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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi: story behind a red-top scoop | Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi: story behind a red-top scoop |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Updated 1pm to include Charles Saatchi's comments to the London Evening Standard: | |
| A couple of weeks ago I asked whether there was any point to the continued publication of the Sunday People. | |
| Ever since – and I know it's not because of what I wrote – the paper has been coming up with must-read stories (see here and here). | Ever since – and I know it's not because of what I wrote – the paper has been coming up with must-read stories (see here and here). |
| But none was more spectacular than yesterday's old-fashioned Fleet Street scoop – the pictures of Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi. | But none was more spectacular than yesterday's old-fashioned Fleet Street scoop – the pictures of Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi. |
| Talk about agenda-setting. The Twittersphere went crazy. News website hits went off the scale. Every newspaper followed it up. It went round the world because Nigella is a global brand. And the police got involved too. | Talk about agenda-setting. The Twittersphere went crazy. News website hits went off the scale. Every newspaper followed it up. It went round the world because Nigella is a global brand. And the police got involved too. |
| Meanwhile, my trawl of newsagents on Sunday midday in Brighton and London in the evening, showed how successful the story had been in terms of sales. | Meanwhile, my trawl of newsagents on Sunday midday in Brighton and London in the evening, showed how successful the story had been in terms of sales. |
| I would guess that the paper, which isn't known for being spendthrift, paid a goodly sum for pictures credited to a paparazzo who uses the name Jean-Paul. | I would guess that the paper, which isn't known for being spendthrift, paid a goodly sum for pictures credited to a paparazzo who uses the name Jean-Paul. |
| Speculation about the circumstances was rife on the net, as was condemnation (of Saatchi). Many "experts" were quick to make pronouncements about domestic violence. Am I alone in thinking this may have been a rush to judgment? | Speculation about the circumstances was rife on the net, as was condemnation (of Saatchi). Many "experts" were quick to make pronouncements about domestic violence. Am I alone in thinking this may have been a rush to judgment? |
| Do pictures, even a series of pictures, tell the full story, or even part of the story? I wonder. | Do pictures, even a series of pictures, tell the full story, or even part of the story? I wonder. |
| As for the ethics of publishing the pictures, the incident happened in public, so there cannot be a question of intrusion into privacy as far as the editors' code of practice – the one administered by the Press Complaints Commission – is concerned. | As for the ethics of publishing the pictures, the incident happened in public, so there cannot be a question of intrusion into privacy as far as the editors' code of practice – the one administered by the Press Complaints Commission – is concerned. |
| Some people may feel it was intrusive all the same, but all precedent suggests that, in the highly unlikely event of the PCC receiving complaints, it would support publication. | Some people may feel it was intrusive all the same, but all precedent suggests that, in the highly unlikely event of the PCC receiving complaints, it would support publication. |
| Then there's the matter of the police involvement. Of late, Scotland Yard seems to respond to every newspaper story with surprising alacrity. Was it necessary to issue a statement to the press about the matter? | Then there's the matter of the police involvement. Of late, Scotland Yard seems to respond to every newspaper story with surprising alacrity. Was it necessary to issue a statement to the press about the matter? |
| As was bound to happen, it meant some papers wrongly reported that the Met police were "investigating" the pictures rather than "studying" them. | As was bound to happen, it meant some papers wrongly reported that the Met police were "investigating" the pictures rather than "studying" them. |
| What is crystal clear is that there was no complaint to the police. The incident took place seven days before it was published and the couple went on living happily together afterwards. Quotes from unnamed neighbours and assorted "witnesses" are nothing more than hearsay. | What is crystal clear is that there was no complaint to the police. The incident took place seven days before it was published and the couple went on living happily together afterwards. Quotes from unnamed neighbours and assorted "witnesses" are nothing more than hearsay. |
| The couple were both media-savvy enough to refuse initially to respond to press inquiries (and there were none of those well-known briefings by "friends"). | |
| But the inevitable media feeding frenzy finally persuaded Saatchi to talk to the London Evening Standard. | |
| He explained it was "an intense debate about the children" in which, he said, "I held Nigella's neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point." He went on: | He explained it was "an intense debate about the children" in which, he said, "I held Nigella's neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point." He went on: |
| "There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place. Nigella's tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt. | "There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place. Nigella's tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt. |
| We had made up by the time we were home. The paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke yesterday morning, so I told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled." | We had made up by the time we were home. The paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke yesterday morning, so I told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled." |
It is, of course, deeply embarrassing for them both. Paparazzi shots in red-tops, by their nature, tend to cause red faces. | It is, of course, deeply embarrassing for them both. Paparazzi shots in red-tops, by their nature, tend to cause red faces. |
| The major beneficiary should be the People, the paper that many members of the public may well have bought or read yesterday for the first time in years, or possibly for the first time ever. | The major beneficiary should be the People, the paper that many members of the public may well have bought or read yesterday for the first time in years, or possibly for the first time ever. |
| However, an Irish radio station that interviewed me about the matter this morning, and had seen the story only on the net, spoke of it being published by the Sunday Mirror because the People has no separate website. | However, an Irish radio station that interviewed me about the matter this morning, and had seen the story only on the net, spoke of it being published by the Sunday Mirror because the People has no separate website. |