

In a later tweet, which has since been deleted, he said: “One of the largest UK newspapers published a picture of my house, full address, and directions to get there … now I have to move.”

Now remember, this young man was not a criminal, he was not seeking fame and fortune and probably didn’t want the criminal gangs he was prevented from exploiting our national health service from finding out exactly who he was (potentially putting him and his family in danger).

Yes – the press had a duty to run the story but they also had a moral obligation to protect his identity. The security of our nation owes this young man a huge honour. He didn’t deserve to be hung out like some cheap Z-list celebrity or kiss and tell story.