The Courier 1200

Page 1

Election victory tastes sweet for jubilant F Word News, page 8

Issue 1200 Monday 23 November 2009 www.thecourieronline.co.uk

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Fighting fees: students gather at Parliament protest

News, page 4 NUS

Inside today >>> Pyjama Day Newcastle students dress in pyjamas to raise money for Anthony Nolan cancer charity News, page 3

US over the UK? More and more students are choosing to cross the Atlantic and VWXG\ LQ 86 FROOHJHV QHZ ¿ JXUHV have revealed News, page 6

The immorality of illegality Does the example of Belle de Jour show that prostitution needs to be legalised in order to protect the woman involved Comment, page 11

40 years of The Sun Do the tabloids throw ethics out the window for the sake of sales? Comment, page 12

Winter travel 7RURQWR DW &KULVWPDV DQG WRS ¿ YH ski resorts in a double page winter travel special Life & Style, page 20-21

Durham delight for resurgent Royals

Call girl uncovered as ex-University employee Nile Amos The identity of one of the most infamous bloggers who wrote anonymously about her experiences in prostitution has revealed herself as a former Newcastle University scientist. The mystery surrounding the true identity of Belle de Jour, author of the book-turned television series Secret Diary of a Call Girl, was revealed last week after Dr. Brooke Magnanti sold her story to national newspapers. Magnanti, who worked as a £300an-hour prostitute between 2003 and 2004, used the income she made from her two-hour sessions with a variety of clients to fund her PhD

studies. The diaries she kept of her encounters became a bestselling book and eventually a controversial television series on ITV starring Billie Piper as the high earning ‘Belle’. Dr. Magnanti, having earned enough money to pay off debts, relocated to Newcastle in 2006. She worked at Newcastle University as a biostatistician at the Institute of Health and Society, and contributed to the Advancing Research in Chronic Disease Epidemiology programme, keeping her previous lifestyle a secret to all of her colleagues. As recently as 2007 she was presented with an award from Newcastle University for her work on the

aetiology of thyroid cancer. She left Newcastle in February this year and currently works at the University of Bristol. Originally from America, Dr. Magnanti’s memoirs have been criticised for what some see as her glamorization of the seedy and often dangerous sex industry. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Magnanti said: “I don’t want this massive secret over me anymore. “It’s changing the way I behave around people, the way I conduct my life.” Brooke Magnanti was born in Florida, and gained an interest in blogging throughout her university years in America. She later went on

to get her PhD in computer visualisation, annotation and data basing of human skeletal remains from 6KHIÀ HOG 8QLYHUVLW\ With massive debts she moved to London and began her work as an agency escort in 2003. Having deposited large sums of money and having been offered a job in academia, she then began her role at Newcastle. A spokesperson for Newcastle University told The Courier: “Dr. Magnanti worked at the University from 2006 to February 2009 when she went to Bristol. “She already had her PhD before she arrived here. The University will not comment on the private lives of former members of staff.”

0HQ¶V UXJE\ ¿ UVWV VHFXUH WKHLU ¿ UVW YLFWRU\ RYHU 1RUWK (DVW ULYDOV for six years with 13-10 away win Sport, page 40

X Factor Chat Rachel Adedeji is the latest former X Factor contestant to speak exclusively to The Courier Culture, page 34


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