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The History of the Times: The Murdoch Years
Despite her reputation for supporting ‘Victorian values’, the Prime Minister was not noted for taking the moral high ground with those she liked and, in time, Parkinson was allowed back into the Cabinet where he proceeded to set in motion the process that would lead to ‘Big Bang’ – deregulating financial services and opening up the City more widely to global competition. But the ‘love child’ revelations had ruined his chances of succeeding Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street. The episode’s coverage was said – by those with little knowledge of the paper’s history – to be symbolic of the way The Times under Rupert Murdoch’s ownership had departed from its values. It had given supposedly excessive space to a minor scandal, sensationalizing the accusations of a wronged woman. It had also failed to chastise sufficiently the lax moral standards expected of a man in public office who, for some, had committed the additional sin of being a brazen Thatcherite. As the paper approached its bicentenary, questions over its news presentation, priorities and Thatcherite bias threatened to undermine its continuing claim to being a unique national treasure of objectivity and truth. Matters were not helped when the paper announced it had access to the diaries of Adolf Hitler …
CHAPTER FOUR
ANCIENT AND MODERN
I
In its one hundred and ninety-eighth year The Times made one of its most embarrassing mistakes: it announced it had bought the rights to sixty volumes of Adolf Hitler’s private diaries. It would prove to be the most expensive fraud in publishing history. With hindsight, the newspaper’s verification procedures appeared astonishingly nonchalant. It helped persuade its parent company, News Corp., to offer $1.2 million for diaries whose contents had been subjected to no more than the most superficial examination. Had the manuscripts been checked, it would have been quickly apparent that they contained little more than bloodless drivel lifted primarily from Max Domarus’s published book Hitler’s Speeches and Proclamations. Some of the entries were positively comic: ‘Must not forget tickets for the Olympic Games for Eva’; ‘on my feet all day long’; and ‘Because of the new pills I have violent flatulence, and – says Eva – bad breath’. Stern magazine, from whom News Corp. bought the rights, refused to reveal its sources or to provide a convincing account of the diaries thirty-eight-year provenance. No comprehensive scientific tests had been done on the ink or the paper. These were basic procedures overlooked in the rush to claim a scoop.
Considering that The Times had been the victim of a serious hoax in the past, it should have been alive to the consequences of repeating the error. On 18 April 1887 – the first time the paper had run a story under a double-column headline – it had published a letter supposedly written by Charles Stewart Parnell, the Irish Nationalist leader, applauding the murder of the Chief Secretary of Ireland’s under-secretary. The letter was subsequently found to be a forgery (its real author, Richard Pigott, fled to a Madrid hotel where he shot himself in the head) and The Times was fined £200,000 – a sum so large that it did almost as much financial damage to the paper as the harm incurred to its international reputation. That misfortune was, perhaps, ancient history by 1983, but the Sunday Times had suffered at the hoaxer’s hand well within the memory of many of those at Gray’s Inn Road. In 1968, when Harold Evans was its editor, the Sunday Times’s owners, Thomson, secured for the paper thirty volumes of Mussolini’s diaries with a £100,000 advance payment on a promised £250,000. Thomson’s historical and forensic experts adjudged the diaries plausible. In reality, they were the work of two old Italian women. Thomson failed to get any of the money back.
The Hitler Diaries that came to light in 1983 were the work of Konrad Kujau, a Stuttgart con man with a number of convictions for petty crime. Had The Times been handed the volumes directly by such a shadowy figure at the back door of Gray’s Inn Road, basic steps to ensure their veracity would doubtless have been undertaken. Yet, because the newspaper was offered them by Stern, a current affairs journal with a serious reputation, it took far too much on trust in believing that Germany’s leading magazine was sufficiently professional not to deal in forged goods. The ensuing debacle would descend into an extraordinary and unedifying blame game that pitted The Times against the Sunday Times, everyone at Gray’s Inn Road against the extraordinary misjudgment of the historian Lord Dacre and every rival newspaper into paroxysms of gleeful jeering at the expense of Rupert Murdoch. But the font of woe was Stern magazine. It had paid $4.8 million (£3.5 million) for the diaries through a journalist-researcher of twenty-eight years’ standing on its payroll, Gerd Heidemann (Kujau’s intermediary), and was not afraid to cut corners in order to ensure a return on the investment.
In 1980, Gerd Heidemann had told Anthony Terry, the Sunday Times’s European editor, in confidence that he was trying to track down Adolf Hitler’s private papers which he believed had been lost in a plane crash on 21 April 1945. Little more was heard for some time although in late 1982 the far-right historian David Irving had contacted the Sunday Times with an offer to investigate reports of faked Hitler diaries and assorted memorabilia being traded between a German historian and a man in Stuttgart. Had the paper taken up Irving’s offer, a lot of bother and embarrassment might have been saved. But even though this was long before Irving was found guilty by a High Court judge in April 2000 of falsifying history in his portrayal of the Holocaust, he was already regarded as politically too dangerous to employ. Gitta Sereny was sent to investigate instead. Heidemann showed her round his personal archive in Hamburg but, before she could probe further in Stuttgart, she was ordered back to London as part of a cost-cutting exercise.[457] This proved a false economy.
