Usmanov buys favourable coverage in newspapers
Posted by cabalamat on 2007-Oct-05
Bloggerheads is reporting that Alisher Usmanov has paid for a planeload of British journalists to go to Moscow on his private jet and stay at the luxury Kempinski Hotel. The journalists then wrote articles about him and his attempt to buy Arsenal FC. Most of the subsequent articles didn’t mention that the journalists got a free trip and hotel stay. Details:
Via Arsenal News Review (with one extra added by moi) a list of
9* 8 of the 10 journalists reported to have been flown to and from Moscow by Alisher Usmanov on a Gulfstream 550 private jet and put up at the five-star Kempinski Hotel:David Bond (The Daily Telegraph): The resulting article makes much of Usmanov’s ‘knowledge’ of Arsenal, describes Murray’s allegations as “an extraordinary attack” and our only hint about travel and accommodation is given in the following passage; “…in an effort to dispel the mystery and set the record straight, Usmanov invited British journalists to Moscow, to explain his side of the story.”
Jason Burt (The Independent): Two articles here and here, but no mention of travel or accommodation.
Shaun Custis (The Sun): The resulting article is very light on detail when discussing Usmanov’s past, which this ‘journalist’ describes as ’smears’. There is no mention of travel or accommodation.
Matt Dickinson (The Times): The resulting article mentions travel, but not accommodation. [MINI-UPDATE: Another article gives readers some clue as to what's going on by using the words "charm offensive".... but makes no mention of some rather important specifics that show how offensive it is.]
Martin Lipton (The Mirror): Articles headed ‘Martin Lipton in Moscow’ here and here, but no mention of how he got there, and no mention of any fuss over Usmanov’s past. All the folks at home get is “Alisher loves Arsenal.” Way to go, Martin Lipton.
Charlie Sale (The Daily Mail): Sale is quite specific about travel and accommodation here and here, but he dutifully states in his main article that; “Usmanov was pardoned by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev” (all that jetting about can’t have left much time for research).
Matt Scott (The Guardian): The resulting article airs more detail than most, but does not mention travel or accommodation.
Personally, from now on I’m going to trust blogs over the mainstream press regarding stories about Usmanov.
(via Mr Eugenides)
