The media’s obsession with simplicity and scapegoats often means the real story can go unreported, writes Paul Allen.
Every drama needs a villain and this week Francesco Schettino neatly fitted the bill. The captain of the Costa Concordia, which crashed into rocks off the Italian coast and capsized, was portrayed as a lazy stereotype in a veracious media environment that loves simplicity.
The Italian was quickly caricatured as a swashbuckling, wine-swilling lothario with such an eye for the ladies he was willing to put the lives of all his passengers at risk.
The Daily Mail, which led the charge, was only too willing to believe that most of its readers would readily understand the cliché that all Italian me are lazy, workshy womanisers.
When the captain, desperately tried to defend himself, claiming he had not abandoned ship but had accidentally fallen into a lifeboat while aiding passengers as the ship tilted on its side, the guffaws in the press were audible.
There is little doubt that if he had happened to be Spanish, images of Manuel, the Fawlty Towers waiter, would have been splashed all over the tabloid press.
To add to the comic book portrayal of this horrible disaster a 25-year-old mystery blonde ballerina, Domnica Cemortan, who reportedly was on the bridge of the cruise liner when the vessel ran into rocks, leapt to the Captain’s defence.
“[Capt. Schettino] is one of the best captains in the company. He is very skilful and experienced when it comes to manoeuvring the ship in enclosed spaces, like harbours,” Cemortan told the Daily Telegraph.
Of course the more sober and straightforward reporting as put forward by the Telegraph was spun by the Daily Mail as it pondered: “Was Captain Coward trying to impress glamorous blonde ballerina when he hit the rocks?”
At the heart of this sordid tale are the 11 people who have been confirmed dead and the 30 who are still missing after the disaster. While the official investigation into the incident will no doubt reveal the full extent to which the captain was at fault, his position makes it clear that he rightly has to take responsibility for at least some of the blame. However, the ease at which the media immediately made him the scapegoat meant that many of the critical issues that have arisen out of this incident have for the most part been glided over.
What about the company behind the cruise liner? What about the safety standards on big passenger ships? Indeed, if we are to believe what has been written this week about Captain Schettino it would seem that ship captains that roam the high seas are a law unto themselves. This I would wager is far from the truth.
So even if the Captain is as portrayed, what type of company and what type of regulatory system allows such a person to be in charge of the safety of thousands of passengers? Sadly, as far as the media is concerned, such a story line does not make for sexy headlines.
The media loves portraying black and white scenarios, but does not do grey very well. Indeed, even though new media has seen the number of news sources flourish over the past few years, it has not given the public a more diverse and thorough insight into the stories of the day.
Indeed, it would seem that in our media saturated lives the snappy headline, sound bite and catch-all cliché still rule supreme.
Thankfully, for the families of those who lost their lives, the inquiry rather than the media will bring to light who the real villains in this tragedy are.
It was slick. It was savvy. And it could well prove to be Team Murdoch’s saviour.
Rupert Murdoch’s performance at the select parliamentary committee in London, where he was grilled for two hours, was a polished, professional and painstakingly manufactured PR master class.
As father and son sat down looking like Mr Burns and Smithers, the phone hacking scandal had already knocked 12pc off the value of News Corp shares, which cost the Murdoch family a cool $750m (don’t shed to many tears, the family’s stake is still worth about $5.2 billion).
However, as Murdoch Senior masterfully handled his inquisitors and his wife busily batted away shaving-foam pies, the share price of his media empire News Corp began to soar.
At 80-years-old, Murdoch’s public relations strategy has at times seemed as frail as the man himself. As the raging inferno of the phone hacking scandal engulfed News Corp, Murdoch looked out of touch as he lurched from crisis to crisis after one shock revelation followed another.
However, when he eventually assembled his dream team of PR advisors, their finger prints could soon be seen all over his statements, apologies and parliamentary performance.
Right from the get-go Murdoch’s coaching was apparent. Just examine his opening statement — “This is the most humble day of my life.”
This was contrived as a sound bite his handlers knew would be repeated in news bulletins and newspaper coverage. It may have been a bit early when he delivered it, but it none the less proved to be one of the quotes of the day.
The massive audience that tuned in to see a ruthless, all powerful, media mogul get his comeuppance, would have been shocked at the frail, tired man that looked every one of his 80 years.
It is very unlikely this just happened to be one of Murdoch’s off days. Remember, this is the same man who was snapped earlier in the week out jogging with his personal trainer.
Again, his appearance as he sat in the glare of the media spotlight was well manufactured to evoke the sympathy an old man unaware of the shenanigans the bright young bucks his company had hired were getting up to deserved.