The next Times Newspapers learned of the matter was when Stern’s Peter Wickman and the foreign rights salesman, Wilfried Sorge, came to visit Gray’s Inn Road. Douglas-Home was convalescing in Norfolk at the time so The Times’s two deputy editors, Colin Webb and Charles Wilson, met the Stern team. All were obliged to sign confidentiality contracts. Webb agreed with Brian MacArthur of the Sunday Times a division of spoils: The Times would break the story and the Sunday Times would serialize it. Clearly, though, they would need to be confident that the diaries were genuine and Webb suggested getting Lord Dacre to authenticate them. It was, it seemed, an inspired choice. As an independent director of Times Newspapers since 1974, Dacre could be trusted with what was a commercially sensitive matter while, in his other guise as the historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, he was well placed to pass a professional judgment. This agreed, Webb telephoned Douglas-Home with the news. With as much haste as he could muster, Douglas-Home returned to Gray’s Inn Road to take charge of what promised to be one of the paper’s greatest scoops.[458]
Educated at Charterhouse and Oxford, Hugh Trevor-Roper had been in British Intelligence during the war and was a member of the team that cracked the code of the Abwehr, the German secret service. At the end of the war he had been put in charge of determining the details of the Führer’s demise. This led to his acclaimed 1947 publication, The Last Days of Hitler. Another work, Hitler’s Table Talk, followed and in 1957 he became Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford. In 1978 he edited The Goebbels Diaries. The following year he took up a life peerage as Lord Dacre and in 1980 swapped Oxford for the commodious Master’s Lodge of Cambridge’s oldest college, Peterhouse. Given this curriculum vitae and his place on the board of Times Newspapers, it would have been perverse for The Times to have commissioned anyone else to authenticate the diaries. Yet, his work on the Third Reich was but a part – and not the main part – of his broad-ranging interests. His real area of speciality was seventeenth-century cultural and ecclesiastical history. Crucially, Webb and Douglas-Home were unaware of a key failing – Dacre’s post-war researches had been facilitated by Army interpreters. He was not an especially fluent reader of German.
Douglas-Home assured Dacre that his mission to the Zurich bank vault where the diaries were being stored was merely intended to allow him to gauge in general terms the look and feel of the documents and that Times Newspapers would not require him to pronounce definitively until he had read subsequent typed transcripts of the diaries up to 1941. But, at the last moment, just as Dacre was about to catch his flight, Douglas-Home telephoned again and explained that Murdoch had now been informed and wanted to secure the serialization rights quickly. Therefore, it would be necessary for Dacre to convey his interim impressions by telephone as soon as he had visited Zurich. Reluctantly – fatally – Dacre acquiesced.
Amid great secrecy, Dacre descended into the vault of the Handelsbank in Zurich chaperoned by Wilfried Sorge, Jan Hensmann, the financial director of Stern’s parent company, and Stern’s editor, Peter Koch. Dacre had been assured that the paper of the diaries had been definitively tested and dated to the correct period. This was untrue. Furthermore, he was assured that Stern knew the identity of the Wehrmacht officer who had retrieved the diaries from the wreck of the aircraft in April 1945 and in whose possession they had been kept until offered to the magazine. In fact, Stern
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Footnotes
1
Financial Times, 23 October 1980; UK Press Gazette, 27 October 1980.
2
Listener, 30 October 1980.
3
Price Waterhouse’s audit for the TNL Directors’ Report (Hamilton 9762/6).
4
UK Press Gazette, 27 October 1980.
5
Sir Gordon Brunton to the author, interview, 8 April 2003.
6
The Times, 23 October 1980.
7
Times Archive, Box 9383.1.
8
Patrick Marnham in Spectator, 20 February 1982.
9
Louis Heren on Panorama, BBC TV, 17 November 1980.
10
William Rees-Mogg, undated memo [22 October 1980], Box. 9335.
11
William Rees-Mogg, ‘Now The Times is going to fight for herself’, The Times, 23 October 1980.
12
In particular, see The Times, letters page, 28 October 1980.
13
Harold Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, pp. 97, 108.
14
John Grigg, The History of The Times, vol. VI: The Thomson Years, p. 554; Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, p. 108; Listener, 30 October 1980.
15
William Rees-Mogg to the author, interview, 3 December 2001.
16
William Rees-Mogg to the author, interview, 3 December 2001.
17
Quoted in Piers Brendon, The Life and Death of the Press Barons, p. 247.
