HS2 supporters are a strange bunch. Unsurprisingly, nearly every single one of them is financially linked to HS2, their suppliers, or the wider rail industry. None of them seem able to accept valid criticism of the project. They all seem to parrot HS2 propaganda and lies, even those which are easily proven to be false. They attempt to deflect criticism of HS2 with straw-man arguments, abuse, and outright lies.

Case in point – Allow us to introduce the self-proclaimed ‘journalist’, pro-HS2 fanatic, and prolific abuser of any critic of HS2 – Paul M Bigland

Paul is an ardent poster on HS2 social media, posting in support of HS2 (or more correctly in opposition to any criticism of HS2) multiple times a day. So often it seems to be his full time job…

Paul also runs a blog, along the same premise – posting general train topics and pro-HS2 propaganda, often making personal attacks against HS2 critics or deflecting criticism of HS2 with logical fallacies.

Given Pauls public commentary on the government project HS2, claims of journalistic credentials, and his questionable conduct towards members of the public and legitimate organisations, we feel this blog is warranted on the grounds of public interest.

The first question we need to ask… is Paul M Bigland actually a journalist? And the answer to than, in our opinion, is a clear NO.

Lets look at why…

What defines a journalist? Lets have a look here:

Similarities and differences between bloggers & journalists | Guests | JournoLink

 “Journalists … report on the facts of the matter, whereas bloggers include their personal opinion”

We think any reasonable person would agree that Paul Biglands blog is majority opinion, minority fact.

But lets not just take one source before we draw a conclusion. According to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), a Journalist:

• At all times upholds and defends the principle of media freedom, the right of freedom of expression and the right of the public to be informed.
• Strives to ensure that information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair
• Does nothing to intrude into anybody’s private life, grief or distress unless justified by overriding consideration of the public interest
• Does not by way of statement, voice or appearance endorse by advertisement any commercial product or service save for the promotion of her/his own work or of the medium by which she/he is employed.

Pauls constant attacks on HS2 critics constitute a clear lack of adherence to defending the right of freedom of expression of HS2 critics.

Pauls dissemination is rarely accurate or fair, being heavily biased towards HS2. HS2, for clarity, have either directly or indirectly provided Paul Bigland with money and/or benefits in the past, so Paul Bigland is financially linked to HS2.

Paul intrudes in peoples private lives and grief – lets read a little extract from his Blog shall we…

There goes Paul, making judgemental assumptions, being abusive, providing zero evidence to support his claims, and generally being what any reasonable person would consider to be an utter asshole… Good job, Paul!

So lets get to the big one. We are reliably informed by multiple eye witnesses to the event, that Paul M Bigland was banned from Twitter for abusing the family of a dead child, who’s memorial wood had been damaged by HS2. This behaviour by Paul Bigland has been confirmed and validated by first hand witnesses.

We think being abusive to a grieving family is a clear breach of NUJ journalistic standards, don’t you, Paul?

And finally, Paul endorses HS2 constantly. He does not post fair and balanced commentary on the topic. Possibly (and we’re just speculating) due to his financial links to the project.

So in summary, there it is – the reasons why we believe Paul M Bigland is not a true journalist in the slightest, and why we believe any reasonable person would come to the exact same conclusion.