media.guardian.co.uk/broa...43,00.html

John Plunkett
Monday January 20, 2003

Fallen pop superstar Michael Jackson will follow in the unlikely footsteps of Diana, Princess of Wales, Michael Barrymore and the Stephen Lawrence suspects by giving an interview to Martin Bashir in an attempt to repair his battered reputation.

Jackson will talk to the former Panorama reporter as part of a Tonight special, Living with Michael Jackson, that will air on ITV next month.

Bashir has spent eight months with the former "king of pop" and was with him in Berlin during the infamous incident when Jackson dangled one of his children over a hotel balcony.

The 90-minute programme also goes behind the scenes at Neverland, Jackson's ranch in California, which is equipped with its own fairground and zoo.

"The film is an extraordinary insight into the life of one of the most famous and controversial figures in the world," said the Tonight editor, James Goldston.

"We have been filming with Michael Jackson throughout one of the most turbulent periods in his life. The results are utterly compelling - viewers will not believe what they are seeing."

Jackson talks candidly to Bashir about "all aspects of his life" in a series of interviews in Europe and the US.

Programme bosses said they paid no money for the exclusive access to Jackson and said no limits had been set on what they could or could not talk about.

"We have made this film entirely on our own terms," said Jeff Anderson, the controller of current affairs and features at the programme's production company, Granada.

"No money has been paid and no areas of the singer's career or personal life have been off limits. This truly is Michael Jackson as you have never seen him before."

It is the latest in a string of exclusive interviews on Tonight, including programmes on President George Bush, Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell and Edwina Currie following the revelations of her affair with John Major.

It is also the latest big-name interview secured by Bashir, who has come to be seen as a key line of defence for people seeking to improve their public image.

He famously interviewed Princess Diana for Panorama in 1995 and spoke to the five men suspected of murdering Stephen Lawrence for a Tonight special four years ago.

Jackson returned to the front pages in November after he dangled his son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony.

Tonight has enjoyed steadily improving ratings. Last week, buoyed by a double edition of Coronation Street, it had 5.5 million viewers or one in five of the TV audience.



www.ananova.com/news/stor...41671.html

Jacko to talk to Martin Bashir

Michael Jackson is to be the subject of a fly-on-the-wall documentary after Martin Bashir was granted permission to follow the singer for eight months.

Granada say Bashir was given "unprecedented and exclusive access" to Jackson for the 90-minute profile, which will be shown on ITV1 in February as a Tonight with Trevor McDonald special.

The interviewer was with Jackson in Berlin two months ago, when he notoriously dangled his young son from a hotel balcony.

Bashir's previous high profile subjects have included Princess Diana and Michael Barrymore.

Granada's controller of current affairs, Jeff Anderson, said: "We have made this film entirely on our own terms. No money has been paid and no areas of the singer's career or personal life have been off limits."

Programme-makers say it is a "landmark film" which gives a "fascinating personal insight into the mind of one of the world's biggest stars."

Bashir talks to the singer in a series of interviews, and goes behind the scenes with Jackson at his Neverland ranch in California.

Tonight editor, James Goldston, said: "The film is an extraordinary insight into the life of one of the most famous and controversial figures in the world.

"We have been filming with Michael Jackson throughout one of the most turbulent periods in his life. The results are utterly compelling - viewers will not believe what they are seeing."



About Martin Bashir

12.16PM GMT, 6 Jan 2003

Martin Bashir is an awarding-winning journalist currently working for ITV, Britain's most popular television network.

He is best known for conducting a series of exclusive interviews, including:

- The late Diana Princess of Wales

- The former au pair Louise Woodward

- The five youths who were suspected of murdering the black teenager Stephen Lawrence

- A special documentary featuring the parents of conjoined twins Jodie and Mary, and a follow-up with Jodie herself as she recovered and returned to Malta

In March 2002, Martin went back to Australia with Joanne Lees, whose boyfriend Peter Falconio was attacked in the outback and is presumed dead. The resulting documentary was broadcast as an ITV special.