18
Michael Leapman in The Times, 27 September 1980; Michael Leapman, Barefaced Cheek, p. 190.
19
William Rees-Mogg to the author, interview, 3 December 2001; Leapman, Barefaced Cheek, pp. 184–6; Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, pp. 96–7.
20
William Rees-Mogg to the author, interview, 3 December 2001; William Rees-Mogg in Independent, 29 October 1990.
21
Minutes of ad hoc committee on TNL, Thomson British Holdings Ltd, 18 September 1980. Hamilton Papers 9758/4.
22
Sir Gordon Brunton to the author, interview, 8 April 2003.
23
Rupert Murdoch to the author, interview, 4 August 2003.
24
Denis Hamilton, Editor-in-Chief.
25
Quoted in Simon Jenkins, The Market for Glory, p. 53.
26
Newsweek, 3 November 1980.
27
Sir Gordon Brunton to the author, interview, 8 April 2003.
28
Linda Melvern, The End of the Street, p. 175.
29
Tim Austin to the author, interview, 4 March 2003.
30
Marmaduke Hussey, Chance Governs All, pp. 129, 132.
31
Financial Times, 18 February 1986.
32
Bill O’Neill, Copy Out manuscript.
33
William Rees-Mogg to the author, interview, 3 December 2001; Hussey, Chance Governs All, p. 164.
34
Andrew Knight to the author, 2 December 2004.
35
Simon Jenkins, The Market for Glory, p. 149.
36
And the feeling appeared equally hostile among staff at the Sunday Times: Harold Evans to Sir Gordon Brunton, memo, 9 February 1980.
37
The Times, 30 August 1980.
38
Ibid.
39
Letters from Alan Reid and T. C. M. Powell, The Times, 30 August 1980.
40
William Rees-Mogg, unsigned leader, ‘How to Kill a Newspaper’, The Times, 30 August 1980.
41
Sir Gordon Brunton to the author, interview, 8 April 2003.
42
Lord Thomson of Fleet, press release, 22 October 1980. File 9335.
43
Harold Evans at a luncheon talk to Morgan Grampian journalists, quoted in UK Press Gazette, 27 October 1980.
44
Paul Johnson, Spectator, 31 January 1981.
45
Grigg, The Thomson Years, pp. 554, 556; Sir Gordon Brunton to the author, interview, 8 April 2003; Denis Hamilton, Editor-in-Chief, p. 179; Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, p. 125.
46
Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, pp. 89–91, 111, 125.
47
Iverach McDonald, The History of The Times, vol. V: Struggles in War and Peace 1939–1966, pp. 409–28; Jenkins, Market for Glory, p. 53.
48
Rupert Murdoch to the author, interview, 4 August 2003.
49
Sir Gordon Brunton to the author, interview, 8 April 2003.
50
Quoted in S. J. Taylor, An Unlikely Hero, p. 180.
51
Sir Gordon Brunton to the author, interview, 8 April 2003.
52
Richard Searby to the author, interview, 11 June 2002.
53
Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, p. 122.
54
Sir Denis Hamilton to Sir Gordon Brunton, 9 January 1980, Brunton Papers.
55
Sir Denis Hamilton to the Directors of TNHL, 16 January 1981. Hamilton Papers.
56
Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, pp. 106–7.
57
Harold Evans to Sir Gordon Brunton, 20 January 1981, (underlining as in original), Brunton Papers.
58
Denis Hamilton to Directors of TNHL, 16 January 1981. Hamilton Papers.
59
Quoted in the Sunday Times, 15 February 1981.
60
Minutes of the TNL Editorial Vetting Committee, 21 January 1981, file A759–9335.
61
William Rees-Mogg to the author, interview, 3 December 2001.
62
Paul Johnson, Spectator, 20 April 1985.
63
Statements by Sir Gordon Brunton and Rupert Murdoch, press releases, 22 January 1981, Hamilton Papers A759–9335.
64
Evening Standard, 22 January 1981.
65
Sunday Times, 15 February 1981; Daily Telegraph, 29 September 1981.
66
Sir Gordon Brunton to the author, interview, 8 April 2003.
67
The Times, 20 January 1981.
68
Record of Murdoch’s remarks to staff, 26 January 1981, Hamilton Papers A759–9335; The Times, 27 January 1981.
69
The Times, 27 January 1981.
70
Market share breakdown in memo of 26 January 1981 in Hamilton Papers.
71
Paul Johnson, Spectator, 31 January 1981.
72
James Evans (Director, The Thomson Organisation) to John Biffen, 26 January 1981; Thomson submission to the Department of Trade and Industry.
73
Sir Gordon Brunton to the author, interview, 8 April 2003.
74
Rupert Murdoch to the author, interview, 5 August 2003.
75
Ibid.
76
Woodrow Wyatt, Journals of Woodrow Wyatt, Vol. I, p. 372, diary entry, 14 June 1987.
