Born 1986. A child star as a classical singer, in her teens Church experienced intense press scrutiny. She was a victim of phone hacking by the News of the World, as were numerous relatives and associates, and was party to civil actions against the paper. Her evidence to the Inquiry detailed examples of harassment and intrusion by journalists and photographers.
Church reviews some of her experiences and those of her family since she became famous aged 11, and discusses the difficulty of growing up as a woman celebrity under media scrutiny. She describes in particular: reporting by the Times of her reaction to the 9/11 tragedy in New York; reports by the News of the World relating to her parents; reporting by the Sun and the Daily Mail on her 16th and 18th birthdays, reporting by the Sun of her pregnancy and a report by the People about her alleged ‘proposal’ to a boyfriend in a pub. She recounts an offer of favourable coverage allegedly made to her at age 13 by the Murdoch media, and not honoured. She also discusses legal costs and the impact of phone hacking on her relationships with others.
Questioned by David Sherbourne and Carine Patry Hoskins, she gave further details about some of the incidents of intrusion and of her reaction to them and those of others. She spoke of a ‘shadow network’ of informants at hotels, airlines etc, keeping the press up to date with people’s activities.
Church reviews some of her experiences and those of her family since she became famous aged 11, and discusses the difficulty of growing up as a woman celebrity under media scrutiny. She describes in particular: reporting by the Times of her reaction to the 9/11 tragedy in New York; reports by the News of the World relating to her parents; reporting by the Sun and the Daily Mail on her 16th and 18th birthdays, reporting by the Sun of her pregnancy and a report by the People about her alleged ‘proposal’ to a boyfriend in a pub. She recounts an offer of favourable coverage allegedly made to her at age 13 by the Murdoch media, and not honoured. She also discusses legal costs and the impact of phone hacking on her relationships with others.
Afternoon session, beginning transcript p2.
Questioned by David Sherbourne and Carine Patry Hoskins, she gave further details about some of the incidents of intrusion and of her reaction to them and those of others. She spoke of a ‘shadow network’ of informants at hotels, airlines etc, keeping the press up to date with people’s activities.
