Not as interesting as Rob Deering’s Boobs 2008, but more compelling than Karita Mattila, the star soprano, and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, I am listed as the 83rd hottest event in the Edinburgh Festival. 83: Mark Borkowski One of showbiz’s more charming public relations men explores the ancestry of his questionable trade. Long fascinated…
Prince Harry and Prince William arrive to the City Salute sunset pageant on May 7, 2008 in London Photograph: Dan Kitwood It is a compare and contrast case study that will no doubt appear in PR textbooks in years to come. Return to the tabloids of three years ago, and Princes William and Harry were…
I’ve been asked to represent some odd stories in my time but this one really takes the sauerkraut. A man has claimed that his dead parents’ home in Whitton has Nazi treasure buried under a pond in the garden. The man in question, Michael Hurll, a light entertainment producer, told estate agents Anish Gola and…
Spin when you’re winning It could perhaps best be called The X Factor for spin doctors. To celebrate the launch of The Fame Formula, a rollicking history of the Hollywood PR machine by spinmeister Mark Borkowski, booksellers Borders has joined forces with the book’s publisher, Pan Macmillan, to launch a competition to win 15 months…
I had a challenging hour on Wednesday. I was a witness on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze. The debate was triggered by research from the Children’s Society which blames celebrity headline grabbing antics for fuelling bad behavior and promoting materialism. The panel was Michael Buerk (chair); Clifford Longley, Claire Fox, Melanie Phillips, Kenan Malik. You can…
This story on Popbitch demonstrates the damage that entertainment publicists do to sully the name of first-rate PR’s in this field PR pariah lands on feet In 2006 Rob Shuter used to be publicist to Paris Hilton. Until he was hauled before a court in California to explain why a completely made up story about a…
Only in Japan …
John Humphrys meets Clint Eastwood – oh the shocking passage of time
The lovelorn former rug salesman Ian Usher, who put his life in Australia up for sale on the internet was not leaping for joy last night. I am not persuaded that after months of media and online interest that this life auction was genuine. It has all the hallmarks of an elaborate PR scam. I…