TASK 3

Alan Smith

PIERS MORGANPiers Morgan is a British Journalist, television host and former television talent show judge. He has worked within the media industry since 1985 and has made himself a very popular figure.

Piers Stefan O'Meara was born on 30 March 1965 in Newick, East Sussex, England, to Vincent Eamonn O'Meara, an Irish-born dentist, originally from County Offaly, and Gabrielle Georgina Sybille.

Piers lost his father a year after he was born and his mother later remarried where the name Morgan came from. Piers used his step fathers name.

Piers studied journalism at Harlow College before joining the Surrey and South London Newspaper Group in 1985. He did so well working as a reporter there that he got scouted to work for The Sun newspaper and be placed on the ‘Bizarre’ column.

Piers then started to work his way up and found himself as the editor of the show business column at the Sun. He left the sun after he was headhunted by Rupert Murdoch in order to be editor of the News of the World in January 1994 and two years later he was headhunted to edit The Mirror (Where he started to become a popular figure)

It was at the Daily Mirror where Piers was forced to apologise on a number of occasions. In 2000, Morgan was the subject of an investigation after Suzy Jagger wrote a story in The Daily Telegraph revealing that he had bought £20,000 worth of shares in the computer company Viglen soon before the Mirror 's "City Slickers" column tipped Viglen as a good buy.

Morgan was found by the Press Complaints Commission to have breached the Code of Conduct on financial journalism, but kept his job.

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Independent Press Standards Organisation.

In 2012, Piers spoke out about it. "I could see immediately the PR problem of me buying shares the day before they doubled. I woke up. I saw all the papers… They said that I was a scoundrel, blah, blah, blah. I realised then that it was going to be quite a long day.”

From this it was clear that Piers did not take it that seriously, however the codes were not followed and The "City Slickers" columnists, Anil Bhoyrul and James Hipwell, were both found to have committed further breaches of the Code and were sacked before the inquiry concluded.

Morgan was then later sacked in 2004 for a separate incident where he refused to apologise to Sly Bailey, head of Trinity Mirror for authorising the newspaper's publication of photographs which had been shown to be false

These were alleged to show Iraqi prisoners being abused by British Army soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment. Within days the photographs were shown to be crude fakes.

The telegraph and various newspapers ran the story of Piers getting sacked. (Next Slide)

Information taken and adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piers_Morgan http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2012/jun/13/piersmorgan-daily-mirror http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1461904/Mirror-editor-sacked-over-fake-photos-of-torture.html

Former newspaper editor Andrew Neil said that time had been running out for Mr. Morgan "for a long time", although he was not surprised that it had taken so long for him to be sacked, as he knew everything there is, was and will be to know.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1461904/Mirror-editor-sacked-over-fake-photos-of-torture.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3716151.stm http://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/may/14/pressandpublishing.iraqandthemedia

Tags: Piers Morgan, Hoax, Sacked, Fake images, Twitter, Justice, 2004, Sorry, ego, life. War, shock.

Asked what the atmosphere in the newsroom was, one reporter said: "shock, disbelief".

One insider said: "The government yet again have got their scalp and we went to war on a lie. There is a sense of a great misjustice here tonight.”

"It is time that the ego of one editor is measured against the life of a soldier," said Colonel David Black.

"The Daily Mirror published in good faith photographs which it absolutely believed were genuine images of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi prisoner," (Trinity Mirror said in a statement)

In Summary, Piers Morgan was relieved of his duties by the Daily Mirror in 2004 as he released what was later seen as fake imagery concerning the abuse of an Iraqi soldier.

He has still to this day denied any wrong doing and chose social media to express his opinion.

"It is a tragedy. Although not everyone was behind him on this story, everyone was 100% behind Piers. He has been treated appallingly after eight and a half years.” Chief executive Sly Bailey (Source: The Guardian)

In summary this selection of articles relate to Piers Morgan moving to America, working for CNN and eventually being fired like he was from the Daily Mirror.

On the next slide there are many quotes from Piers and others surrounding their views on the topics he has covered.

Morgan has been known to have a very strong opinion on guns and this can be seen through his book ‘Shooting Straight’. This strong, aggressive and forceful approach to it is what may be part of the reason to being fired.

