But Oh dear, now all this is exposed, how are the McScams going to get themselves a bit of friendly press now? Or are they so fearful of London Met they finally do want to just dry up? I can put up with not hearing from them again, save for when they are arrested.
I think Mitchell is pre-empting word getting out the police keep wanting an "appointment" with him, you know the type, we will see you at 10.30 am otherwise we come and get you.
Insider reveals: 'PR men would think up a story and Rebekah's Sun and News of the World would run it, word for word. Some were complete fiction '
By ANONYMOUS
Last updated at 11:35 PM on 9th July 2011
There was fury at News International when journalists discovered that the 200 staff of the News of the World were to be sacrificed to save the career of Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks.
Here one Murdoch insider, whose identity is known by The Mail on Sunday but who has been guaranteed anonymity, describes what it is like working for Mrs Brooks...
The integrity of The Sun and the News of the World started crumbling the moment Rebekah Brooks got her hands on them.
'Love-bombed': Brooks, the Sun editor, chats with PM Tony Blair in 2004 at a party
Throughout her career, she has had one aim only: self-glorification. She used the papers to promote her own interests, not to break stories or to entertain.
Whether it was securing seat A1 on her favourite airline, claiming the best view at a West End show or winning access to the Prime Minister’s inner sanctum, Rebekah would do whatever it took.
Good journalism was secondary. When she took charge of The Sun, it was an abrasive, aggressive paper known for breaking big stories. Really big stories. It was feared by the powerful because they knew they would be pursued with bulldog determination by a crack, well-led team.
In those days, The Sun was the embodiment of the old adage ‘publish and be damned’. It frequently was damned by the rich and powerful. It upset people. It trod on people’s toes. When it got things wrong, it apologised.
Naturally, it devoted plenty of space to the frivolity of celebrities and gossip. But it was fundamentally a serious paper, which was taken seriously by serious people. It showed that a tabloid newspaper could be produced with the highest degree of professionalism.
Like a daughter to him: As Rupert Murdoch has grown older and more frail, he has become closer and more dependent on Brooks
That was a truly remarkable achievement. From the day Rebekah rose to the top, that reputation was surrendered to her desire to mingle with the rich and powerful. Under her leadership, the News of the World and The Sun became crammed with trivia.
No editor behaved like she did. When Prime Ministers spoke to Kelvin MacKenzie, one of Rebekah’s predecessors as editor of The Sun, they were scared stiff of him.
When Prime Ministers spoke to Rebekah, they were love-bombed. That was a betrayal of the papers and a betrayal of their readers.
She had the same, craven relationship with public relations practitioners. Scores, if not hundreds, of front-page stories were written by the PR men. They would think up a headline and story and The Sun and News of the World would run it, word for word. Some of them were complete fiction.
Meanwhile, proper stories by proper journalists were buried deep inside the paper. Stories that upset one of Rebekah’s VIP cronies didn’t appear at all. It broke the reporters’ hearts.
Cameron: He may pay a heavy price for being charmed by Brooks
Relationships with PR firms such as Matthew Freud’s Freud Communications were so close that if they called the newsdesk with a story, you had to run it. If you told them it wasn’t a story but just a piece of PR fluff, they would phone Rebekah’s office, the reporter would be told off and the story would go in as Freud wanted it.
She sold the soul of The Sun and the News of the World to PR snake-oil merchants. It was not real journalism, but client journalism. Rebekah’s real skill is a manipulator of people. She is very skilful at persuading people to dance at the click of a finger.
She is feminine and feline, and uses it to the full. One theatrical swish of her Pre-Raphaelite hair and hardened Cabinet Ministers would swoon.
Her main aim was to show that she could beat men at their own game in Fleet Street. In a way, she did. The moment she was editor, she wanted to go higher and run News International itself.
I have never seen a woman so driven by ambition and yet so lacking talent. What she does have – in abundance – is an ability to get what she wants. Mainly from men. And they would do whatever it took to please her – including phone hacking.
Tony Blair and David Cameron were both charmed. True, they got what they wanted in the main: supportive coverage. But Rebekah also got what she wanted: regular invitations to No 10, parties with Blair and riding with Cameron. Blair is gone and need not worry; Cameron may pay a heavy price.
Occasionally she would come back from No 10 with an ‘exclusive’ story. But usually, they weren’t real exclusives: the story had been agreed in advance and generally showed the PM or the governing party in a favourable light. A Sun or News of the World exclusive in the old days would have terrified No 10.
