Rebekah Brooks

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Rebekah Brooks
Born	27 May 1968 (1968-05-27) (age 41) Cheshire, England
Occupation	Journalist, Newspaper editor
Spouse(s)	Ross Kemp (2002–2009) (divorced) Charlie Brooks (13 June 2009-present)
Notable credit(s)	The Sun

Rebekah Brooks (née Wade, born 27 May 1968) is a British journalist and newspaper editor. She is chief executive of News International, having previously served as editor of The Sun.^[1] She was married to the actor Ross Kemp from 2002 until their divorce in 2009^[2] and is now married to Charlie Brooks.

Contents 1 Career in journalism 2 Personal life 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Career in journalism

Wade decided she wanted to be a journalist from the age of fourteen.^[3] After attending Appleton Hall County Grammar School in Warrington,^[4] she worked for the French magazine L'architecture d'aujourd'hui in Paris, before returning to Britain to work for Eddie Shah's Messenger Group.^[3] In Wade's entry in Who's Who she states that she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, but since she was working at the age of 20 for the News of the World, it is unlikely that she did a full degree there.^[5]

She joined the News of the World in 1989 as a secretary, and rose through the ranks, first as a feature writer for its 'Sunday' magazine, before eventually becoming the paper's deputy editor.^[3] In 1998 she transferred to the News of the World's daily counterpart, The Sun, to become its deputy editor, where she reportedly unsuccessfully attempted to persuade David Yelland to get rid of the Page Three Girls.^[6] She then returned to the News of the World in 2000 as editor; at the time, she was the youngest editor of a national British newspaper.^[7]

While at the News of the World, she oversaw its controversial campaign of "naming and shaming" convicted child sex offenders, after the murder of Sarah Payne.^[8] The paper's decision led to angry mobs terrorising those they suspected of being child sex offenders,^[9] which included several cases of mistaken identity and one instance where a paediatrician had her house vandalised.^[10][11] The campaign was labelled "grossly irresponsible" journalism by the then Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, Tony Butler,^[3] but Wade defended the paper's actions in a rare interview on the BBC's Breakfast with Frost, stating that it was "only right that the public have controlled access" to information on sex offenders.^[12] The paper's already strong sales held up well under her leadership, while those of rival Sunday newspapers The People and the Sunday Mirror fell more sharply.^[13]

In January 2003, she returned to The Sun, replacing her former boss David Yelland, to become its first female editor.^[13] On Wade's first day as editor the Page Three girl was Rebekah Parmar-Teasdale - the caption to the picture was "Rebekah from Wapping".^[4] Soon after becoming editor, Wade ran the headline "Bonkers Bruno Locked Up" concerning the mental health problems of former heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno. The next day the Sun ran a 600 word reply from the head of the mental health charity Sane, and since then has adopted a style guide on covering mental health stories prepared by the same charity. Wade and her husband spent a day with the head of Sane and made donations to the charity.^[14][15]

During a March 2003 appearance before the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport as part of an inquiry into privacy issues, Wade stated that her newspaper had paid police officers for information.^[16] Alison Clark, the director of corporate affairs at News International, later stated: "It is not company practice to pay police for information."^[16]

Wade has been chairman of the organisation Women in Journalism,^[3] and has served as a judge for the "Guardian Student Media Awards" in November 2003^[17] and the tenth annual Police Bravery Awards in July 2005, the latter of which was sponsored by The Sun.^[18]

In June 2009 it was announced that she will leave The Sun in September 2009 to become chief executive of the newspaper's parent company, News International.^[1] Dominic Mohan is to succeed her as editor of The Sun.^[19]

[edit] Personal life

Wade became engaged to actor Ross Kemp (best known as Grant Mitchell in EastEnders) in 1996. They married in June 2002 in Las Vegas.^[20] On 3 November 2005, it was reported that Wade had been arrested following an alleged assault on her husband. She was later released without charge and the police took no further action.^[20] The Sun had been running a campaign against domestic violence at the time.^[4] The couple had spent the previous evening in the company of the former Cabinet Minister David Blunkett, who had resigned for the second time on that day.^[21]

It emerged via a limited number of publications including Private Eye and The Independent^[22] that the couple had separated. This was not widely reported in the British press. In the March 7th 2008 issue of Private Eye they refer to her "paramour" former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks. In the Guardian June 5 2009 it was confirmed that she would marry Brooks.[1] On June 24, 2009 The Independent reported that Wade and Brooks married in a lakeside ceremony; she took his surname, which she had not with Kemp.[2]

Wade was at one time considered to be a friend of Tony and Cherie Blair,^[23] as well as Sheryl Gascoigne, the ex-wife of footballer Paul Gascoigne.^[6] She also attended the Prince of Wales' 50th birthday party.^[3]

[edit] See also

• News Corporation
• News Limited
• Rupert Murdoch

[edit] References

Media offices
Preceded by Phil Hall	Editor of the News of the World 2000–2003	Succeeded by Andy Coulson
Preceded by David Yelland	Editor of The Sun 2003–2009	Succeeded by Dominic Mohan

v • d • e Editors of the The Sun 1964: Sydney Jacobson · 1965: Dick Dinsdale · 1969: Larry Lamb · 1972: Bernard Shrimsley · 1975: Larry Lamb · 1981: Kelvin MacKenzie · 1994: Stuart Higgins · 1998: David Yelland · 2003: Rebekah Wade · 2009: Dominic Mohan