Since joining ITV in 1999, he has made a series of special documentary films about the serial killer Dr Harold Shipman, the first interview with disgraced Tory peer Lord Archer, recovering alcoholic George Best, a programme about the Soho bomber David Copeland, an interview with former Loyalist terrorist Johnny Adair and a major investigation into Tony Martin, the Norfolk farmer who was found guilty of murdering a teenage burglar.

At the end of 2001 he conducted exclusive interviews with the parents of the conjoined twins, Jodie and Mary, who were separated at a hospital in Manchester. The film also included interviews with the medical team which carried out the complex surgery.

In June 2001 he presented a special three-part ITV documentary series on the subject of Xeno-Transplantation entitled 'The Organ Farm'.

In the wake of terrorist attacks in the US during September 2001, Martin Bashir reported and presented an ITV special entitled 'A Day in September' which comprised a detailed account of 11 September.

The film was given special commendation by the Independent Television Commission, which regulates ITV.

His distinguished career has involved work on a wide range of television and radio programmes including Panorama, Public Eye, The Midnight Hour, the education series Just One Chance, Sunday and Pick of the Week.

He has written for a variety of publications, including The Financial Times, The Sunday Times, The Standard, The Sunday Express, Tatler and a sports column in The Observer newspaper.

He has a won a number of awards for his work including a BAFTA (the UK equivalent of an Oscar), three Royal Television Society Awards and two Broadcasting Press Guild awards.

He was the Royal Television Society's Journalist of the Year in 1996. In 1998 he was voted Journalist of the Year by the BBC's International Awards.

In 1999 he was honoured twice at the Houston Film and Television Awards for current affairs documentaries.

In April 2001 his interviews with the five youths suspected of murdering Stephen Lawrence was given the Royal Television Society's most prestigious accolade - it won Programme of the Year. The same programme also received a nomination at the 2001 BAFTA awards.

His film about the September 11 terrorist attacks was also nominated at the 2002 Royal Television Society awards ceremony.

Outside of his work as a factual programmes reporter, he makes an appearance, as himself, in the feature film 'Mike Bassett - England Manager'. The film is a comedy about the trials and tribulations of a newly appointed England manager and stars Ricky Tomlinson and Amanda Redman.

Born in 1963, he completed a first degree in English and Post-graduate research at Kings College in London before starting work as a journalist in 1986. He is married with three children.

FINALLY. I heard about this months ago and it's DEFINITELY going ahead. I expect it will be shown around the world and I'm sooo thankful Martin Bashir is doing it instead of the sucking-up American talk show hosts who call themselves journalists.

Ooh, it's just been on the news over here and we saw some footage. FABULOUS!

OH YEAH FEB 3RD BABY!!!
[This message was edited Mon Jan 20 11:43:52 PST 2003 by deeplove]

DID ANYONE HEAR XSCAPE ON RADIO 1 (UK) THIS MORNING!?!

deeplove said:

They confirmed that they didn't play it. They don't play any unauthorised songs.

will they show it outside the uk? in holland for instance.

u can watch the promo over here:
http://www.itv.com/news/
while i was hoping they would b discussing some music also, they actually managed 2 show the baby dangling incident 3 times in less than 2 minutes, so i'm wondering what it will b like in a 90 minute show, guess we'll find out by februari 3rd.

far from Fallen because the Cat still does well&there is a strogn Interest in what He has too say.if He plays His Cards right this could be a very Good Year for Him.

Ellie said:

When was it confirmed??

deeplove said:

http://pub20.ezboard.com/...5708.topic

Ellie said:

Cool thanx.

should be real interesting.

hope i get 2 c it somehow . . .
if it is shown in OZ it wil get some re-name like :
"the story of Wacko Jacko"
or sum unintelligent shit like that.

but i hope i get 2 c it & hope it is good & is fair also.

