Saturday, October 22, 2011
Knox PR Manager’s Premature Crowing, Years Before Judicial Process Ends
Posted by Skeptical Bystander
Fake News By Marriott™
At bottom here, please read the fine report by Heidi Dietrich on the lies-filled world of David Marriott.
Now that the supertanker has pulled into port, the story about the creation of the narrative can finally begin to be told. We live in a world that needs an endless supply of stories. Just ask Scheherazade - whatever gets you through the night is alright.
In the world of Marriott as this opinion writer notes the media operates on the assumption that the American Public can’t remember further than the day before yesterday.
And in the business journal treatment of the Marriott PR Triumph (aka The Snow White Job), someone has forgotten that the script a month ago stated that there was no PR campaign and anyone who believed there was one was nothing but a guilter and a hater.
But now all that is swept aside.
Now Mr. Marriott, who looks like a cross between Colonel Sanders and a dumpling, can lumber up to the stage and accept kudos from one and all. After all, he was hired three days after Knox was arrested, for financial terms neither side will disclose.
See below for how the business journal spins the yarn:
Like I said, if you have the right publicist, anything is possible! The right publicist can make water flow uphill and, once that has happened, can advise you on the best way to make the money you will need to pay more for his services.
That’s the phase we’re in now, folks. If you ever get in trouble, this is the guy you want working for you, feeding chicken shit to the masses and calling it chicken delight.
Puget Sound Business Journal
Seattle PR firm reveals efforts to free Amanda Knox
By Heidi Dietrich – Contributing Writer
Oct 21, 2011, 8:00am
David Marriott never visited Amanda Knox during her four years in an Italian prison. He met her this month, when she stepped off a plane in Seattle.Yet for Knox and her family, Marriott was as important a player in her ordeal as anyone in the courtroom. As Knox’s publicist, beginning three days after her arrest, Marriott worked to convince the international public that she did not murder her British roommate while studying in Perugia.
“Hiring him was one of the smartest things we ever did,” said Curt Knox, Amanda’s father. The partnership between the Knox family and Marriott illustrates the potential of a public relations campaign to shift sentiment — and possibly even influence a verdict. With Amanda Knox safely back on American soil, Marriott and the family can now provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what went into the campaign.
Marriott, principal in the Seattle PR firm Gogerty Marriott, took on Knox in the face of a global onslaught of negative press. Once Italian authorities arrested the University of Washington exchange student on suspicion of killing Meredith Kercher, Knox was labeled a vicious “she-devil” and sex-crazed “Foxy Knoxy” in media around the world.
By enlisting her friends and family, and targeting specific news organizations to tell the family’s story, Marriott eventually helped reshape how the world saw the young American. And now, with Amanda safely back home in West Seattle, Marriott turns to a new set of challenges.
Tabloid photographers snap Amanda’s errands and walks. Marriott said he and the family don’t
try to hide her from the paparazzi, as that would just make her home another prison.Then, there’s the need for money. Curt Knox and Amanda’s mother, Edda Mellas — they are not
married to each other — have each said they’ve drained their retirement funds, taken out second mortgages and accrued credit card debt to pay for Amanda’s defense. So, in this new phase, lucrative media deals will be a consideration.At Marriott’s downtown Seattle office, he fields inquiries from book agents, screenwriters, news shows and movie studios. All want the Amanda Knox saga for their own. Some are offering big bucks. Marriott and the Knox family will be considering the offers, Marriott said — likely in a couple of weeks.
“There will be financial opportunities,” Marriott said. “I’ll be there to walk them through the opportunities.”
Both Marriott and Curt Knox say that Amanda wants to tell her story.
“Amanda will speak for herself,” Marriott said. “There are a bunch of options available to her, and the question is which will give her the chance to tell her story with dignity and class.”
Desperate for help
Though Marriott didn’t know it when he took on the project, the Amanda Knox trial was to
become the longest and most difficult project of his career.After Amanda’s arrest on Nov. 6, 2007, family members were bombarded with media requests.
Nobody knew how to handle them.Curt Knox reached out to an executive at the Macy’s Northwest regional office in Seattle, where he was employed. He asked for advice on a publicist who could handle a case of such magnitude, and the exec recommended Marriott. The PR veteran had made a name for himself in crisis management situations, such as the Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash in 2000 that killed all 88 passengers and crew.
