Guest Author - Joanna Czechowska
In 1995, British journalist Martin Bashir was working for the reputable BBC current affairs show Panorama when he got the call to come to Kensington Palace to interview Princess Diana. It was unprecedented access to the Princess, who was then the world’s most famous and photographed woman. The interview turned out to be wide-ranging, touching on the Princess’s troubles with bulimia, postnatal depression and self-harm to Prince Charles’ and her own infidelities. The show was watched by millions all over the world and produced the famous quote from the Princess, ‘There were three people in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.’
Obviously, the interview brought Martin Bashir worldwide fame. He had been trusted enough by the Princess of Wales to give an interview where she poured out her heart. Bashir’s career was on the up and up. In 1999, he left the BBC and started working for ITV on a show called Tonight with Trevor McDonald. He interviewed many other celebrities but in 2003 he again managed to pull off a major coup – an interview with reclusive pop star Michael Jackson.
Since Jackson’s death, ITV has shown the interview again. The meeting was originally set up by Jackson’s friend the famous spoon-bender Uri Geller and the fact Bashir had been trusted by Princess Diana no doubt helped. Jackson was a big fan of the Princess. For eight months during 2002 and 2003 Bashir was granted unprecedented access to Michael Jackson, his home and his children.
The style of interviewing was quite hard-hitting. Long gone are the days in Britain when interviewers would say reverentially to politicians, ‘Is there anything you would like to say to the nation?’ Nowadays, interviewers can be brusque, hostile and sometimes even rude. Bashir did not exactly pull any punches when talking to Jackson and his voiceover commentary was frequently highly critical.
Bashir spent time asking Jackson about his childhood and his relationship with his father. This Jackson obviously found difficult and frequently hid his face. His questions about the plastic surgery were dismissed as ‘lies’ by Jackson. But the part of the interview that caused the most damage to Jackson’s reputation was the fact that he admitted inviting young boys to sleep in his bed. Jackson insisted it was simply a loving gesture, but Bashir implied, through the voiceover, that a man approaching 50 years of age should not have young children sharing his bed.
Bashir attracted criticism at the time. The New York Times called his style of journalism, ‘Callous self interest masked as sympathy.’ Since his untimely death, interest in Jackson has escalated and it was fascinating to see the interview again with the benefit of hindsight. At one point, while viewing an Egyptian sarcophagus, Jackson said he didn’t want to be buried because he wanted to live forever. In another segment, he is shown carelessly spending huge sums of money, to the delight of the hand-rubbing shop owner, on gaudy objets d’art. This was amazing in light of revelations about his financial situation.
The interview did make compulsive viewing but Jackson’s fans have ciriticised it and Bashir for contributing to the pop star’s misery.