The majority of the American public did not agree with his views and therefore did not watch CNN which led to bad ratings and again, the fall of Piers Morgan.

‘What happens here (in the US) affects me, my life and that of my family,’ he told BBC's Newsnight last night.

‘The guns issue here is now so dangerous and out of control that something has to give.

'The reaction of the gun lobby was to say more guns, less crime - arm everybody, (and) so this spiraling descent into gun madness continues. I do find it stupid and I do find it dangerous’.

‘It's very simple. It's not about banning all their guns or attacking the Second Amendment. It's a very specific campaign to take these military-style assault weapons off the streets’

'Let’s not let arguments over the Constitution’s Second Amendment violate the spirit of its First,' Jay Carney said. ‘President Obama believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. (Quotes from Daily Mail)

Piers Morgan is not liked within the media due to being strongly opinionated, rude and his link to the phone hacking scandal. This was seen when the news spread to social media about his firing from CNN.

Jeremy Clarkson (An English broadcaster, journalist and writer) found the humour in Morgan’s sacking due to a feud that happened back when Piers was in England.

The Guardian said the Clarkson row started in 2000 when the Mirror obtained some paparazzi photographs of Clarkson kissing a woman who wasn't his wife. Morgan rang Clarkson for a comment and Clarkson begged him not to run the pictures, then said: 'Look, Piers, I'm going to tell you something now. I'm not capable of having an affair.

You can ask my wife. I'm not physically capable.' Morgan claims that he was so moved by this plea, he went softer on the story than he'd normally have done.

But then two years later Clarkson was seen kissing the same woman again, and Morgan ran the story hard. Clarkson then punched him at the 2004 Press Awards in front of an admiring audience of journalists who were all rather disappointed that Morgan didn't hit back; his revenge came a few months later when he put Clarkson's 'not physically capable' quote in his book.

“Look, I am a British guy debating American cultural issues, including guns, which has been very polarizing," he told the Times, "and there is no doubt that there are many in the audience who are tired of me banging on about it.”

“If only I didn't care so passionately about guns, perhaps I wouldn't have chased away a grand American audience.”

"The gun lobby in America has bullied this country's politicians into a cowardly silence," he hectored, one last time. "My point is simple: more guns doesn't mean less crime, as the NRA repeatedly tries to tell you.”

“I was just too honest” to explain his show's failure.

(Quotes taken from The Guardian)

"It’s been a painful period and lately we have taken a bath in the ratings,"

(Morgan told the New York Times on Sunday)

“It is sad that Piers is trying to find a new job by misrepresenting how he performed in his old one.” (CNN Spokeswoman Megan Rivers)

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/mar/02/piers-morgan-cnn-viewing-figures http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/mar/29/piers-morgan-gun-control-cnn-final-episodehttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/09/cnn-calls-piers-morgan-sad-anderson-cooper http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/its-official-cnn-hires-piers-morgan_b23321 http://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/jun/14/piers-morgan-cnn-chatshow-deal http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=2&t=223418 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/piers-morgan-sacked-from-cnn-twitter-rejoices-as-its-biggest-alist-troll-gets-the-axe-9151961.htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2259938/Gun-debate-Piers-Morgan-uses-BBC-Newsnight-interview-slam-calls-firearms.html

Tags: BBC, the guardian, daily mail, guns, 2010, 2014,2004, Piers Morgan, CNN, NRA, Ratings, America, Jeremy Clarkson

In the previous slides information was gathered on the job roles Piers Morgan participated in and newspaper articles that take a look in much greater detail to what he has or has not done. Morgan is known as having a very strong opinion and this can be seen through the books he has written.

Piers Morgan, Don’t You Know Who I AM? Was published in 2007.

Description: Sacked from his high-profile job as a national newspaper editor, Piers Morgan had two options: sink or swim. So he got paddling. Lacking any better ideas, he chose to dive headlong into the world of a celebrity.

This was the seventh book out of ten for Morgan and this explained his views in contrary to reports in the media about certain aspects that he has been criticised on.

http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Don_t_You_Know_who_I_Am.html?id=ToG0AAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Insider:_The_Private_Diaries_of_a_Scandalous_Decadehttp://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-insider-the-private-diaries-of-a-scandalous-decade-by-piers-morgan-6150946.html

To summarise , this book as well the Wikipedia information gathered on the initial pages provide factual information on Piers Morgan and give you his opinions rather than a selection of newspaper articles.

