The news of Cable and Wireless’ big deal and its challenge to BT was
announced on 22 October.
Of 39 articles examined two were against the deal, 25 positive and 12
neutral. Early euphoria turned to qualified criticism. ‘Long on hype,
short on substance’ said the Times, and ‘a product of weakness not
strength’ opined the Economist.
By the weekend, reports were focusing on the logistics of closing a deal
in three hectic weeks.
We were authoritatively told that the code name for the deal was Second
Force, or Cinnabar, or (imaginatively) Thingy.
The clear winners were Cable and Wireless and Dick Brown, the ‘new’,
‘charismatic’, ‘American’, ‘cricket enthusiast’ chief executive.
Cable and Wireless was seen to have changed from being leaderless to an
offensive player. Brown’s role as innovator and deal-maker was widely
portrayed. Among the losers were the UK Cable industry and British
Telecom.
Evaluation and analysis by Carma International. Cuttings supplied by
Standard Press Analysts. ‘What The Papers Say’ can also be found at:
http//www.carma.com/carma
