Whistleblowing or providing a public service?

Recently I've been in habit of blogging about surveys or research of a work-related nature.

However, today I came across a rather interesting news story that seems to be grabbing a lot of media attention.

The story concerns a postman who took personal action as a response to a daily routine that increasingly involves carrying junk mail and facing a degree of abuse from householders fed up of receiving unwanted stuff in the post.

His actions are said to involve:

Knowing that a simple “No junk mail” notice might not be enough to ward off the unwanted items, Mr Annies, 48, from Barry, South Wales, began delivering his own leaflets, informing residents how they could evade the unaddressed letters and flyers officially known as “door-to-door items”.

As expected the Royal Mail has accused Barry Annies of misconduct (mainly because delivering junk mail is a lucrative part of the postal industry) and have suspended him pending further investigations.

Residents are said to be supportive of Barry Annies and a few mentioned how they did not know they could fill a form in to stop unwanted junk mail deliveries.

It'll be interesting to know how the situation will turn out as the days have long gone when the postie provided a public service rather than playing a part in a company designed to make profits for shareholders.

See Junk mail 'whistleblower' faces sack (David Rose, The Times) for more details.