"I would be fascinated to come face to face with online trolls" says face of Leeds United TV Emma Jones

Emma Jones started at Leeds United TV in 2017 following a spell as a radio presenter and has been subject to negative comments in the past.

While she tries to not let them bother her, she believes people that say such things, which she brands as "cruel", because there is often little or no comeback.

She told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "It is a real shame because social media is good for so many things and connects so many people. The overwhelming majority of people are nice, fair, kind people but a handful ruin it.

"My view is if you wouldn't say it in the street, don't type it out on a keyboard. People feel online, there is a level of protection when they give this abuse and that they won't be pulled up on it."

It comes as the Yorkshire Evening Post launches a campaign - Call It Out - in response to the amount of abuse levelled at the newspaper and its reporters.

Ms Jones added: "I am very open to the fact that I won't please everybody and I wouldn't expect to. If someone doesn't like my presenting style that is okay but when they target people for the way they look that is very different.

"As a rule I don't really read the comments because I don't think it is beneficial for me or my mental health but on the same token, I rather believe, that the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram need to make sure that the people that sign up to these platforms, that their names and identity match up, and that with that comes a level of accountability. Most people who do troll do it under fake accounts. If you are a real person and your name is associated with that account, I think people would think twice before they wrote what they wrote."

That way, added Ms Jones, it wouldn't deter constructive criticism or freedom of speech which should be encouraged. She added that when she does read negative comments she feels sadness rather than anger.

She explained: "I feel sad for them because this is a person that has thought out to type that and send it - because that would never cross my mind. They are also someone's son and daughter, brother and sister and it would be fascinating to sit down with these people and we would both probably go away feeling very different about each other."

Leeds DJ Tom Zanetti revealed he has had messages saying "hope your son dies of cancer" simply because he had shared a social media post of his new haircut. He told the Yorkshire Evening Post's Call It Out Campaign: "I have had some really bad times on social media, I have been amazed at some of the stuff people say, just disgusting things. Personally I would never - if I didn't like what someone had done, I wouldn't say anything."

Fellow DJ Danny Taylor, whose stage name is It's Danny T, has sold out arenas and is set to head overseas for what is left of the summer season with thousands and thousands of people buying tickets to see his shows.

However, it was a show he did from his kitchen table and streamed on facebook during lockdown that provided the biggest backlash where threatening comments were made about his wife and his dad and after that he decided not to stream gigs via facebook to avoid "the mental pressure".

He said: "I did not enjoy it and it is not the same buzz as a club. It is a mental pressure so I took a bit of time off, my happiness is far more important. If somebody says something nasty, you tend to take that personally but to that person it is just a few words to get a few likes. But that overstepped the mark and it went too far.

"They don't hate you, it just comes across that way. For me personally, the love to hate is 500 to one but it is always that one that makes you feel really, really bad. Human brains are not designed to be told you are the worst person in the world and all I do is play music I enjoy.

"If you get just ten people saying you are rubbish - you think everyone thinks that but in real terms they don't, they are just getting some likes and an artificial pat on the back."

The Cookridge born DJ said some of the more regular comments he gets are that his music is cancer or AIDs and people would rather gouge their eyes out than listen to it and he has seen comments like this end a fellow DJs career. However, being in the public eye he has learned to live with the comments too and even had someone apologise for giving him abuse on social media when they saw him in person.

He recalls: "He put up a track on Ministry of Sound, a very cool house club in London. He got 100,000 views in a couple of hours and it would have got to a million but because half the shares were negative he deleted the post. He would have had a brilliant career if he had let it go and hidden the notifications. If I post something out there, I won't go on social media for 24 hours and if the posts are nasty my manager deletes them.

"I have had it before when people have given me abuse online and I have seen them in real life and they have said 'I am really sorry, you know what it's like, it is just for online'. They think that is different but a massive change needs to come."

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Thank you

Laura Collins