Just wanted to say. Every point the Christian ‘journalist’ gave you is exactly why I like your work so much.i think it’s bloody amazing that you give your opinion and that you don’t hold Back. I love how passionate and obsessive you are. And yes the personalisation, I do feel like you are talking to me. Always excited when i recieve an email from webworm. I appreciate that you can be vulnerable and show that you are human by admitting you were seeking help yourself. It shows a level of empathy and emotional intelligence that’s very much necessary for this work. I appreciate and admire your work David. Keep being awesome. Maybe you need to send him some tips instead. :p
I'm a subscriber who happens to be a Christian, and I feel absolutely affirmed and respected by your calling out of the megachurch 'Christians' who tarnish the rest of us. Keep up the good work.
Everything the "Christian journalist" wrote is why I love reading Webworm. When a new article shows up in my inbox to read, it feels like I'm having a coffee with a witty, articulate, and well-informed friend. Your writing is making a real change in the world, David, and I feel proud wearing my Webworm t-shirts and being a very small part of this beautiful community you've created. Please never stop sharing a bit of yourself with your readers. Much aroha ❤
Perhaps anonymous christian needs to understand that Most ‘helping’ professions provide support to their staff to help deal with/ process what they’re exposed to - entirely appropriate journalists do the same when the unbelievable becomes real. Keep on doing what you do David.
Hi David, I'm a long-time journalist, who happens not to be a Christian (which is not even relevant) and I applaud you for your revelations about Arise. No, you're not the NY Times, NZ Herald or Stuff, but your work is reminiscent of brilliant satirist John Oliver. Yet, you are absolutely you - a gutsy Kiwi, who can also be vulnerable. When you wrote that you needed support yourself for the first time working on a story, my estimation of you soared - and it was already high. You shared story after story from people hurt by Arise, and they made for distressing reading, so I can only imagine what it was like for you interviewing so many hurt humans. You're human too, which I think "happens to be a Christian" has lost sight of. Actually, I don't feel (and I could be wrong) that this person is even a regular Webworm reader, because if they were, they would know your irreverent, personal writing style. You put yourself on the line, week after week, like no other journalist from Aotearoa, and you do it your way. Thanks for helping to make sense of this weird world and helping others in pain.
Apr 17, 2022·edited Apr 17, 2022Liked by David Farrier
Hi David, the first time I heard of you was when I read your pieces on the nut job wheel clamping antique dealer. That was a masterpiece. I keep imagining how you must have felt when you went in the store and were recognised. I can't wait to watch Clamped.
The point of these recollections is to tell you what I think Webworm stands for (for me at least) and why I am a paying subscriber. Its because you use it as a platform to denounce bullies and expose grifters. And you do it from a place of reason and common sense.
Sure, I don't agree with everything you write but it always comes from a place of honesty and genuineness and humility.
Keep up the great work. I'd love to work with you on something one day - the idea of giving some bullies their comeuppance really appeals!
As you say, David, your audience understands what you are trying to do. We get the laughs and we get the anger and know that in the case of Arise the anger is justified. The fact that you have shared your own history helps us put context around your work.
To me Webworm is a continuing narrative, and perhaps someone reading just one or two pieces could misinterpret you, but this is one of the advantages of subscribing. Your pieces are interrelated and not often standalone, which is why they are quite different from a newspaper column. I am impressed by your tenacity and think you are, in fact a fine journalist. Keep on "doing the research" - because you do it properly.
If our Christian journalist had been more generous, they would have noted you're often in stories to provide context or tone, but ypu do not make yourself 'the story'. It's a balance that makes me want to read and read.
As for blood cars, I've heard that rhetoric a number of times when people wish to undermine or diminish eg climate change action. It's a terrific passive aggressive way to suggest that your actions do more harm than their inaction. Eg you're told the misery of the extraction of minerals for your car battery has killed thousands of children while they chomp on a banana picked via slave wages.
Anyway, please keep writing knowing that you're not creating blood cars, but filling up my unreligious soul and making the world slightly less safe for the truly wicked.
The reason this is the only newsletter I subscribe to is for your opinion on interesting / fringe areas. Of course, I'm not a journalist or a Christian, so know nothing of the ways of the world.
Glad to be a reader of Web worm, soooo glad! What a bloody cheek, telling you how to write your own newsletters to your own subscribers, and accusing you of not caring about the victims when it is abundantly clear that THAT is the reason for your investigations, AND the reason you sought some support as a result of your empathic response. So bloody patronising.... And therefore unsurprising that they signed off as a Christian journalist.
Hi David, I'm neither a Christian nor a journalist but for my 2 cents this newsletter is so wonderful precisely because it's so personal - not only so you have time and space to persue stories that the newspapers aren't, but also I think that personal touch is what makes people feel comfortable reaching out and trusting you with their stories. Those stories are what makes journalism like the Arise exposé possible in the first place. Keep up the good work, proud to support it.
Apr 17, 2022·edited Apr 17, 2022Liked by David Farrier
Two things come to mind. Anonymous Journalist Who is a Also a Christian seems to be looking for a job as editor-in-chief.
Second, good to see this story getting traction. Disappointing to see a couple of pieces on Stuff mention the movements in the church but fail to mention your name or webworm.
Have never been prouder to be a subscriber.
