How the 'Screws' screwed its rivals

With a run of classic front-page scoops, the 'News of the World' has reshaped the tabloid landscape

The Arsenal footballer Sol Campbell walked out on his club at half-time during a crucial match at the beginning of the month. Fleet Street went after the story behind the story but word soon spread that it was the News of the World that had it.

It was surely inevitable. In the previous three weeks, the NoW had broken two huge stories - first with its revelations about the England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, and then with its exclusive about Mark Oaten, the Lib Dem leadership candidate. In the week of the Campbell walk-out it was as if Fleet Street was in its thrall. Yet when Sunday came, the paper had no story, and nor did anyone else. Such was the power of the NoW, dazzling its rivals with the mere prospect of a big scoop.

The NoW was still on a roll, though, and a week ago it came up with a third agenda-setting scoop with its video images of British soldiers beating young Iraqis. The BBC was happy to follow the story. It made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic and on al-Jazeera, and confirmed a change of direction for Britain's biggest-selling newspaper, away from celebrity tittle-tattle and into hard-news exclusives.

There was an anti-British backlash in Basra and the NoW managing editor, Stuart Kuttner, gave a rare interview to Press Gazette, in which he insisted the paper had gone to "enormous lengths to establish the authenticity of the material" and concluded with a passionate defence of journalism's place in democracy.

Such gravitas was light years away from the mood a year ago, when the paper was named Newspaper of the Year at the British Press Awards, after the NoW had bought the tale of Rebecca Loos's affair with David Beckham. Resentment of the accolade fuelled the belief among rival editors that there had been a "decline in the conduct and prestige" of the awards. Ian Reeves, the editor of Press Gazette, who hosted the awards, says: "Some broadsheet editors felt hugely uneasy about what the NoW's victory said about British journalism. They saw the Beckham story as trivial and had the suspicion that huge cheques had been written."

It is hard to make that case now. Roger Alton, the editor of The Observer, says: "Hats off to the News of the World. They are all brilliant stories, admirably executed, and setting the news agenda." A NoW source says: "Anyone who has watched television in recent weeks knows that we are setting the agenda. We have had a good run. Luck has played its part. But it is mainly down to good, old-fashioned journalism and a reputation for paying well for good news, pictures and information."

Another explanation points to a change in the relationship between the NoW's editor, Andy Coulson, and the publicist Max Clifford. Until recently, it was widely believed that Clifford had more responsibility for the NoW's content than Coulson. But one observer describes their relationship as "currently marked by glacial froideur". Insiders say that Coulson was angered by the sniping that followed his triumph at the British Press Awards, and driven towards hard news by the desire to prove that he could break big stories without Clifford's help. Another source says: "These days, Max Clifford has about as much influence at the NoW as Osama bin Laden", while a source in celebrity journalism claims: "Clifford all but pleads to sell his tips to the NoW."

If that amounts to a seismic shift in the relationship between the NoW and celebrity tittle-tattle, it appears to pay commercial dividends. In a ruthlessly competitive market, the NoW's circulation fell by only 0.89 per cent in the year to February 2006 compared with falls of 4.54 per cent for the Daily Star Sunday, 4.74 per cent for the Sunday Mirror and 10.6 per cent for The People.

So, is hard news responsible for the NoW's resilience? Yes, says Jane Johnson, the editor of the celebrity magazine Closer and former executive editor of the Sunday Mirror: "The red-top newspapers face really tough new competition from celebrity magazines. We can do the stories that were once their bread and butter brilliantly and in real depth. The News of the Word has responded by taking an admirably lateral approach. They don't just chase the stories everyone is after. They invest in investigation. New competition has persuaded the NoW to go back to doing things newspapers can do brilliantly."

Professor Steven Barnett of Westminster University has just completed research into future prospects for newspaper circulation. He says the NoW's traditional market is gravely threatened and innovation is essential. "Circulation decline among the traditional red-top tabloids is particularly marked. The prospects for blue-top and broadsheet newspapers are better. Their readers are more likely to value what newspapers do. Tabloid readers are more easily drawn away. The gossip magazines are eating into their market."

Professor Barnett believes the NoW is right to emphasise campaigning news exclusives of the type for which the British tabloid press was once famous. "When a paper is on a roll, that sort of success has a broader impact on the brand. These stories are not the sort of news you can get from 24-hour television or gossip sites. They make readers believe a newspaper is worth being associated with."

The NoW source says: "The modern taste is for big stories about big names." But he insists that readers have always been interested in big names from sport and politics as well as the world of celebrity, while in an interview with the Evening Standard last year, Coulson insisted that his paper "wouldn't work if all we ever did were sex scandals".

