Re: Beware of Businessmen Bearing Hidden Cameras
Before her recent troubles, the most interesting thing about Sarah Ferguson, former wife of Queen Elizabeth’s second son Prince Andrew, was that she had a fondness for having her toes sucked. You may remember that in 1992 Fergie was photographed with John Bryan, an American banker, who was sucking on her toes as she lay sunbathing topless.
Humiliated, Sarah turned to the land of opportunity and did what any former fat woman with a public profile would do. She became a spokesperson for Weight Watchers. Previously labeled the “Duchess of Pork” by the British tabloid press for her weight gain while married to Andrew, Sarah was suddenly making the news for pitching a diet plan rather than engaging in her fetishes. The image rehabilitation continued with a series of children’s books. The new Sarah is now a healthy lifestyle advocate and a kindly children’s book author. In the last few years, she has taken her expertise to British television audiences. In The Duchess in Hull, a show broadcast on ITV in 2008, she taught an overweight family living on a council estate how to maintain a proper diet. With a silent “suck it” to her critics, the former Duchess of Pork was making money fighting obesity one poor family at a time.
It was all going so well until she decided to earn a little cash on the side. It seems that Sarah is a big spender but her love of luxury does not equal her ability to responsibly manage her finances.
Desperate to pay down some of her debt, she recently decided to sell access to her ex-husband who holds the title of prince and ‘trade envoy’. In meetings with a reporter from News of the World who was posing as a businessman, Sarah is videotaped offering access to her ex for the bargain price of 500,000 pounds.
News of the World reporters, it seems, are masters of disguise. They used a similar sting in 2001 on Sarah’s former sister-in-law Sophie Wessex who was taped making less than flattering comments about members of the British government.
The circumstances surrounding Fergie’s cash for access scandal have put the spotlight on the ethics of ‘gotcha’ journalism. Designed to lead the interviewee to discredit themselves, gotcha journalism’s purpose is to be scandalous and sensational. Not surprisingly, the people that suddenly raise the idea of unethical behavior on the part of ‘gotcha’ reporters are usually the same people who are entrapped by a gotcha story.
While it’s true that this type of journalism is filled with biased questions, the gotcha question is often necessary. When every politician is an expert in spin, the gotcha questions are sometimes the only way to get an authentic response. In Sarah Ferguson’s case, the News of The World clearly had a tip that she was engaging in unethical behavior. Rather than an invasion of her privacy, their actions are a service to the British public whose trust she betrayed. Officially, Ferguson is an ex-member of the royal family but she is still the mother of two princesses. Her intimate association with the monarchy (who are part of the state and exist to serve the people) means that her behavior in this case is a matter of public interest.
The good news?
Now, the toe sucking incident might be the second thing people remember about her.
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