Just wanted to say. Every point the Christian ‘journalist’ gave you is exactly why I like your work so much.i think it’s bloody amazing that you give your opinion and that you don’t hold Back. I love how passionate and obsessive you are. And yes the personalisation, I do feel like you are talking to me. Always excited when i recieve an email from webworm. I appreciate that you can be vulnerable and show that you are human by admitting you were seeking help yourself. It shows a level of empathy and emotional intelligence that’s very much necessary for this work. I appreciate and admire your work David. Keep being awesome. Maybe you need to send him some tips instead. :p
I'm a subscriber who happens to be a Christian, and I feel absolutely affirmed and respected by your calling out of the megachurch 'Christians' who tarnish the rest of us. Keep up the good work.
Everything the "Christian journalist" wrote is why I love reading Webworm. When a new article shows up in my inbox to read, it feels like I'm having a coffee with a witty, articulate, and well-informed friend. Your writing is making a real change in the world, David, and I feel proud wearing my Webworm t-shirts and being a very small part of this beautiful community you've created. Please never stop sharing a bit of yourself with your readers. Much aroha ❤
Perhaps anonymous christian needs to understand that Most ‘helping’ professions provide support to their staff to help deal with/ process what they’re exposed to - entirely appropriate journalists do the same when the unbelievable becomes real. Keep on doing what you do David.
Happy Easter to the deranged bitches
Hi David, I'm a long-time journalist, who happens not to be a Christian (which is not even relevant) and I applaud you for your revelations about Arise. No, you're not the NY Times, NZ Herald or Stuff, but your work is reminiscent of brilliant satirist John Oliver. Yet, you are absolutely you - a gutsy Kiwi, who can also be vulnerable. When you wrote that you needed support yourself for the first time working on a story, my estimation of you soared - and it was already high. You shared story after story from people hurt by Arise, and they made for distressing reading, so I can only imagine what it was like for you interviewing so many hurt humans. You're human too, which I think "happens to be a Christian" has lost sight of. Actually, I don't feel (and I could be wrong) that this person is even a regular Webworm reader, because if they were, they would know your irreverent, personal writing style. You put yourself on the line, week after week, like no other journalist from Aotearoa, and you do it your way. Thanks for helping to make sense of this weird world and helping others in pain.
Not sure if seeking support for yourself means therapy, but normalising therapy is very cool and to be encouraged.
Hi David, the first time I heard of you was when I read your pieces on the nut job wheel clamping antique dealer. That was a masterpiece. I keep imagining how you must have felt when you went in the store and were recognised. I can't wait to watch Clamped.
The point of these recollections is to tell you what I think Webworm stands for (for me at least) and why I am a paying subscriber. Its because you use it as a platform to denounce bullies and expose grifters. And you do it from a place of reason and common sense.
Sure, I don't agree with everything you write but it always comes from a place of honesty and genuineness and humility.
Keep up the great work. I'd love to work with you on something one day - the idea of giving some bullies their comeuppance really appeals!
Cheers
Graham
As you say, David, your audience understands what you are trying to do. We get the laughs and we get the anger and know that in the case of Arise the anger is justified. The fact that you have shared your own history helps us put context around your work.
To me Webworm is a continuing narrative, and perhaps someone reading just one or two pieces could misinterpret you, but this is one of the advantages of subscribing. Your pieces are interrelated and not often standalone, which is why they are quite different from a newspaper column. I am impressed by your tenacity and think you are, in fact a fine journalist. Keep on "doing the research" - because you do it properly.
If our Christian journalist had been more generous, they would have noted you're often in stories to provide context or tone, but ypu do not make yourself 'the story'. It's a balance that makes me want to read and read.
As for blood cars, I've heard that rhetoric a number of times when people wish to undermine or diminish eg climate change action. It's a terrific passive aggressive way to suggest that your actions do more harm than their inaction. Eg you're told the misery of the extraction of minerals for your car battery has killed thousands of children while they chomp on a banana picked via slave wages.
Anyway, please keep writing knowing that you're not creating blood cars, but filling up my unreligious soul and making the world slightly less safe for the truly wicked.
The reason this is the only newsletter I subscribe to is for your opinion on interesting / fringe areas. Of course, I'm not a journalist or a Christian, so know nothing of the ways of the world.
Glad to be a reader of Web worm, soooo glad! What a bloody cheek, telling you how to write your own newsletters to your own subscribers, and accusing you of not caring about the victims when it is abundantly clear that THAT is the reason for your investigations, AND the reason you sought some support as a result of your empathic response. So bloody patronising.... And therefore unsurprising that they signed off as a Christian journalist.
Hi David, I'm neither a Christian nor a journalist but for my 2 cents this newsletter is so wonderful precisely because it's so personal - not only so you have time and space to persue stories that the newspapers aren't, but also I think that personal touch is what makes people feel comfortable reaching out and trusting you with their stories. Those stories are what makes journalism like the Arise exposé possible in the first place. Keep up the good work, proud to support it.
Two things come to mind. Anonymous Journalist Who is a Also a Christian seems to be looking for a job as editor-in-chief.
Second, good to see this story getting traction. Disappointing to see a couple of pieces on Stuff mention the movements in the church but fail to mention your name or webworm.
But that's how Stuff rolls.
I am worm who also happens to be anonymous and let me tell you, ,