Almost everyone knows whom Piers Morgan is since he took
over from CNN stalwart Larry King as the station’s talk show star. I like to
hear the opinion of those who know him through his USA fame as it is different
from the UK. Here he is known for his
journey through the tabloid newspaper ranks to editor of one the UK’s largest
national paper.
I was discussing this latest read when I heard an interesting
comment from someone who stated they didn’t like Piers Morgan but that he gives
a good interview. This is how most people react to this arrogant and sometimes
obnoxious man. From reading The Insider,
which is Morgan’s diaries during his time as Editor of UK tabloid The Daily Mirror, I believe he would not
be too offended by my description. He might mention that he was not like this all
the time.
There is much about Morgan I can easily dislike but reading
his diaries was a fascinating and disturbing experience leaving me loathing and
respecting him in equal measure.
It is hard for those outside the United Kingdom to
understand the place newspapers have in the workings of this country. Morgan’s
role as editor in chief of the nation’s biggest left leaning tabloid made him a
powerful individual and he got to meet a great many of the rich, powerful and
famous. He may not have been as powerful
as he thinks as his complaints against The
Sun tended to be around their preferential treatment or beating him to a
scoop rather than acknowledge they were bigger and had more influence despite
his shoulder rubbing.
Morgan spends a great deal of time talking about his
meetings with the Prime Minister and Chancellor and other key political figures
of the Tony Blair led Labour government holding power during his tenure. The Daily Mirror, is traditionally a
labour paper in this country but is only the number two read tabloid playing a
far second to Murdoch’s The Sun.
Morgan began his rise with Murdoch papers after was personally given the big
break of making him the youngest national paper editor with the notorious News of the World.
Morgan then shunned his Murdoch mentors to join The Daily Mirror but mentions the family
fondly throughout his memoirs. Some bridges are worth leaving where they are it
would seem as Morgan had no trouble dropping the dirt on all manner of people,
from royalty to soap stars to musicians.
There is a very long list who found Morgan’s predatory nature as a
tabloid king pin distasteful in the extreme. Morgan would have you believe that
a conscious would occasionally pick inside his quick mind but then shamelessly
brag about how he would look his victims in the eye and blame their behaviour
for the invasion of their privacy.
It is this expose of the private lives of others that makes
Morgan so distasteful but his bull headed way in which he understood the nature
of his job and therefore completed tasks made you admire his industriousness. The truth is he invigorated a national
newspaper reeling from the corrupt exposure of its owner, Conrad Black. Morgan
made himself a celebrity in the process only opening him up to the same
exposure he peddled. In the end he became a bigger story than what was in his
paper and management eventually released him.
This is a book that helps you understand the murky and
mainly banal nature of power and the eternal gossiping of those who only get to
hold power for a short time. Whether they be politicians, stars or the media
themselves these are people thrust into lime-lights they do not control and
will not stay there long. The truly powerful, like Murdoch, are treated with a
fawning respect and every encounter is important whereas the fleeting power of
politicians provide encounters where posturing is more prevalent.
Morgan states at the start that he intends to be honest
about his nature knowing he was a first class prick at times. When you read
about such moments it is hard not to feel that he has erred on the side of
misunderstanding as a way to explain his more questionable choices rather than
any sense of personal responsibility. He was just doing his job as he saw it
and woe betide anyone who disagreed with him.
It has taken me a while to get to book ten, as although I
found this a bit of a slog, the improving weather and increased activity has
reduced my reading time. Life develops a different flow once the long winter
has gone and +Daniel has found the reading slow down just as much as I. He gets
his train ride to and from work and I now wonder if I will finish the 100 books
we have set ourselves. Even this blog has sat in my computer for days now and I
write away to continue the process as I intend to finish the task.
So it was not simply that Morgan’s diaries dragged, they did
a bit, and to be fair there was interesting things within his musings. Morgan
shows himself as principled or stubborn (it is hard to decide from this one
sided view) and he was not afraid to stand his ground as he proved with early
opposition to the Iraq war despite his apparent support of the government.
Although there are positive motives to what he did you cannot help but feel
that sensationalism drove much of what he did. He ends up appearing as someone
who is nice to you while your proximity provides the story and just as ready to
smile as he drives a dagger into your posterity.
Morgan has continued to succeed so there is no doubting his
drive and persistence but some of that journey as being on USA talent shows for
Simon Cowell showing that he is just as driven to be famous as those he
ridiculed and made fun of.
