Murdoch Meltdown

[DanaC]

She's apparently utterly charming in person. Except whren she's being a ball-breaking, bullying bitch of course.

I don't know, and can't be arsed going through the whole thread, but have I told you guys about her Harry Potter project?

It was her pet project apparently, whne she was editor of the NoTW in 2001. One of the journalists had a remarkable resemblance to Harry Potter. So, Brooks decided to make him the paper's Harry Potter correspondent. He had to change his name by deed poll to Harry Potter and dress as a wizard at press conferences and public engagement. From The Telegraph in 2002:

(Rebecca Wade is now Rebecca Brooks)

His breaking point came on the afternoon of September 11, when he was summoned to the office of the editor Rebekah Wade and rebuked for not being "in character". Begley, then 29, was told to appear in full Potter regalia at the next day's news conference. He parted ways with the paper a few weeks later and is now considering legal action against his former employers. (His initial claim was turned down because he had been on staff for only six months.)


Begley's account was this week dismissed by Stuart Kuttner, the tabloid's managing editor, as "deeply flawed". In a letter to this paper, he said that his former reporter was a "fantasist" and Ms Wade had "made no request" for Begley to "parade as Harry Potter".


And now? As if by magic - a tape recording of conversations between Begley and senior NoW executives has suddenly "apparated" at Telegraph Towers. . .

The rest of the article is here, with the transcripts and stuff:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ret-tapes.html

And here's the followup piece from this week.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...oes-viral.html