local news

Attards expected to be released from confinement

By David Lindsay

It is expected that the Attard family will be released from their self-induced confinement in their Xaghra, Gozo home today or tomorrow – following the full publication of their story in the UK.

The Attards’ seclusion since arriving in Gozo last Sunday, and their consequent maltreatment of the local press, seems to have incurred the wrath of the Maltese media, who were formerly the Attards’ strongest supporters.

Last week, public relations mastermind Briton Max Clifford said that the family would be prohibited from speaking to any media not involved in the lucrative deal he had brokered on behalf of the Attards.

He added that the family would remain in hiding with journalists representing the media groups that had forked out an immense sum of money for their exclusive story.

However, the media siege holding the Attards housebound is expected to come to an end today, with the publication of Now magazine and the broadcasting of Granada’s Tonight with Trevor McDonald.

Media relations
Malta now waits to see how the Maltese media will react to the family after being shunned by the Attards, who will now be able to walk the streets of their hometown.
Throughout their trying ordeal, the Maltese media had strongly supported the Attards, however, the attitude expressed toward them since their return home has perhaps ostracised these former supporters.

In a statement released last week, the Malta Press Club emphasised that journalists should not be discriminated against on the basis of financial considerations, adding, "While every person has a right to privacy, the Attard family forfeited this right when they sold their story to a section of the foreign press."

Explaining how the Maltese media are aggrieved at the treatment they had received at the hands of the Attard family, "The Malta Press Club will never accept that journalists are insulted, threatened and abused while carrying out their duties as happened last Sunday by members of the Attard family."

Gracie’s father, Michael Attard earlier this week complained to a foreign journalist, "We are prisoners in our own home. It is awful."

Perhaps the Attards were unaware of what, exactly, they were letting themselves in for as a result of the attractive cash packet offered to them by a group of UK media organisations.

However, a good deal of scepticism over the media deal has been raised both here and abroad, with people asking whether the family had literally sold off their daughter’s right to privacy. Others are wondering what exactly the Attards will do with the proceeds from the lucrative deal.

Since their return home last Sunday, the Attards’ still unfinished three storey home has had its windows completely draped with sheets, effectively preventing access from prying eyes and camera lenses of foreign and local media, who are all bustling for a chance photo opportunity.

Upon their arrival at MIA last Sunday, the Attards successfully evaded the waiting Maltese media by feigning to board a Gozo-bound helicopter, instead making a dash for the Gozo ferry.

Journalists and photographers from News of the World and Granada Television - both participants in the media deal – had accompanied the family from Manchester to their home in Gozo.

Upon arriving in Gozo, the family had raced through the streets in a nondescript white van, which had its windows covered by sheets and actually came close to running down members of the local press on its approach to the house, where the family has remained locked up to date.

The local media were snubbed by the family, who refused to slip into eyeshot or even give a cursory comment to the eagerly waiting local press - a situation that has persisted all week.

The deal
The proceeds of the record breaking cross-media deal that the Attards signed with News of the World, Now magazine, Granada TV and The Mail on Sunday is said to be going into a trust for Gracie to pay for her medical care. The Attards have also said that they will use some of the money to give a donation to St Mary’s Hospital in Manchester, where the twins were operated on.

Publicist Max Clifford had brokered the Attards’ deal - which will see around GBP350,000, increasing to some GBP500,000 with international syndication rights.

The family’s story, together with their return home, has been covered in The News of the World, The Mail on Sunday, Now magazine and Granada Television’s Tonight with Trevor McDonald.

The package, considered to be the biggest cross-media deal ever, involves interviews with Gracie’s parents and photographs of the 10-month-old Gracie.

Jane Ennis, editor-in-chief of Now, commented last week that the scale of the deal was unusual, adding that the magazine planned to run its interview and photographs with the Attards over six pages.

Ms Ennis added, "Practically every set of pictures of celebrities which appear in magazines are the subject of cross media deals. But it has never been done on this scale before."

The media organisations involved stated that they would share syndication proceeds with the couple and there is also substantial international interest in the story from the media in both Japan and the US.