And no one was better at handling Rupert Murdoch than Rebekah. When she was with him, she would do everything for him. She would make sure his glass was topped up, grab the right people at receptions for him, keep those who he didn’t want to see out of reach, open doors for him. Everything.
That is why he has gone to such inordinate lengths to protect her. Some would say him prioritising saving her as opposed to the News of the World is insanity.
She is like a daughter to him. And as he has grown older and more frail, he has become closer to and more dependent on her.
People constantly ask: ‘Why hasn’t Murdoch been tougher on Rebekah?’ The answer is not as complex as it may appear. As the saying goes, there’s no fool like an old fool.
Explore more:
- People:
- Matthew Freud,
- Rebekah Brooks,
- Tony Blair,
- Rupert Murdoch,
- David Cameron
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013046/Rebekah-Brooks-Sun-News-World-run-fictional-stories-insider-claims.html#ixzz1Rl7fia00
10 comments:
If there has been an influential figure doing a lot to try and protect Kate and Gerry McScam, I think she has flaming red hair and looked a lot better in 2004 than she does now, Blair was clearly quite besotted!
If parents phones get listened into by Brooks henchmen it seems inevitable to me that sometimes the parents are innocent and sometimes they are not. Either way, it is a great story for a lady that just has no scruples whatsoever.
That could go a long way to explaining why Kate and GErry are so co-operative with The Sun and the News of the World. Rebekah knows how to create need.
Hiya Viv,
I think I read somewhere that, regarding the phone hacking scandal, she was quoted as saying something along the lines of 'it'll get worse in about a years time'. Could that be anything to do with the Met review on the Madeleine case I wonder?
They did say it could take months, if not years.
Hiya Mar
Given her obvious close connection to Freud and hence Clarence Mitchell and the ocnfirmation anything FReud wanted printing did so, regardless of just PR puff, I think that is what she means when she says she has the vision this will get even worse, give it 12 months.
Clarence keeps letting us know he is being interviewed by the police. Am I just being optimistic or is there really a close connection here? AT the very least, I would like to call it an educated guess!
xxx
It will be interesting to watch The Sun now and see how many more mad Maddie stories we continue to get, if any!
xxx
Madeleine McCann stories in The Sun, it is strange that as time goes on, the number of them seems to go up, note how few in 2007 and 2008! For 2011, most of those stories were in May when Kate released her book, then there is one for June and NONE for July. Strange that!
2009 was obviously a big campaigning year for the McScams, aided and abetted by The Super Sun.
It is all in the best possible taste to use a missing little girl to sell books and newspapers, discredit police, governments etc.
I think Rebekah is going to have a lot of explaining to do.
By year
2007 (9)
2008 (11)
2009 (102)
2010 (52)
2011 (36)
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/search/searchAction.do;jsessionid=7518DB053F28C67B5F7E154F8DA6E0F9?query=madeleine+mccann&pubName=sol&view=internal&sortBy=relevance#ixzz1RoQhzZRh
It is almost like London Met are controlling the McCanns and their media friends now. About time too!
According to posters on MM the McCanns did get a mention in the last editon of the News of the World, I must have missed this little bit. Very interesting change of wording, not Maddie was abducted, the McCanns reported her missing. That surely signals the death knell for the McCanns cosy relationship with Murky Murdoch and Co. The new wording could clearly imply they had something to do with it, rather than any stranger. At the very least, it is probably more like what the genuine police would wish them to print, in that it is neutral as to what actually happened to Madeleine, rather than trying to peddle a wicked lie.
"3 year old Madeleine McCann is reported missing in Portugal by her parents Kate and Gerry."
Underneath it reports that Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair also in 2007. IMO, Gordon Brown is the only senior policitican who is going to come out of this affair actually smelling of roses and there was a wicked right wing/Murdoch/McCann campaign against him. It has stopped now because they know the game is up, but to late to save the political career of Gordon Brown who IMO is the most honest and decent man of the lot of them. I have absolutely no doubt he gave all assistance to British agencies in continuing to investigate Messrs McCann, but he lost office.
You would think that coming up with that massive reward leading to Madeleine's abductors would be something the News of the World would want to brag about really, but no, they do not even want to mention it. That speaks volumes IMO, they have dropped all this Pro McCann rubbish, if anyone abducted Madeleine they have known all along, that was Gerry McCann.
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