Having an artefact such as a book is good to compare with the information form the media.

"Reading this book really is like peering into Morgan's head. But it's a fascinating head - its contents are clever and silly, sharp and gullible, occasionally incredibly funny. I'd say he has another bestseller on his hands." (India Knight, Sunday Times)

"Every page is gold" (Heat)”

A typically ribald account of life both making the news and reporting it, as wildly implausible and riotously entertaining as the man himself” (GQ)

Tags: Piers Morgan, 2007, Fascinating, another bestseller, Seventh, Sunday Times, GQ, Daily Telegraph, Observer, Heat, sequel, memoirs.

"He is a very funny writer” (Lynn Barber Daily Telegraph)

"Enjoyably revelatory and very good fun" (Observer)

This is Piers Morgan's sequel to his first set of memoirs 'The Insider'.

The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade is a book written in diary form by Piers Morgan documenting his time as editor of the News of the World and Daily Mirror. It was serialised by the Daily Mail.

The Insider was well received by critics as well. Sam Leith of the The Spectator called the stories "funny as hell and as morally discriminating as a rutting polecat”

Andy McSmith called it "grippingly readable” while Andrew Anthony of the Observer said it was "cheerfully vitriolic”

Piers Morgan On... is a British television travelogue programme presented by journalist Piers Morgan, broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom. This show has been running since 2008 and he has visited Dubai, Monte Carlo, Hollywood, Las Vegas, Marbella and Shanghai.

When looking at Piers Morgan and his trip to Dubai it is clear that he wants to show the viewer a different culture and try to understand other peoples beliefs. This idea of everyone having a different opinion is demonstrated in the news artifacts gathered on previous slides and the quotes selected from them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ahdfA_DJ-0A#t=0

In summary, Piers Morgan took a look around some of the extraordinary developments in the city, meeting people of wealth and influence along the way. He also looked at the party lifestyle of the ex-pats who co-exist in relative harmony – most of the time – with Dubai’s Muslim culture.

‘One of the most interesting parts of the show for me was looking at the lifestyles of the rich and the famous at Palm Jumeirah which is a lavish housing development on an island shaped like a palm tree that can be seen from space! David Beckham, Ashley Cole and Michael Owen own properties there and a Palm address is seen as the ultimate status symbol’ Reviewed by Lynn Connolly. http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/piers-morgan-on-dubai-–-review/

Views on the show- ‘I really enjoyed watching this documentary. Because of the nature of documentary, what's shown is real. Despite the luxurious aspects of Dubai living, the documentary also shows some "secrets" and a very different part of Dubai culture. For example, laws that non-Muslim countries would understand. I really like how Piers Morgan describes the immigrants' "Dubai Dream", which appears to be comparable to the old "American Dream". However, unlike most American immigrants, many immigrants in Dubai are millionaires or billionaires. The clever Dubai people hype up tourism as hard as they can because they know oil will quickly run out in the near future’ -Lin Wenxin (https://bu.digication.com/lin_wenxin_megan_hf100/movie2)

Tags: ITV, 2008, Dubai, culture, lifestyle, rich, developments.

Piers Morgan on was not the only documentary he has taken part in. In 2007 Morgan was a judge on Britain's got talent, a year after he had taken part in the American version of the show. In January 2008, Morgan fronted a three-part documentary about Sandbanks for ITV1 entitled Piers Morgan on Sandbanks.

Sandbanks is a small peninsula crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England.

In May 2008, Morgan signed a two-year "golden handcuffs" deal with ITV reportedly worth £2 million per year. As part of the deal, Morgan would continue as a judge on Britain's Got Talent for at least two more series and front a new chat show.

He also made some interview specials, plus three more documentaries from various countries. Morgan's golden handcuffs deal was the first signing by ITV's new director of television, Peter Fincham.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, ‘’Golden Handcuffs’’ is something that benefits, typically deferred payments, provided by an employer to discourage an employee from taking employment elsewhere.

It was 2009 where Piers Morgan returned to ITV and started ‘Piers Morgan on’ This was followed by ‘Piers Morgan’s Life stories’. Life stories is recorded in front of a studio audience, each programme is devoted to one celebrity guest.

