Many would argue that there is nothing wrong with a journalist putting themselves at the centre of the story. What binds all the "annualist" titles together is that while their "year-long ordeal" might be classified as a stunt, they have serious things to say about their subject matter and its importance to society.

And there is a long and honourable history of "stunt" journalism. It goes all the way back to Nellie Bly, the pioneering American journalist.

In 1887 she infiltrated an asylum by pretending to be mentally ill in order to investigate conditions there. Her expose, Ten Days in a Mad-House, outlined the grim conditions, rotten food, and beatings that constituted the life of patients.

Ultimately, we are impressed by feats of endurance. For many readers, it adds authenticity to an act of criticism.

For many of the authors of course, one "annualist" work is enough.

"It would be really nice to do something that doesn't involve the words 'I', 'me' or 'my''.