Though not quite a hagiography, this one-off documentary – heavy on archive clips – comes close to glamorising the way in which the serially abusive publicist operatedThere appears to be no reason for the documentary Max Clifford: The Fall of a Tabloid King (Channel 4) – there is no anniversary of his arrest, charge or conviction on eight counts of indecent assault against four victims, or of his death three years into serving his eight-year sentence. However, we do not live in an age when a documentary about the symbiotic relationship between celebrity, handler-slash-story-supplier and media editors, or the ways in which a man in a position of power and influence used it to exploit young women and children, can ever be called untimely.Rather, we’re at a point where the latter story, especially, has become almost too common to merit comment. The greatest question such retrospective anatomisations used to try to answer was: “How did they get away with it for so long?” Now, the one that looms most unavoidably with every fresh story – about an apparently cuddly TV presenter, popular light entertainer, R B star, Olympic sports coach and so on – is: do men seek power and influence for any other reason than to abuse it? We’re getting to the point, surely, where it’s better and safer to move forward on the accepted basis that anyone rich and famous has become so because they need the protective trappings that come with it – including a large network of enablers and/or people cowed into silence – in order to satisfy the kind of desires that would otherwise quickly get them arrested. Continue reading...
Monday 19 April 2021
theguardian - 2 month ago
Max Clifford: The Fall of a Tabloid King review – scandal at the heart of Fleet Street
Latest News
11-year-old boy awarded €44,000 for injuries sustained at communion function in Dalymount Park
- thejournal Thomasina Miers’ recipe for poached eggs with tamarind and coconut sauce | The simple fix
- theguardian Watch the moment Nasa s Ingenuity helicopter made history with first controlled flight on Mars
- telegraph A women s European Super League feels suspiciously like an after-thought by the male club owners
- telegraph Bayern like to be in control and did not like Flick wresting it from them | Andy Brassell
- theguardian Oscars 2021: What time are the 93rd Academy Awards on TV and how can I watch live in the UK?
- telegraph European Super League explainer: Who are the Big Six, what are they worth and how much do they owe?
- independent Racing gripped with sadness as amateur jockey Lorna Brooke passes away following fall at Taunton
- independent Farmers asked to assist in search for female mountain runner (40s) missing overnight in Comeragh Mountains
- independent Hines gets go-ahead for 732 apartments for Player Wills site in Dublin 8 despite local objections over 19-storey height
- independent Man Utd failed to share European Super League plans at fan forum just days before announcement
- telegraph ‘I planned to get a tattoo of my name, so I would be identified after my death’- Women reveal traumatising experiences in hope of making stalking a crime
- independent A lucrative border-industrial complex keeps the US border in constant ‘crisis’ | Todd Miller
- theguardian Do oil companies deserve reparations for fossil fuel bans? They ll try to get them | Nicolás M Perrone
- theguardian Why is the right obsessed with ‘defending’ borders? Because it sees citizenship as a commodity | Daniel Trilling
- theguardian Explainer: All you need to know about the Munster SHC draw, the counties and the rivalries
- independent ‘Don’t tar all Travellers with the same brush’ - sisters urge for stigma to be broken as they are refused entry to restaurants
- independent The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez review – a South American Shirley Jackson
- theguardian Man who called gardaí ‘piggies’ and said it was ‘part of their job’ to take abuse avoids prison sentence
- independent⁞
Economic optimism lifts markets, but some workers fear return to office – business live
- theguardian ‘Try at least to get through the funeral without snogging someone’ – Helen McCrory’s moving (and witty) message to family before her death
- independent Don’t try to stop us: Breakaway European Super League sends legal warning to FIFA and UEFA
- independent Silence of the lamb! Young sheep kept in garda custody overnight after escaping from flock
- independent FA Cup, Premier League, EFL and Old Firm game: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
- theguardian Covid lockdown roadmap: key dates for when restrictions will end and what rules will change on May 17
- telegraph There’s a nervous unease in my stomach, and the cure is to meet people – we’re on the right road
- independent Beef Trade: Tight supplies underpinning prices, but many finishers still way off breaking even
- independent Is the ‘new muon’ really a great scientific discovery? For now, I’m cautious | Carlo Rovelli
- theguardian Coronavirus live news: UK study to expose young people to virus for second India cases top 15m
- theguardian Prince Philip s funeral: Watch key moments as the Royal family bid farewell to the Duke of Edinburgh
- telegraph News headlines today: Lockdown may ease for summer but pubs must wait, and new law to ban lobbying for Leaving Cert
- independent Compulsory worship of national symbols is the sure sign of a culture in decline | Nesrine Malik
- theguardian Laura Dockrill on parenting, paranoia and postpartum psychosis: ‘I thought I’d been hijacked by a devil’
- theguardian New survey launched to capture people s experiences of remote working during the pandemic
- thejournal Sources