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The Rehearsals Worked

Scarlett MccGwire reckons the Murdochs' performances were all rehearsed and that three different personas were deliberately adopted.

By Scarlett MccGwire

19 Jul 2011, 23:56

Watching Murdoch Father and Son at the select committee, we saw a frail, rather doddery old man and his young thrusting son and hopeful heir. Gone was the man whom the last three Prime Ministers found it necessary to woo, possibly the most powerful man in this country. The terrifying media magnate had morphed into a forgetful but kindly man, with his loving, protective wife sitting behind him. And our own Cruella de Ville, Rebekah Brooks, turned out to be a completely reasonable woman, trying to help the MPs discover just why everything turned out so badly.

Let us remember that this was not Rupert uncovered, but Rupert rehearsed, alongside his son and putative daughter. The Murdochs and Rebekah Brooks took their appearance at the select committee very seriously. Indeed, they hired a top PR firm – Edelman, no less – to ensure that they came across well. All three of them will have been rehearsed – content, body language and tone of voice – to ensure they came across as credible and possibly even sympathetic.

In rehearsal they will all have had every nasty question their trainers could conjure up thrown at them. Their interrogators will have been rude, aggressive, silky, terse, long winded and come from every conceivable angle. Not only will the answers have been carefully crafted, to appear honest and open, but everything from posture to keeping their temper will be tested. They will have been schooled in making eye contact with members of the committee, sitting up so they don’t slouch and seem complacent, looking as though they are listening hard and taking every question seriously. The actual words of every apology will have been scripted and certainly ‘this is the most humble day of my life’ will have been agreed on.

Examining the transcripts might throw up some serious information, but let us not kid ourselves that there was anything real about this cross-examination News International will have thrown a lot of money around to ensure that they kill the picture of these people as an evil triumvirate and instead come across as totally human. We still have no idea what the three major players are really like – just the personas they chose to adopt for the afternoon.  This was theatre with the leads playing their parts .