Rebekah Wade

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Rebekah Wade (born 27 May 1968 in Cheshire, England) is a British journalist and newspaper editor. She is currently editor of Rupert Murdoch's The Sun newspaper. She is married to - although currently separated from - the actor Ross Kemp.

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[edit] Career in journalism

Wade decided she wanted to be a journalist from the age of fourteen.[1] After attending Appleton Hall County Grammar School in Warrington,[2] she worked for the French magazine L'architecture d'aujourd'hui in Paris, before returning to Britain to work for Eddie Shah's Messenger Group.[1] In Wade's entry in Who's Who she states that she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, but since she was working at the age of 20 for the News of the World, it is unlikely that she did a full degree there.[3]

She joined the News of the World in 1989 as a secretary, and rose through the ranks, first as a feature writer for its 'Sunday' magazine, before eventually becoming the paper's deputy editor.[1] In 1998 she transferred to the News of the World's weekday counterpart, The Sun, to become its deputy editor, where she reportedly attempted to persuade David Yelland to get rid of the Page Three Girls.[4] This was unsuccessful, and almost a decade later, Page Three is still very much alive. She then returned to the News of the World in 2000 as editor; at the time, she was the youngest editor of a national British newspaper.[5]

While at the News of the World, she oversaw its controversial campaign of "naming and shaming" convicted child sex offenders, after the murder of Sarah Payne.[6] The paper's decision led to angry mobs terrorising those they suspected of being child sex offenders,[7] which included several cases of mistaken identity and one instance where a paediatrician had her house vandalised.[8][9] The campaign was labelled "grossly irresponsible" journalism by the then Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, Tony Butler,[1] but Wade defended the paper's actions in a rare interview on the BBC's Breakfast with Frost, stating that it was "only right that the public have controlled access" to information on sex offenders.[10] The paper's already strong sales held up well under her leadership, while those of rival Sunday newspapers The People and the Sunday Mirror fell more sharply.[11]

In January 2003, she moved back to The Sun, replacing her former boss David Yelland, to become its first female editor.[11] On Wade's first day as editor the Page Three girl was Rebekah Parmar-Teasdale - the caption to the picture was "Rebekah from Wapping".[2] Soon after becoming editor, Wade ran the headline "Bonkers Bruno Locked Up" about the former heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno and his mental health problems. The next day the Sun ran a 600 word reply from the head of the mental health charity Sane, and since then has adopted a style guide on covering mental health stories prepared by the same charity. Wade and her husband spent a day with the head of Sane and made donations to the charity.[12][13]

During a March 2003 appearance before the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport as part of an inquiry into privacy issues, Wade stated that her newspaper had paid police officers for information.[14] Alison Clark, the director of corporate affairs at News International, later stated: "It is not company practice to pay police for information."[14]

Wade has been chairman of the organisation Women in Journalism,[1] and has served as a judge for the "Guardian Student Media Awards" in November 2003[15] and the tenth annual Police Bravery Awards in July 2005, the latter of which was sponsored by The Sun.[16]

[edit] Personal life

Wade became engaged to actor Ross Kemp (best known as Grant Mitchell in EastEnders) in 1996. Wade's father had not met or spoken to Kemp at the time that he proposed.[17] Wade and Kemp married in June 2002 in Las Vegas.[18] On 3 November 2005, it was reported that Wade had been arrested following an alleged assault on her husband. She was later released without charge and the police took no further action.[18] The Sun had been running a campaign against domestic violence at the time.[2] The couple had spent the previous evening in the company of the former Cabinet Minister David Blunkett, who had resigned for the second time on that day.[19]

It has been mentioned in publications including Private Eye and The Independent[20] that the couple have separated. This has not been widely reported in the British press. In the March 7th 2008 issue of Private Eye they refer to her "paramour" former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks

Wade was at one time considered to be a friend of Tony and Cherie Blair,[21] as well as Sheryl Gascoigne, the ex-wife of footballer Paul Gascoigne.[4] She also attended the Prince of Wales' 50th birthday party.[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Rebekah Wade: Profile", BBC News, 2003-01-13. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  2. ^ a b c Irvine, Ian. "Rebekah Wade: The feisty first lady of Wapping", The Independent, 2005-11-05. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  3. ^ Glover, Stephen. "Is it my imagination, or is the Sun getting smuttier?", The Independent, 2003-02-01. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  4. ^ a b "Rebekah scores over the lads", BBC News, 2000-05-24. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  5. ^ "The Media Guardian 100: 53. Rebekah Wade", The Guardian, 2002-07-08. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  6. ^ "Paper defends paedophile campaign", BBC News, 2001-12-16. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  7. ^ "Police condemn vigilante violence", BBC News, 2000-08-04. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  8. ^ "Vigilante attack on innocent man", BBC News, 2000-07-25. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  9. ^ "Paediatrician attacks 'ignorant' vandals", BBC News, 2000-08-30. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  10. ^ "BBC Breakfast with Frost Interview: Rebekah Wade: Editor, News of the World", BBC News, 2001-12-16. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  11. ^ a b Greenslade, Roy. "Empress of the Sun", The Guardian, 2003-01-14. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  12. ^ Gibson, Owen; Byrne, Ciar. "Sun makes donation to charity after Bruno gaffe", The Guardian, 2003-09-24. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  13. ^ Mitchell, Kevin. "Totally Frank", The Observer, 2004-06-06. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  14. ^ a b Wells, Matt. "Sun editor admits paying police officers for stories", The Guardian, 2003-03-12. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  15. ^ Kiss, Jemima. "Blunt: a cut above the rest", journalism.co.uk, 2003-11-13. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  16. ^ Police Federation of England and Wales (2005-07-14). "Gloucestershire Officer Victorious In 10th Bravery Awards". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
  17. ^ "Soap star Ross to marry girl from Warrington", Warrington Guardian, 1996-07-26. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  18. ^ a b "Editor free after Kemp 'assault'", BBC News, 2005-11-03. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  19. ^ Sheppard, Fergus. "Script too surreal even for EastEnders", The Scotsman, 2005-11-04. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  20. ^ Street-Porter, Janet. "Editor-At-Large: A cover-up: Hold the front page for Ross and Rebekah", The Independent, 2007-04-29. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  21. ^ Riddell, Mary. "What does the Sun say now?", The Guardian, 2005-11-06. Retrieved on 2007-10-12.