F4J "Kidnap Plot": Is The Sun Exposed in Bribery Scam?
by Mike LaSalle
News Corp's British tabloid The Sun has been linked to a bribery claim in the alleged plot by Fathers4Justice members to kidnap Prime Minister Tony Blair's 5-year old son.
On Thursday, Martin Matthews, one of the subjects of the police investigation said in a statement that a "3rd party" had offered him "£10,000 from the Sun newspaper" to accuse Fathers4Justice leader Matt O'Connor of masterminding the alleged kidnapping plan.
Matthews, a plumber, speculated openly about the coincidental appearance of The Sun's kidnapping story on the eve of an embarrassing day in Parliament for Blair and his Labour Party.
"I am not a politician and have no experience with such matters," Matthews wrote in his statement. "All I can say is the only Party to benefit from this saga would be the Labour Party, by taking the heat off Ruth Kelly and off the front page of the newspapers."
BACKGROUND
According to the "exclusive" stories published by The Sun, a "Special Branch" of the police force "uncovered" the "plot" while visiting a "seedy London pub".
Later reports revealed the alleged plot was actually an "off-the-cuff" remark made by an spirited group of boozey fathers at a pub following a Fathers4Justice demonstration in December, 2005. According to BBC correspondent Ben Ando, "No real reconnaissance was carried out, no actual kidnap attempt was made, no-one has been arrested, and the police are not convinced those at the centre of the alleged plan had the capability to carry it out."
Yet The Sun's "scoop" was spread by news agencies around Britain and across the globe, including Reuters, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, China Daily and the Times of India. When Matt O'Connor subsequently announced the official suspension of the Fathers4Justice UK campaign, media writers assembled the narrative and within hours the story spread across the global mediasphere. (At this hour, the search term "blair, fathers 4 justice, kidnap" returns 640 articles on news.google.com.)
ANALYSIS
Whatever the truth behind Mr. Matthew's suspicion that "powerful" people manipulated events behind the scenes, the timing of The Sun's "scoop" was a net benefit for Tony Blair's Labour Party - at least so far.
Blair's latest political tempest involves his beleaguered Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, who has been heavily criticized for failing to ban 88 registered sex offenders from employment in British schools. On Thursday Ms. Kelly made a scheduled appearance before Parliament to offer official regrets over the "worry and concern" caused by the oversight.
Coincidentally, The Sun's editor Rebekah Wade is well-known for her expertise in marketing to women - the very population of news consumers most riveted by the Kelly affair.
Political demographers, pollsters and news editors alike would appreciate women's keen interest in the scandal. And in light of Kelly's anticipated appearance before Parliament on Thursday, such media experts would have understood that only another media story involving children in jeopardy could compete for the attention of female news consumers. The release of the "Blair Child Kidnap" piece on the eve of Kelly's appearance before Parliament was exactly the kind of news story that would distract women's attention. The timing of F4J's subsequent suspension announcement only magnified the media reaction.
With the Kelly story now fading from the headlines, news consumers may never know whether The Sun or its editors purposely released their kidnapping "scoop" to help Blair and the Labour Party. But if Mr. Matthews' bribery allegations can be proven, British media outlets may soon discover a new scandal ready-made for the tabloids.
It is unclear at this time whether the police will follow-up on Mr. Matthews' allegations.
Mike LaSalle is the publisher of MensNewsDaily.com
News Corp's British tabloid The Sun has been linked to a bribery claim in the alleged plot by Fathers4Justice members to kidnap Prime Minister Tony Blair's 5-year old son.On Thursday, Martin Matthews, one of the subjects of the police investigation said in a statement that a "3rd party" had offered him "£10,000 from the Sun newspaper" to accuse Fathers4Justice leader Matt O'Connor of masterminding the alleged kidnapping plan.
Matthews, a plumber, speculated openly about the coincidental appearance of The Sun's kidnapping story on the eve of an embarrassing day in Parliament for Blair and his Labour Party.
"I am not a politician and have no experience with such matters," Matthews wrote in his statement. "All I can say is the only Party to benefit from this saga would be the Labour Party, by taking the heat off Ruth Kelly and off the front page of the newspapers."
BACKGROUND
According to the "exclusive" stories published by The Sun, a "Special Branch" of the police force "uncovered" the "plot" while visiting a "seedy London pub".
Later reports revealed the alleged plot was actually an "off-the-cuff" remark made by an spirited group of boozey fathers at a pub following a Fathers4Justice demonstration in December, 2005. According to BBC correspondent Ben Ando, "No real reconnaissance was carried out, no actual kidnap attempt was made, no-one has been arrested, and the police are not convinced those at the centre of the alleged plan had the capability to carry it out."
Yet The Sun's "scoop" was spread by news agencies around Britain and across the globe, including Reuters, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, China Daily and the Times of India. When Matt O'Connor subsequently announced the official suspension of the Fathers4Justice UK campaign, media writers assembled the narrative and within hours the story spread across the global mediasphere. (At this hour, the search term "blair, fathers 4 justice, kidnap" returns 640 articles on news.google.com.)
ANALYSIS
Whatever the truth behind Mr. Matthew's suspicion that "powerful" people manipulated events behind the scenes, the timing of The Sun's "scoop" was a net benefit for Tony Blair's Labour Party - at least so far.
Blair's latest political tempest involves his beleaguered Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, who has been heavily criticized for failing to ban 88 registered sex offenders from employment in British schools. On Thursday Ms. Kelly made a scheduled appearance before Parliament to offer official regrets over the "worry and concern" caused by the oversight.
Coincidentally, The Sun's editor Rebekah Wade is well-known for her expertise in marketing to women - the very population of news consumers most riveted by the Kelly affair.
Political demographers, pollsters and news editors alike would appreciate women's keen interest in the scandal. And in light of Kelly's anticipated appearance before Parliament on Thursday, such media experts would have understood that only another media story involving children in jeopardy could compete for the attention of female news consumers. The release of the "Blair Child Kidnap" piece on the eve of Kelly's appearance before Parliament was exactly the kind of news story that would distract women's attention. The timing of F4J's subsequent suspension announcement only magnified the media reaction.
With the Kelly story now fading from the headlines, news consumers may never know whether The Sun or its editors purposely released their kidnapping "scoop" to help Blair and the Labour Party. But if Mr. Matthews' bribery allegations can be proven, British media outlets may soon discover a new scandal ready-made for the tabloids.
It is unclear at this time whether the police will follow-up on Mr. Matthews' allegations.
Mike LaSalle is the publisher of MensNewsDaily.com
3 Comments:
Yeah, but how long was Matt O'Connor in negotiations for a movie and book deal?
Matt O'Connor's movie deal - did Matt need an un-happy ending?
Suggesting that O'Connor shut things down as a publicity stunt is to suggest that everything he did was a publicity stunt. Hogwash.
In my years in the movement, various fathers and groups have come close to a movie deal. But, none of them had the electricity that F4J generated.
If anything, the events of the past few days expedited the movie deal (which was obviously under discussion for some time).
With all the corruption evident on the part of British law enforcement, the Sun, and even perhaps Tony Blair, a movie company would be stupid not to snap up the deal immediately.
David said, "Suggesting that O'Connor shut things down as a publicity stunt is to suggest that everything he did was a publicity stunt."
But what about this?
http://forum.mathews.me.uk/viewtopic.php?p=392#392
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