Friend sure to be moo-ved by gong
Veteran news presenter and corpser Bob Friend, the former BBC journalist who has since gone on to make it at Sky News – and in the movies – was recognised with an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Friend, who once famously thought he was having a heart attack only to discover he had put on a child’s T-shirt after pool-side drinks, is well known for his humour.
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But what perhaps is less well known are the lengths to which colleagues must go to get Friend to smile for the camera when he is having a photo taken.
Word reaches the kennel of a photo session where Sky’s head of news, Nick Pollard, was expected to join in what has become a small ritual for Friend – when the photographers turn up he insists colleagues sit in the room with him and make farmyard noises to make him laugh. Sadly, Pollard’s mooing was below par – so back-up had to be brought in before Friend produced the goods.
Give’em a Break – the cheek of some People
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Another entry has flooded into Dog’s Campaign for Real Exclusives – where we expose bogus “exclusive” taglines on lifted stories.
Last time it was a story lifted from Take a Break. This time it’s a story lifted from Take a Break. Perhaps they’re the only ones playing.
Title: The People, Sunday, 22 June, 2003. Page 31.
Exclusive claim: Captured neighbour who stole cash from her cancer victim pal.
Source: Take a Break, Thursday, 19 June, 2003.
Nominated by: John Dale, editor, Take a Break.
Nominator’s comment: This was bylined by the chief reporter. Blimey, he had an easy week.
Dog exclusivity rating: 3/100. Three points gained for obtaining an extra quote at the end.
Dog wants to hear about more of these. Send your nominations to dog@pressgazette.co.uk.
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