If the NoW is named Newspaper of the Year for 2006 it will be a lot harder for rivals to diminish its achievement.

The Editor: Andy Coulson - another Sunday, another scoop

Andy Coulson has just marked his third anniversary as the editor of the 'NoW'. He was 34 when he inherited Rebekah Wade's chair and a circulation of 3.78 million. Shy of the attention of the press, Coulson is known for his fine sense of mischief. He asked Tony and Cherie Blair if they were members of the mile-high club on a plane during the 2001 election, and once sold rival paper the Mirror a made-up story about Paula Yates having ribs removed for cosmetic reasons.

Born in Essex, Coulson started out as a junior reporter on the Basildon Evening Echo before joining The Sun in 1988. He became deputy to Piers Morgan, working on The Sun's Bizarre column, and succeeded him when Morgan left to edit the News of the World in 1994. Coulson was a pioneer of the Me and the Stars photo-spreads, and was reckoned to be the first British journalist to be photographed with Madonna. In 2000, Coulson became Wade's deputy at the NoW. "Andy's very clever," one publicist says of him. "He could screw you over and make you feel good about it." Coulson is unashamed of chequebook journalism, saying: "The News of the World doesn't pretend to do anything other than reveal big stories and titillate and entertain the public, while exposing crime and hypocrisy. I'm not saying it's a grandiose ideal,but it's something we're proud of."

Joy Lo Dico

MEDIA DIARY

Shouldn't we be told?

News that the BBC has upheld a complaint of political bias against former Tory leader Michael Howard during the 2005 election prompts memories of another odd incident from that campaign. In the April of the campaign, three people were hired by the BBC to shout abuse at Howard during a speech he made in Bolton, for a BBC3 programme called The Hecklers. Because nobody was recruited by the programme makers to perform a similar stunt during one of Tony Blair's or Charles Kennedy's speeches, suspicions were raised, and a representation was made by the Tories' then head of press, Guy Black. The BBC promised to investigate the matter. Guess what? The results of this internal inquiry have never been made public. How convenient.

Heffing and blinding

Much hilarity at The Sunday Telegraph, where staff have heard that foaming anti-Cameron pundit Simon Heffer is campaigning hard for the paper's vacant deputy editorship. But Heffer's reputation as a plotter could be his undoing. Cristina Odone appeared to be briefed by an insider for her article in last week's Guardian which slated Telegraph writer Alice Thomson and her new "weakly column". The fat finger of suspicion has been pointing, perhaps unfairly, at Heffer. "Relations between the two have certainly been chilly in the office this week," says my Telegraph spy. Expect some counter-plotting, Heffs.

Out of 'Time'

Red eyes for Michael Elliot, the well-respected editor of the Asian edition of Time magazine. Since Time Inc. began its project of "restructuring", otherwise known as job cuts, the editor's chair for the European edition of the news magazine has been abolished. Some bright spark thought it would be perfectly possible for Elliot to oversee both editions. "He is now international editor," says a lackey at Time. "He's in Hong Kong at the moment, but will be in London as necessary." Friends report that Elliot is suffering from extreme jetlag. "He's absolutely exhausted, particularly given the time difference between the two. It can't last."

Herd instinct

How many Evening Standard editors does it take to make a Kenyan safari? At least two, it seems, with former editor Max Hastings and present incumbent Veronica Wadley both members of the same party holidaying in East Africa. Watch out, Veronica, if Max starts swinging his rifle about the place.

'Riders' on the storm

As podcasting fever grips, BBC radio might want to take a few lessons from the groovier contemporaries at Virgin. The radio station has been riding high in the iTunes podcast rankings. Its Dirty Book at Bedtime from The Geoff Show, featuring a special videocast of the show's assistant producer reading from Jilly Cooper's Riders in a deadpan Essex accent while straddling a horse, made it to No 3 in the charts last week. "It's quite amazing," says a Virgin spokesman. "It's beating things like John Humphrys." BBC Radio is planning to expand its selection of podcasts. Should Book at Bedtime be on the list, it will be in for some stiff competition

Shami for No 1

After weathermen Michael Fish and John Kettley, the latest unlikely celebrity to inspire a pop song is Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty. A group called The Dastards has penned "Shami Chakrabarti" and made it available on its website.

Among the choice lyrics are:

"I turn on my TV

The only one I want to see

Is Shami Chakrabarti

Speaking with such bravery;

No one else would dare to be

Shami Chakrabarti."

Shami, I'm told, is honoured to have a song dedicated to her, but isn't that keen on the music.