Has Odiham really become a banter free zone, WM?
It always used to be the sort of place where a robust response to abuse was expected.
If that blunt twit didn't want to be teased, then perhaps he should have avoided the 'opinionated hack' stuff, though it's heartening to see you leap to his defence.
And if you're really so dim that you class any journo as being the same as Tabloid scum or paparazzi, then you deserve my sympathy. (And perhaps a little help in removing that ramrod from your back passage).
I'm not the only person here (only the least qualified) telling you that your anti-Merlin prejudice is tired, silly and ill-informed