[guide.chat] Harry potter news
- From: "Carol O'Connor" <missbossyboots33@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "guide Chat List" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:02:42 -0000
author JK Rowling told a public inquiry into British media standards on
Thursday she was forced to move house because of tabloid harassment and had
been made to feel like a hostage in her home after she gave birth.
During two hours of evidence, Rowling revealed a note had been slipped into her
young daughter's schoolbag by a journalist and that she had chased a paparazzo
photographer down the street when he tried to take a picture of her with her
children.
Rowling, who is protective of her three children's privacy and has regularly
complained to the press, said if you did stand up to certain newspapers about
their behavior, they could be "spiteful" and seek retribution.
"This doesn't apply to the whole of the press but the attitude seems to be
utterly cavalier, indifference, what does it matter, you're famous, you're
asking for it," she said.
The Leveson inquiry, held in London's High Court, has proved compelling viewing
this week as a host of public figures from actor Hugh Grant to families
involved in notorious murders have explained how they have suffered at the
hands of newspapers.
It has shone a critical light on Britain's aggressive tabloid press, which
engages in a ruthless hunt for stories to prop up otherwise flagging sales,
splashing on the sex lives of politicians and the stars of film, TV and sport,
to whet the appetite of celebrity-obsessed Britons.
Appearing nervous at first and speaking softly, Rowling revealed that two years
after the launch of the first of the hugely successful Harry Potter books in
1997, she had been forced from her home.
"It had become untenable to remain in that house," she said, saying
photographers and journalists had besieged her home, details of which had been
published by papers. "I was a sitting duck for anyone trying to find me."
She spoke of her fury at finding a letter from a journalist in her 5-year-old
daughter's schoolbag and her outrage when the headteacher at one of her
children's schools was contacted to try to glean details about the final book
in the Potter series.
Clearly what angered her most were photos taken of her children, particularly
one of her eldest daughter in a swimsuit.
"A child, no matter who their parents are, deserves privacy," said Rowling,
whose seven Harry Potter books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide
and spawned a record-breaking film franchise, and has been billed as the
world's first author billionaire.
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