A Tale Of Tabloid Troubles

Michael Hedges September 17, 2012 Follow on Twitter

Every tabloid editor knows what moves eyeballs. It’s a skill passed on generation after generation, unbound by geography. Dirt on celebrities and politicians is fine but nothing beats that grainy photo of a well-known somebody starkers. Brilliance is causing talk on the street, any street, and maybe a lawsuit. Leveraging a better business deal is genius.

Tabloid editors across the realm are hustling to get hold of the Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, topless photos after French tabloid Closer splashed its cover with one last week. The British Royal Family complained about invasion of privacy and filed a lawsuit in France. UK tabloids refrained out of fear, some say, of certain beheading by Lord Justice Leveson, who has forced editors, proprietors and even a few politicians to grovel before disgruntled celebrities and the otherwise maligned following the demise of UK tabloid News Of The World. No publisher wants tighter rules restricting fun and profit.

The Irish Daily Star published a few on Saturday (September 15), getting a jump on what will likely be a rush for local exclusives. The tabloid’s Northern Ireland edition did not carry the photos, Northern Ireland being part of the United Kingdom. The Daily Star website was inaccessible to UK internet users.

“The duchess would be no different to any other celeb pics we would get in, for example Rihanna or Lady Gaga,” said Daily Star editor Mike O'Kane to the BBC (September 15). “She's not the future queen of Ireland so really the only place this is causing fury seems to be in the UK.” The Daily Star is a joint venture of Independent News and Media (INM), primarily controlled by Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien, and Express Newspapers, owned by UK publisher Northern and Shell, which publishes a UK tabloid under the same name.

“There can be no motivation for this action other than greed,” said a spokesperson for the British Royals, quoted by the BBC. Last month Prince Harry, brother-in-law of the Duchess of Cambridge, was revealed in a series of steamy mobile phone photos taken in a Las Vegas hotel room, all published by UK tabloids and further afield. Shortly thereafter, Prince Harry, a British Army Air Corps helicopter pilot and third in line to the British throne, was posted to Afghanistan.

The photos of the Duchess of Cambridge “sunbathing on holiday in the south of France” were first published last week (September 13) in the French weekly women’s magazine Closer. Noting that, a spokesperson for the British Royals called it “grotesque and totally unjustifiable.” By the end of Friday (September 14), the Royals filed suit in France against Closer publisher Mondadori France, which is owned by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, the Italian publishing house principally controlled by the family of Mr. Bunga Bunga himself, Silvio Berlusconi. The Royal Family may or may not seek damages in the lawsuit, reported La Repubblica (September 16) but will certainly seek to restrain Mondadori from using or distributing the photos. Lawyers will meet in a Paris court Monday (September 17).

There was outrage in France.  “She is a young woman who’s topless, just like the ones who can be seen on all of the beaches of France and the world,” said Closer editor Laurence Pieau, quoted by AFP (September 14). “And honestly I don’t know of a single celebrity magazine in the world that would not have published these if they had them. They wouldn’t have hesitated two seconds before running. One shouldn’t be hypocritical.”

“It’s a nice series which we have a worldwide exclusive on at the moment,” Ms Pieau added. “These are pictures that will go around the world.” She also hinted “there are more intimate pictures that exist.” The photos were subsequently removed from the Closer France website.

Mondadori acquired Closer when it bought Emap France in 2006 for €550 million. A year later German publisher H Bauer acquired the remaining Emap consumer media businesses for just under €1.5 billion. Bauer Media UK owns and publishes Closer in the UK and licenses the title to Mondadori.

"As the owners of the Closer brand and publishers of Closer magazine we have complained in the strongest terms to the licensee of Closer France,” said Bauer Media UK chief executive Paul Keenan in a statement, quoted by Media Week (September 15). “We were not aware in advance of the purchase of these photographs or of any intention to publish. We have absolutely no control over the editorial decisions of Closer France. In the light of their publication, we are now urgently discussing this matter with our licensee and reviewing the terms of our license agreement with Closer France.”

Then Mondadori’s Italian women’s magazine Chi announced it would publish “soon” a 26 page special section of photos from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’ holiday, surely one they will not soon forget. “The fact that we are dealing with the future British monarchs makes it certainly more interesting and in line with a modern conception of the monarchy,” said Chi editor Alfonso Signorini, quoted by Reuters (September 15). He added he was unconcerned about the lawsuit potential and that Mondadori executives had approved publication of the photos in both Chi and the French edition of Closer.

Northern and Shell chief executive Richard Desmond, who vigorously defended light touch press regulation in Leveson Inquiry testimony, expressed outrage. “I am very angry at the decision (at the Irish Daily Star) to publish these photographs and am taking immediate steps to close down the joint venture,” he said, quoted by Media Week (September 15). “The decision to publish these pictures has no justification whatever and Northern and Shell condemns it in the strongest possible terms.”

“The decision by the Irish Daily Star to republish pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge from the French magazine Closer was regrettable and in poor taste,” said an INM statement. “Independent News and Media had no prior knowledge of the decision to publish.”

Joint venture and licensing agreements typically spell out rights and responsibilities in great detail. Some UK media watchers suspect Mr. Desmond has been looking to unravel the Irish Daily Star in favor of an Irish edition of the UK Daily Star, which Northern and Shell owns outright. Bauer Media has a long and lucrative licensing agreement with Mondadori in France and Italy.

The prospect of the Irish Daily Star closing has not, understandably, played well in Ireland. Mr. Desmond’s decision is “an over the top reaction which should be reconsidered calmly and with consideration for the full implications for Irish journalism and for editorial diversity,” said National Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary Michelle Stanistreet, quoted by public broadcaster RTE (September 16). Many journalist unions demand independence clauses in labor agreements.

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