Life stories has span across 12 series and reached 72 episodes. From 2011 Morgan taped all of the episodes in advance before the start of a series owing to his (now former) commitment to the U.S. CNN channel.

‘A leading politician appears on television and is quizzed about his premarital sex life, his post-marital adultery and his history of eating disorders. His answers are greeted by indulgent chuckles from the studio audience, while the camera shows us repeated close-ups of his wife beaming proudly. Twenty years ago, such a programme – if it had been made at all – would have had the nation transfixed with horror, outrage or excitement’ –James Walton, The Telegraph’s review on the John Prescott episode of the show.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/golden-handcuffshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_handcuffs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piers_Morgan's_Life_Stories http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8513144/Piers-Morgans-Life-Stories-ITV1-review.html

Tags: Documentary, Sandbanks, Golden Handcuffs, Life Stories, Taped, Transfixed, 2011, 2008, 2007, 12 series.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16259941 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/video-from-2003-shows-piers-morgan-talking-about-phone-hacking-8364468.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/10638562/Piers-Morgan-questioned-by-police-over-phone-hacking.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8649135/Phone-hacking-Piers-Morgan-in-on-air-hacking-row-with-Louise-Mensch.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_International_phone_hacking_scandal

Piers Morgan and the Phone hacking allegations

"I have no reason... to believe it was going on.” (BBC Article)Morgan said: “When [mobile phones] first came out journalists found out that if a celebrity hadn’t changed their pin code…” Church interrupts: “Yeah, that you can access their voicemails.”

He said: “You can access their voicemails by typing in a number. Now, are you really telling me that journalists aren’t going to do that? If they know that they can ring up Charlotte Church’s mobile phone, listen to all her messages?” (Independent Article)

“In early November I was asked to attend an interview by officers from Operation Weeting when I was next in the UK. (Telegraph Article on Morgan being questioned by the Police)

The MP for Corby claimed during a culture, media and sport select committee hearing earlier on Tuesday that Mr. Morgan had admitted to phone hacking and had even bragged that it won him an award.To back this up, however, she misquoted an entry from 'The Insider’ (Slide 7), the 2005 diaries of Mr. Morgan.

In that book he boasted that using that 'little trick' enabled him to win scoop of the year on a story about Sven Goran Eriksson. So there is a former editor of the Daily Mirror being very open about his personal use of phone hacking”.

In fact, Mr. Morgan referred to the “little trick” – alleged to have been used by The News of the World to target thousands of people – with regards to suspicions that his own phone had been hacked.

“For the record, in my time at the News of the World and the Mirror, I have never hacked a phone, told anyone to hack a phone, or published any stories based on the hacking of a phone".

The News International phone-hacking scandal is a controversy involving the now defunct News of the World and other British newspapers published by News International, a subsidiary of the then News Corporation.

Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories.

Morgan at #leveson : says listening to Paul McCartney's voicemail message wasn't unethical, but won't expand to protect source”

(Ross Hawkins BBC correspondent)

Piers Morgan speaking via video link

"Not a single person has made a formal or legal complaint against the Daily Mirror for phone hacking," he told the inquiry.

Mr. Morgan admitted hearing a recording of a message from the phone of Sir Paul McCartney's former wife but would not say who had played it to him.

He said he was not "directly involved" in the use of private investigators.

Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, asked Mr. Morgan about the recording of a voicemail message left by former Beatle Sir Paul for his then-wife Heather Mills, when the couple were suffering marriage problems.

I can't discuss where that tape was played or who made- it would compromise a source.”

When asked if it was unethical to listen to phone messages, Morgan said: "It doesn't necessarily follow that listening to someone else talking to someone else is unethical."“All journalists knew they had to operate within the law. That was enshrined in their contracts of employment” Morgan said.

I do feel still very proud of a lot of the very good stuff that both the Mirror and the News of the World did during my tenure as editor” Piers Morgan

In summary, these comments by Morgan deny any wrong doing and he has since been cleared of any charges that may have been given to him. The questioning that took place by the police was the last time in the media that he was related to the horrific phone hackings.

Tags: Phone Hacking, Piers Morgan, Louise Mensch, The Insider, 2005, little trick, Charlotte Church, Heather Mills, News of the world, police, leveson.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FWW23XD

Primary Research