All Posts Tagged With: "The News of the World"
Rebekah “Babbling” Brooks won’t charge for online Sun and Screws
Rebekah “Babbling” Brooks announces that two News International titles under her control will start charging for online access come next May.
I understand that serious, quality newsgathering has to be paid for, and I deplore the fact that when the time comes (as it will) in which all commercially published newspapers have to charge for their online content in order to supplement the dwindling hard copy sales that currently pay for quality journalism, the BBC will still be offering it for free, subsidised by the licence payers.
This will be profoundly unfair, and massively damaging to non-state owned independent newspapers. The BBC will owe it to the British public who fund it to abandon this anomaly.
It became clear during the London ‘Freeshite’ bonanza that hard copy papers given away for nothing are worth, in news terms, a lot less than the paper on which they are printed [and not even a healthy arse-wiping option].
Similarly, Mrs Brooks evidently doesn’t feel she can charge for online content of her two prominent best-selling ShagRags – the Sun and the Screws – no quality journalism to pay for there. (Unfortunately she does have a number of lawyers’ bills and penalties to pay for a pile of upcoming damages for illegal phone-hacking, and they still have to fork out for unproductive journo-nasties like Mazher Mahmood, because he knows all the dirt on sensitive former execs, like Les Hinton and Andy Coulson – not to mention Stuart Kuttner).
Still, one must – albeit grudgingly – hail Ol’ Rumplechops for having the bollocks to lead where others will have to follow.
Popularity: 5% [?]
The Testarossa and her place in the Sun
In what looks like a pretty odd pairing, old-Etonian, ex-racehorse trainer, lothario and aspiring scribbler Charlie Brooks has stepped into the shoes of alleged tough-guy actor Ross Kemp to become the second Mr Rebekah Wade. I hope for his sake he’s got himself a head protector; Ms Wade once laid into Kemp so vigorously that he had to call the police, who came and took her away and banged her up for the rest of the morning, while she missed a meeting with her boss, Rumple-Chops Murdoch.
The old boy forgave her though, and she is strongly tipped to move up to the top shelf at News International UK, although she has promised him she will stay on as editor of leading Shag-Rag, the Sun until after the general election. Maybe, if the Boy Dave gets in, he will, as I have previously predicted, feel he must ditch his tainted chief spinner, Andy Coulson, who will then be free to come back to Wapping and take over Rebekah’s chair. But will he be able to give up some of the nasty habits he learned from Stuart Kuttner while editing the News of the Screws?
Popularity: 1% [?]
Jaded truth
Even the Guardian gave Jade Goody a front page splash today: At peace – and finally out of the limelight they said. They gave her a full page obit, too. This is surprising, but doesn’t compete with the Sun’s 9 pages of coverage or the Daily Mirror’s absurdly sanctimonious front page:
“MUMMY’S IN HEAVEN NOW.”
What do they mean?
Popularity: 1% [?]
Ginger versus orange
Last week, at the London College of Communications, Sun editor, Rebekah Wade delivered the annual Hugh Cuddlip lecture to students of journalism.
In the old days, one of the first things they taught young hacks on the Chuffing Sodbury Argus was to make sure they always spelled the punters’ names right. Not, it seems, any more at the London College of Communications, the country’s premier hack school, who announced their up-coming lecturer as “Rebecca” Wade. I wonder if she was cross. You don’t go round spelling your name “Rebekah” unless you really care.
That, however, is not the point. More interesting perhaps are the criteria by which speakers are chosen to deliver this important lecture (past deliverers: Alastair Campbell, Paul Dacre, Andrew Marr and Michael Grade.) What, you might ask, could the editor of one of the most dishonest, self-serving and prurient of British tabloids have to tell any aspiring journalist that might enhance their future career, other than the clear knowledge that, if all else fails, you can always sell your soul?
Popularity: 3% [?]
News International opens up the libel purse again
The Sun has been peddling porkies about the Osbournes (the ‘Ozzies’, not the ‘Georges’ this time). Battling Sharon of the aubergine hair has just walked away from the high court with a sackful of Murdoch loot after the ‘news’ paper had to dig into its coffers yet again – though maybe not so deep for old rumple-chops to notice or, at least, to care. After all, his British papers have been playing the Professional Foul for years. It’s a simple ploy; the paper thinks up a nasty, damning story claiming some spurious source about someone they think is currently out of public favour, or they shamelessly invade their privacy by sending clandestine video cameras into their private space, and sales get a nice big kick up the arse. They know that a high proportion of victims are reluctant to sue, but if they do, and win (which the victims usually do), the pay out + costs are often far lower than any of the Sun’s other, less effective sales promotions – especially when they can put juicy video clips up on their tacky website.
Popularity: 1% [?]
The Sun is howling this morning.
With a characteristic flourish of hyperbole, twisted logic and demi-truth the Sun proclaims that
“Yesterday was a dark day for British freedom.”
Their sister ShagRag, the News of the World has just been ordered to pay £60,000 in damages and £200,000 in costs to Max Mosley. That was a lot more than their legal boss, Tom Crone had bargained for and everyone in Wapping is feeling jumpy.
They say: “A judge representing power and privilege laid down the law on what newspapers can write about powerful and privileged public figures.”
In fact a judge interpreting the law ruled that to promise to pay a woman £25,000 to film events in a private dwelling in which a number of consenting and willing adults were engaged in unconventional sex constituted a clear breach of privacy, and awarded accordingly.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Sienna in the Sun
After years of publishing saucily posed shots of semi-naked women with big mammaries and small brains, those wacky guys at the Sun just can’t understand that not every woman wants to be a Page 3 girl.
Nor can they tell the difference between an actress and glamour model – to them they’re just good-looking women with tits, and if the actresses won’t come in voluntarily, they feel it’s their duty to get them there anyway for their reader’s delectation.
Last year Sienna Miller took £37,500 from the Sun and the News of the World for publishing shots sold to them by renegade photographer, Warren Richardson. Sienna is an actress who accepts that from time to time, a movie part genuinely requires her to disrobe, but quite reasonably, she will only do it on a “closed” set, where no-one outside the production is allowed.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Fascinating read. The links between the Metropolitian Police, The News of the World and the PCC appear strong as ever. ...
Enrique Iglesias is just like his father. They all make good music.';~ 
Yes,that makes sense. The main point is, though, she voted something other than Tory. 
I have a feeling Samantha Cameron voted green in 1992. She was certainly a member of either Greenpeace or Friends ...
quite agree. decided not to watch for much the same reason. you can't argue with a closed mind.