:wOOt:

Great.can't wait. I saw a trailer last night for the show.Michael was climbing a tree and insisting Bashir do the same.

Dayum!

Joshy84au said:

Joshy, you gotta chill on the anti-MJ crowd. You have to accept that some people just don't like the guy. It shouldn't make any difference concerning your love for the man.

Ellie said:

Which american talk show hosts consider themselves journalists... I wonder?
David Letterman?
no he is a comedian.
Jay Leno?
no he is a comedian.
Jon Stewart?
no he is a comedian.
Craig Kilborn?
no all he is is a former news sportscaster
who wishes he was a comdian.
Conan O'Brian?
no he is a former comedy writer.
Well those are the major American talk show hosts - none of whom profess to be journalists.

Ellie - I think you need to come off your high horse & see that you are standing in horse shit.

ZAZA2 said:

WOW! you need to chill the fuck out! The last thing we need is another sycophantic Oprah type interview, which i think is what the guy meant.Bashir definately won't let it go that way (though i thought the Diane Sawyer interview in 95 was pretty good).

Well Oprah and Larry King are supposedly "legitimate" interviewers, but they never really challenge their subjects, do they? Not like Bashir or Paxman. Even Michael Parkinson who's like the British verison of Oprah with his celebrity guests, got Muhammed Ali yelling at him several separate times. Classic stuff.

The Diane Sawyer MJ interview was pure crap. What's the woman doing asking if he's gonna adopt Lisa Marie's children? She kept on the subject for ages and made them uncomfortable without reason. It wasn't an important issue. And who the hell is gonna ask a man if he has sex with his wife? Sure, people want to know, but she's a sensationalist and didn't do much research. Like Larry King with Jermaine the other week, I swear he was pretending not to know certain things so Jermaine could explain them, instead of bringing up the subject and asking him to elaborate on it (e.g. Vitiligo).

You act all excited now but when it airs you know y'all gonna be complaining on how he's portrayed, calling the display of his crazy antics a conspiracy in biased broadcasting.

Essence said:

But MJ had the final say on the edit.

Ellie said:

Ok you are right on it with Larry King. He is Mister Softball - he never asks tough questions. Thats why he has no trouble getting guests - they know he won't dig deep. He also gets almost non-existant ratings on a cable station.

Well CNN is aired around the whole world on cable stations. I mean has any Barbara Walters interview ever aired outside the USA? When she did MJ no-one ever got to see it. Oprah hardly gets aired at all these days, and when she does the shows are 6 months out of date. Diane Sawyer? I'd never even heard of the woman until she got the Lisa Marie/MJ interview in 1995, and have only since heard of her this year with Whitney (but that again, did not get aired, only clips on the news).

aside from Barbara Walters there isn't a real legit Journalist Stateside on a whole especially when MJ is the sbject matter.while MJ has His Issues&has brought alot of things on Himself the Media has also taken a Tabloid mentality way of dealing with Him that truly puzzles me sometimes.

Ellie said:

Awww a censored propaganda piece, that's even worse.

Essence said:

unless He is talking about the Music directly Mainly it won't be that new.I ain't trying too hear about His Personal Business&the Media thing.the only thing besides the music that interests me is how He learned too further Invest about those Catelogs&the Importance as a Older Artist about having your Masters.If anybody could give a Music 101 on the Music Business than I think MJ is as good a Person you can find IMHO.I learned about the Business from reading on His time especially His JAckson5 days.

Cloudbuster said:

reason i sed this,is a couple months ago they had some bullsh%$ on TV here about MJ's face . .. a whole god damned hour on MJ's plastic surgery!!
called "what happened 2 MJ's face?!" os some shit like that.
media keeps on doing negative shit . . . .& it is THEIR fault all the negativity is out their on MJ.

Joshy84au said:

the reason why they talk about MJ is because nobody really cares about anyone else.nobody has been around that long that still with the mere mention of there Name you get a instant Reaction.good or Bad MJ leaves a impression on most people