77
Rupert Murdoch to John Grigg, Grigg, The Thomson Years, p. 573.
78
Lord Biffen to the author, interview, 1 August 2003.
79
Hamilton Papers 9758/4; The Times, 28 January 1981; Sunday Times, 15 February 1981.
80
Hansard, 27 January 1981; The Times, 28 January 1981.
81
Jonathan Aitken to the author, interview, 27 May 2003.
82
Hansard, 27 January 1981.
83
Jonathan Aitken to the author, interview, 27 May 2003.
84
The Times, 26 February 1981; Alan Watkins, A Short Walk Down Fleet Street, pp. 178–9; Jenkins, Market for Glory, pp. 169–70.
85
Thomson submission to the Department of Trade and Industry.
86
John Biffen to John Smith, 3 February 1981, letter reprinted in The Times, 4 February 1981.
87
Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, p. 143.
88
Ibid., pp. 151–3; Sunday Times, 18 February 1981.
89
Jenkins, Market for Glory, p. 58.
90
The Times, 13 February 1981.
91
O’Neill, Copy Out.
92
Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island, pp 46–7.
93
O’Neill, Copy Out, p. 15; Sunday Times, 15 February 1981; Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, p. 182; Grigg, The Thomson Years, p. 576; The Times, 13 February 1981.
94
Richard Searby to the author, interview, 11 June 2002.
95
Quoted in William Shawcross, Murdoch, p. 38.
96
Shawcross, Murdoch, pp. 47–9; Rupert Murdoch to the author, interview, 4 August 2003.
97
Quoted in Shawcross, Murdoch, p. 61.
98
Murdoch quoted in Chief Executive magazine; quoted in TNL News, November 1982.
99
Maxwell Newton in ‘Six Australians: Profiles of Power’, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1 January 1966, quoted in Neil Chenoweth, Virtual Murdoch, p. 32.
100
Sunday Times, 15 February 1981; Daily Telegraph, 30 September 1981.
101
Rupert Murdoch, speech at Melbourne University, 15 November 1972.
102
Sun, headlines, 11 January and 30 April 1979.
103
Leading article, ‘The Fifth Proprietorship’, The Times, 13 February 1981.
104
Quoted in Leapman, Barefaced Cheek, p. 174.
105
Hugh Stephenson to Denis Hamilton, 13 February 1981, Hamilton Papers 9383/12.
106
Quoted in Michael Leapman, Barefaced Cheek, p. 203.
107
Owen Hickey to Denis Hamilton, 11 February 1981, Hamilton Papers 9383/12.
108
John Grigg, The History of The Times, vol. VI: The Thomson Years, p. 376; Leapman, Barefaced Cheek, p. 201.
109
Rupert Murdoch to the author, interview, 4 August 2003.
110
Bruce Page, ‘Into the arms of Count Dracula’, New Statesman, 30 January 1981.
111
Rupert Murdoch to the annual lunch of the Advertising Association, quoted in TNL News, April 1981.
112
Richard Searby to the author, interview, 11 June 2002; Leapman, Barefaced Cheek, pp. 204–5.
113
Marmaduke Hussey, Chance Governs All, p. 179.
114
Sir Edward Pickering to the author and Richard Searby to the author, 11 June 2002; Rupert Murdoch to the author, 4 August 2003; Denis Hamilton, Editor-in-Chief, p. 181; Leapman, Barefaced Cheek, p. 205.
115
Louis Heren, February 1981, Quarterly of the Commonwealth Press Union.
116
Hugh Stephenson, ‘Not the age of The Times’, New Statesman, 11 January 1985.
117
Harold Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, pp. 188–9.
118
Evans in British Journalism Review, vol. 13, no. 4, 2002.
119
Michael Leapman, Treacherous Estate, 1992, p. 51.
120
Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, p. 340.
121
TNL News, April 1981.
122
Spectator, 20 June 1981.
123
Ibid., 28 February 1981.
124
Harold Evans to Frank Giles, 27 and 29 April 1981, Evans files.
125
Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, p. 253.
126
Evans Day File, 29 April 1981.
127
Evans Day File, 6 April 1981.
128
Clive Jenkins to Harold Evans, 3 July 1981 and Evans to Jenkins 12 July 1981; Jenkins to Anthony Holden, 3 July 1981, Evans Day File, 3 July 1981.
129
The Times, 23 October 1980.
130
Evans, Good Times, Bad Times, p. 263.
131
Anthony Holden to the author, interview, 9 April 2003.
132
The Times, 23 November 1963.
133
Ibid., 2 April 1981.
134
Evans to Rupert Davenport-Hines (and others), 14 June 1981, Evans Day File.
135
Private Eye, 28 August 1981; Evans to Anthony Whitaker, 23 October 1981, Evans Day File, A327/3692.
