Marbury: potter and the rotters

The News International meltdown is throwing a new light on some old episodes, none more bizarre than this one, first reported by the Telegraph in 2002.

When Rebekah Brooks was editor of the News of the World she came up with what she regarded as a brilliant wheeze: the paper should have its own full-time Harry Potter correspondent. A trainee reporter from the newsroom called Charles Begley was chosen to bring the editor's idea to life. Begley, 29, was told to change his name to Harry Potter by deed poll and to dress in a Harry Potter outfit at all times, so that he would be available to be pictured as Harry Potter in the context of the day's stories.

As he regarded himself as a budding journalist, Begley was uncomfortable with the role, but didn't want to get a reputation for being above himself or lacking a sense of humour or, worst, displeasing the boss. So he changed his name and wore the glasses and the gown. Everyone has a breaking point, however, and Begley's came on September 11th, 2001. He didn't think it appropriate to be dressed up as a children's character on that awful day, so he didn't wear the costume. But he was summoned to the editor's office and told to put it on. Begley was very upset by this, and shortly afterwards he went home and felt unable to return to work. The Telegraph acquired a transcript of the calls he held with senior NOTW executives after his abrupt exit, as they try to soothe Begley and persuade him to come back. Here is part of Begley's conversation with the managing editor Stuart Kuttner:

CB: I've been diagnosed with stress.

SK: That bit I do know. Now, tell me about it, and we'll see what, if anything, we can do.

CB: There were a couple of events which brought things to a head. A few hours after the attack on the World Trade Centre, I was asked by Rebekah to dress up as Harry Potter. She wanted me to dress up and go to her office in the middle of the newsroom.

SK: Which date was that?

CB: That was on Tuesday, September 11. It was the afternoon, less than three hours after [the attacks]. I went into her office and Andy [Coulson, the deputy editor] was on the sofa and Rebekah was on the phone. Andy asked me where was my Harry Potter suit and I made some excuse, saying: it's not here, it's in the photo studio. [Actually], it was in the office, but it was hardly appropriate for a journalist to be prancing about as Harry Potter. Andy told me I should always have my Harry Potter gear around, in case of a Harry Potter emergency, and told me that the morning after, I was to dress up for conference as Harry Potter. So, at that time, [when] we were working on the assumption that up to 50,000 people had been killed, I was required to parade myself around morning conference, dressed as Harry Potter.

SK: I see.

To be fair to the executives, they do seem to take Begley's upset sympathetically and they try to persuade him to stay. But one of them, Greg Miskiw, makes a blackly comic remark towards the end of his conversation with Begley that reads very heavily this week:

CB: I'm disillusioned. . .

GM: I have told you that this is not going to be held against you. Charles, you should think very seriously about coming in on Tuesday.

CB: Well, to be frank, Greg, as far as my future at News International is concerned, I haven't toed the line for the editor's pet project. I didn't prance around while the World Trade Centre was being bombed, for her personal amusement. I can't just stroll in.

GM: Why not? Charles, that is what we do - we go out and destroy other people's lives.

Full report here.