The Fox Gazette started out as just me, Andy Tope (on the right). Now it’s also this bloke (on the left).
This site began when I was doing film reviews for a hosted blog site and I saw a notice promising payment for breaking news stories. After starting a news blog, not only did I realise the pay was few and far between, but my stories began taking on a form of their own. They were becoming cathartic, or my creative outlet.
The site went downhill and I decided to go out on my own, renaming my blog The Fox Gazette. Why The Fox Gazette? My partner thinks I look like a fox. Not as in foxy hot hot, I just have bushy ginger hair, slender features and a pointy nose (a bit like a fox). The name stuck and many just refer to me as fox.
I like alliteration, embellishing news stories and I often create a fictitious final paragraph if I think it’s a bit of fun. Note: ALL the stories at The Fox Gazette are real news stories (as much as the papers say they are), mostly no more than a few days old, although about half the time the last paragraph is made up. You’ll know when this occurs.
A lot of the stories are what you might call a bit left-of-field. I’m not trying to be whacky, I just write what I find interesting. The site is largely a reflection of the person I am. I do try and keep all the stories informative, I just enjoy taking the odd liberty.
What’s my background? I used to be a chef, I’ve travelled a lot, I have a science and an arts degree, I’ve done a couple of writing courses, and I now write for a living. Not so long ago I did some broadcast monitoring for Australian Associated Press. It was a bit like glorified data entry. Nevertheless, I enjoy the news (I read the paper every morning) and all the garbage that comes with it.
I also enjoy silly acronyms and just being silly in general. If you’re keen to check out some of my other writing (my more sensible side), take a look at my day job, Travelling Type.
Welcome to my night job (okay hobby), where the pent-up fox puts on his sarsaparilla wetsuit and dives into the colourful crevices of world news.
Thanks for reading!
Andy (aka, fox).