MEDIA: WHAT THE PAPERS SAY; Mixed feelings on Al Fayeds’ fightback

With as many twists as the length of the River Nile, and with as much

mud sticking along the way, the long-running Al Fayed saga took another

turn last week. Our analysis shows the broad range of commentators

providing coverage in the national press, together with an assessment of

favourability towards the Al Fayed brothers.

Legal correspondents and home affairs editors produced chiefly neutral

or positive copy. Feature writers and political correspondents proved

more likely to provide negative comment. However, the story was used by

several journalists to rake over the Al Fayed past - claiming

dishonesty, sleaze, bullying.

Leader columns were divided, with the Daily Mail and the Express

supporting Al Fayed, the Daily Telegraph supporting Michael Howard, and

the Times sitting on the fence. Cartoonists were similarly divided, with

Peter Brookes’ offering in the Times probably worth buying and hanging

in the Harrods’ loo - even if it would cost pounds 1 to see it.

Evaluation and analysis by Carma International. Cuttings supplied by The

Broadcast Monitoring Company. ‘What The Papers Say’ can also be found

at: http//www.carma.com/carma