Greeny News

Croydon Advertiser's front page last week splashed on the results of "an undercover investigation" that revealed the existence of "a seedy brothel.

In this article, Sinister brothel found next to a charity service , Was written in the style News of the World investigation, with the obligatory use of a hidden camera.

It even had the intrepid reporter, having risked his life to expose a massage parlour masquerading as a brothel, using the time-worn phrase about making his excuses and leaving prior to any sexual activity.

Evidently, the Advertiser journalist was prompted to track down this den of iniquity after a complaint from an unnamed businessman.

But he could have found evidence much closer to home because page 52 of his own newspaper carried an advert for the very same "fantasy massage" establishment he went to such trouble to "reveal".

Several Croydon-based bloggers spotted the embarrassing truth. One of them, Inside Croydon, Under its impact on exposure, the public story Sadvertiser caught with pants down .

Croydon Community Against Trafficking (CCAT) was also unimpressed by the paper's hypocrisy, claiming that the Advertiser had carried adverts for the same brothel for years. It went on to say:

CCAT brought this fact to the Croydon Advertiser in the past ...

CCAT is baffled by the utter hypocrisy of the Croydon Advertiser; on the one hand to have a front page article about sinister brothels in our midst, and then, on the other, to take money from the same brothel and help it to thrive, demonstrates an alarming degree of double standards from our local family newspaper.

The group called for a boycott of the Advertiser - and the Croydon Post - "Until they stop making a profit from the exploitation of women."

I phoned the editor of advertisers ', Andy Worden, but a newsdesk person told me he was "not available to comment." Clearly, the paper's publishers, Northcliffe Media are embarrassed too, also refusing to comment. Deputy managing director, Alex Leys, suggested I call the editorial director in charge of south-east weeklies, Alan Geere, and his PA told me he had just spoken to Leys and was suddenly unavailable to comment too.

So there is no clue as to whether the incident will lead to Northcliffe Media changing its policy on running adverts for brothels. Meanwhile, consider these three further points:

First, the Advertiser "investigation" concludes by pointing out that it is illegal under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 to run a brothel. It is not, however, illegal to carry adverts for one.

Second, Northcliffe Media is the regional newspaper division of the Daily Mail & General Trust. What, I wonder, would the morally upright Daily Mail have to say about its company making a profit from prostitution?

Third, the Advertiser's rival, the Croydon Guardian (owned by Newsquest/Gannett) dropped all "adult services ads" in July 2008.

Sources:Croydon Advertiser /Hapless Hack/Love Croydon/ Inside Croydon /CCAT