Search results matching tag 'Richard Desmond'

The disgrace of the Daily Star

255762 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:40:00 GMT

The Daily Star is a poor excuse for a newspaper, maybe even proprietor Richard Desmond is thinking this today as his papers pay out again (to the tapas seven), but he should be ashamed as should the editor of the front page of today's paper with its headline "BBC put Muslims before you!".

Accompanied by a picture of Muslim woman giving two fingers it panders to racism.

The front page refers to a decision by BBC director-general Mark Thompson who has apparently announced a ban on Muslim jokes because they are more sensitive than Christians.

It sounds a ridiculous sweeping decision, which is if true is quite wrong. All groups should be open to having jokes made about them. That's all part of a healthy democracy as is a free press, which comes with an inherent responsibility that the Daily Star sorely lacks.

No surprise is that this year the paper (along with sister title the Daily Express) has paid out hundreds of thousands of pounds to Kate and Gerry McCann and now today their friends the tapas seven.

It tops that, with today's apology, by insulting a whole group of the British population. Nice work.

Follow me on Twitter

Express this

255762 — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:01:39 GMT

Some people shouldn't be allowed to own national newspapers. Richard Desmond is one of those.Yesterday's decision to cut 35 jobs – including the entire City desk – is further evidence of this.

Former porn baron Desmond seems to be using the paper as a cash cow and pension fund. Last year, he received £27.2m in payouts and pension funds from the Express Group.

This week, he cuts 35 staff to ensure the "company remains in a sound financial position"!

No seriously, that's what group editorial director Paul Ashford told staff.

"We need to act quickly to ensure that the company remains in a sound financial position and circulations can continue to be supported.

"Very regrettably, this may mean approximately 30 to 35 redundancies across the editorial department plus tighter controls on freelance costs and contribution budgets."

The City desk could probably explain to Desmond that if you take out almost £30m out of the business, things are not going to be so financially sound.

Solution? Sack the entire City desk and replace it with Press Association copy. It's a first for a national newspaper: a title without a City desk.

The Express has been shoddy for years, this is just another nail in its coffin. In the latest ABC figures, the title dropped 1.27% to 818,942, but its six-month average circulation fall was sharper, down by 4.80%.

My guess is that in the not-too-distant future, Desmond will sell the Express after he has taken out of it all that he can.

Earlier in the month, the Daily Express dismissed six trainee journalists just one month into their two-year contracts following "a re-evaluation of the group's internet strategy".

Dirty Des goes to New York

255762 — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 16:30:24 GMT

Richard Desmond has gone to New York and he's having a go at everybody. He's even calling Sir Martin Sorrell short.
Desmond is surely one of those men who never just has a bee in his bonnet, but an entire hive.

As well as gratuitously laying into Sorrell (the two had a bit of a bust-up in February with legal papers flying back and forth as WPP sought £5.7m payment for work done on the launch of OK! in the US with Desmond counter-suing) with the rude but obvious, Desmond has been picking his targets as they come into range.

American Media (tabloid publisher of The Star, et cetera) chief David Pecker? Oh he's "shifty".

In an interview with Advertising Age, Desmond accused Time Warner of "putting out a lot of shit" about OK! in its defence of rival magazine People magazine.

Desmond is feeling a little sensitive that sales of OK! in the US are going to be a little below expectation. So what about that?

"You can tell all those wankers to fuck off because these are the figures."

As for the advertisers OK! is attracting, they should thank their lucky stars.

"The people who are advertising with us, which there aren't many, are getting the bargain of a fucking lifetime." posted by Gordon @ 9:59 AM 2 comments links to this post