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