His son James was a little stiffer in his presentation, but stuck to fixed responses and used meaningless but complex phrases when he got the chance.
It was also noticeable that when Rebekah Brooks took the hot seat she was dressed almost nun-like, her hair colour darkened and her delivery slow and precise.
Her quietly spoken performance was miles away from the Alpha Male environment of the newsroom, which she dominated during her time as editor of the Sun and News of the World. Indeed, her polished performance aimed at showing dignified remorse tried to have us believe newspaper offices are a picture of calmness and politeness.
The phantom pie flinger was something of a distraction, but it very much worked to Murdoch’s advantage.
How could someone try to attack a frail old man like that? When his wife leapt to his defence, she suddenly became the hero of the day. Indeed, the whole episode brought a very real human side to the ruthless billionaire and even an outpouring of sympathy.
Yes, cynics out there are already wondering if it was all part of a well-choreographed carnival. And with the levels these people have stooped to in the past, who knows?
Now Murdoch moves on, battle scared and weary, still wounded, but knowing that his excellent performance may well have helped save his bacon.
As the attention now turns away from the media mogul to focus on the Prime Minister’s part in this sordid tale, without question Murdoch has his handlers to thank. It was a rare opportunity to see how they subtly helped change people’s perceptions of Team Murdoch by focusing on how they spoke, looked and communicated. So while it was no doubt a good day for Murdoch, it was an even better day for the art of public relations.
Paul Allen, Managing Director of Paul Allen and Associates PR, www.prireland.com.
The hunter has now become the hunted. Rebekah Brooks, who must have sent wave after wave of tabloid hacks to doorstep the rich and famous while editor of the Sun and News of the World, is now getting some of her own medicine.
But as the media spotlight on her continues to burn brightly, she has finally resigned declaring she no longer wants to be the “focal point of the debate” surrounding the future of Murdoch’s much maligned media empire. Oh, how the world must be shedding a tear for her.
It is not yet clear why Brooks’ resignation was suddenly accepted by Murdoch. The media tycoon had stood steadfastly by her despite calls from politicians and the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler for her to go.
So why has Brooks finally been allowed to fall on her own sword, a week after the innocent employees of the now defunct News of the World were given their marching orders even though they were not involved in the phone hacking crisis?
It is clear that Brook’s beeline to the exit door early today shows that Murdoch in no longer calling all the shots.
The Saudi investor that owns 7pc of News Corporation, Prince al-Waleed bin Talal al Saud, told Newsnight: “I will not accept to deal with a company that has a lady or a man that has any sliver of doubts on her integrity”.
Even Murdoch’s own daughter Elisabeth sees the writing on the wall and told friends that Brooks had “f***** the company”. But she should not be cast as some kind of a scapegoat in this ugly drama.
Murdoch’s main problem is he is out of touch and floundering to deal with the crisis because he is trying to play the new media game using old media rules.
In the heyday of the traditional press, such a crisis would have been a slow-burning affair, each instalment of which would have been exposed each day to meet the cycle of daily print deadlines. Now that this 24-hour news cycle no longer exists, the 24/7 media, fuelled by the internet and social media, hungrily mauls over the minutiae minute-by-minute and hour-by-hour.
So, dramatically grand gestures like the closing of the News of the World or the arrival of Murdoch to London to sort this mess out, no longer frame headlines that last throughout the day and set the 24-hour news agenda in stone. Now, such transparent and self-serving gestures are picked apart and often raise more questions than answers.
Murdoch’s outmoded approach is seeing the sandal unravelling like a slowly unpeeling onion causing plenty of tears for all concerned.
Even more bizarre is Murdoch’s astonishing latest defence of the News International phone hacking scandal claiming that the company only made “minor mistakes”.
Now as the 80-year-old gets set to face the music along with his son James, also implicated after he authorised the enormous payoffs to News of the World phone-hacking victims, in front of Tuesday’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee meeting, it no doubt will be the most viewed select committee the British parliament has ever seen.
Murdoch says he wants to use the opportunity to address “some of the things that have been said in parliament, some of which are total lies.” Given the lies that his papers have spun over the years his statement is beyond laughable.
However, while his appearance on Tuesday will no doubt provide great theatre, the far more serious threat to his future comes from the FBI investigation into allegations News Corp sought to hack into the phones of September 11 victims.
Just like The Sun newspaper is still shunned in Liverpool after the lies it printed regarding the Hillsborough disaster, if America feels Murdoch’s media tried to meddle in the mourning of the victims of 9/11 his days as top media dog will no doubt be numbered.