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Murdoch dismayed by the amount of celebrity coverage in The Sun, claims its editor

Posted: 16/01/08 By: Oliver Luft
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The amount of coverage The Sun gives to celebrity news like Big Brother dismays owner Rupert Murdoch, the newspaper's editor told a Lords' Committee.

Giving evidence to the House of Lords' Committee on Media Ownership and the News, Rebekah Wade was asked where disagreements came between her and owner Rupert Murdoch.

"Mr Murdoch is often dismayed at the amount of celebrity coverage I put in my newspaper, particularly on Big Brother. He can't understand why I devote so many pages to Big Brother, we disagree about that," she said.

She added that coverage of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! also caused problems, but said she shared her readers' love of celebrity news.

"He is often dismayed by celebrity coverage, not just in The Sun, but in general," she added.

Asked questions from the Committee about the level of editorial control her employer had on The Sun, Wade said there were few areas of disagreement between the two.

Murdoch gave evidence to the Committee, in New York last year, telling them that he had editorial control over major issues on the paper.

Wade told the Committee the idea that she talked to Murdoch about all issues was 'inconceivable' and that she had never discussed the next day's newspaper with him, although she added she was 'lucky to have such a hands-on proprietor'.

After saying that she had voted for Tony Blair at the previous election, the Committee asked Wade that if Murdoch called on her to back the conservatives at the next election she would follow his request?

She responded by saying that the newspaper did not work in the fashion that they were assuming it did and the editorial line for the last election was reached by consensus.

She also highlighted issues where the Sun had taken the Conservatives side over public policy issues.

She added: "if Murdoch told me to back the Liberal Democrats I would resign, but I can't imagine he would."

Wade went on to praise her employer calling him a 'good journalist' and further praising his coolheaded approach.

"I'm very fortunate to have a proprietor like Mr Murdoch. Not only does he run a global media company he's an incredibly good journalist and one of the most supportive proprietors that you can ask for.

"In any kind of crisis he is always there with his very calm, exemplary advice…his advice is something I seek on all manner of subjects because of his experience and because of what he has done."

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