You're a researcher at some media company and you're looking for some sex workers for some truly wonderful programme idea someone has thought up. Before you post about it here, there are some things you may want to consider, or you may not get the response you expect.

As with agencies, media companies need escorts vastly more than escorts need...

I used to work somewhere that got a media request or two a week. The general policy was to try not to laugh at the optimism of expecting people for whom time is money to schlep across London to appear on a programme made by some well-paid production company for free.

At some point, someone is going to realise that asking people who have similar hourly rates to the company's lawyers to make the company money for free is optimistic at best, and actually offer to cover the costs of not working for several hours. If you're not prepared to do this, you need a very good reason why not. ('Rules' won't do.)

In any case, you need to answer the basic question, 'What's in it for the contributors?' If the answer is just exposure / publicity, go away and think about why this might not be enough.

I didn't get where I am today by using cliches

That probably shows my age, but it does mean I have seen endless programme pitches involving...

.. street work (usually as the 'real face' of sex work - street work will always be around, but street work is outside the experience of the vast majority here and indoor sex work is very different)

.. educated escorts (particularly after the Belle de Jour 'shock', this was flavour of the month and every independent producer and their dog was trying to pitch something involving escorts with PhDs)

.. students doing sex work to make ends meet (this one in particular is where some consciences need to be examined about not wanting to pay contributors)

.. more people doing sex work because of the recession / zero hours contracts / 'gig economy' (ditto)

If the programme idea is anything like those, you're going down an appallingly stereotypical route and the best advice is 'stop now'.

(That list is not exhaustive!)

Learn more by eating more cake!

A friend came up with the brilliant idea that, when listening to people talking about the realities of their lives, you should have some cake to hand. If you ever get the urge to say something like 'No, I mean real sex work, where...', you can avoid looking like an idiot by instead sticking some yummy cake in your mouth and listening. You'll learn much more, plus you get to eat cake!

What might actually make a good programme

Clients. You won't find them posting here, but there are numerous easy to find message boards where they do. Clients are even more stigmatised than workers, yet most sex workers find that their clients are a pretty decent bunch. Plus this is one of those areas where getting people to talk isn't the problem, it's getting them to shut up once they've started! Just don't involve anyone with a guide book to plug...

Scams. There are numerous scams involving lies about people can make hundreds of pounds for not having sex with clients / be a straight male escort... once they pay several hundred quid to the scammers first. One bunch in Spain have been going for years under a variety of names. What would be interesting would be doing an expose on the fraudsters, possibly by getting someone hired by them to work on the phone lines. They'd need to be female...

Scum. There are a variety of predators looking for new escorts to prey on. Have someone set up a profile or two, or answer an 'escorts wanted for agency' ad and see for yourself. Report on the results, naming names of the baddies. As well as being good TV/radio/story, it will also help protect new people.

If you use any of those, and want to make a donation to help cover the cost of the site, I am sure something can be arranged.