Marriott signed on with the Knox family three days after Amanda’s arrest, for financial terms
neither side will disclose. Marriott immediately put out a press release directing all media and interview requests to him. It was, Curt Knox says, instant relief.Beyond giving the family breathing room, Marriott needed to develop a long-term media
strategy. The initial negative press reports on Amanda happened so quickly, Marriott was left
trying to redefine her persona. Many stories painted her as promiscuous and irresponsible.“Our job was to try to correct the misconceptions out there about who Amanda Knox was,”
Marriott said. “The British and Italian tabloids created this horrible person, and I felt it was our responsibility to tell the truth.”Anne Bremner, counsel for Friends of Amanda Knox, said Marriott faced an uphill challenge
when he took on the case. (Friends of Amanda Knox, a group of supporters, formed in 2008 to
run social media campaigns and raise money for her case. Marriott was not directly involved with the group.)“The initial perceptions were that it was a slam-dunk case against her,” Bremner said. “The most important thing for Dave was to shine light on the fact that there was no evidence.”
Initially, the Knox lawyers asked her parents to not give interviews, as they didn’t want it to seem as though the family was trying to prejudice the judge and jury.
And so, Marriott turned to Amanda’s friends from the UW and Seattle Prep. He enlisted them to
talk to the media about the diligent student and loving friend they knew. In the process, Marriott began to truly believe in Amanda Knox himself.“I really came to strongly believe her innocence,” Marriott said. “Kids don’t do a 180 on you
when they leave home. The stuff in the tabloids simply didn’t make logical sense.”Then, in early 2008, Marriott took the publicity campaign one step further by persuading
Amanda’s lawyers to allow the Knox family to give interviews.“I said, ‘We are getting killed here,’ ” Marriott said. “We need to have Mom and Dad.”
The lawyers consented, but cautioned Amanda’s parents against talking about case specifics.
They should instead focus on their daughter’s true personality. The Knox family, who’d felt
silenced for months, couldn’t wait to begin.“There was absolute character assassination,” Curt Knox said. “The only thing we could do as
parents was get the truth out there.”Amanda’s sister told a story about Amanda carrying a spider outside because she didn’t even
want to hurt an insect. Both parents gave interviews — starting with ABC — about their
daughter’s achievements in the classroom and soccer field.“Amanda’s mom and dad were untiring in their willingness to do whatever I recommended,”
Marriott said.Early on, Marriott decided that the national TV news magazine shows would be the best vehicle.
The format allowed for in-depth investigations and brought credibility to the family’s case.
“The news magazines were key to getting the story out on who Amanda really was,” Curt Knox
said. “That was a very smart maneuver on David’s part.”Marriott believes the turning point in public perception came in February 2008, when “20/20”
aired a program on Amanda Knox. ABC had sent its own expert to Perugia to examine the
evidence, and the resulting show raised serious doubts about the case against her. Several months later, “48 Hours” did the same thing.“‘48 Hours’ and ‘20/20’ were better partners for David Marriott and the Knox family than many
other media outlets,” said Barry Mitzman, professor of communication at Seattle University.“You can’t put the family through hundreds of interviews, so you need to make good choices.”
Marriott continued to deal with all media surrounding the case, but he never thought it would last as long as it did. In December 2009, an Italian court found Amanda Knox guilty of Kercher’s murder. Marriott believed the closing arguments of her lawyers were strong, and felt as shocked as her family at the verdict.“You can’t help but feel sunk,” Marriott said.
Marriott didn’t dwell on the disappointment. He continued to enlist supporters to rebut the
verdict.Finally, early this year, the court allowed an independent review of the DNA evidence used to
convict Amanda Knox. As testimony began to emerge on mistakes made in collecting and
analyzing the evidence, news stories began to shift significantly in her favor.On Oct. 3, the guilty verdict was overturned, allowing Amanda Knox to fly home to Seattle.
“The truth was my mission,” Marriott said. “The DNA review got us there.”
Whether Marriott’s efforts, and shifting public sentiment, influenced the Italian courts is up for debate. Marriott says it’s very hard to say if the mission to correct misconceptions about Amanda made a direct impact on the outcome. He noted, though, that the judge in the appeals trial opened with the remark, “The only thing we know for sure in this case is that Meredith Kercher is dead.”
“That signaled that he wasn’t buying into a lot of what had happened in the earlier trial,” Marriott said.
Coming home
When Amanda and her family arrived the next day at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, a
huge crowd greeted her. Bremner marvels at the fact that many broke into applause when
Amanda walked into the room.“They were clapping for her, and they were all press,” Bremner said. “What a change from four
years ago.”The Amanda Knox story may remain the most consuming case of Marriott’s career. It’s rare,
Marriott said, to have this kind of public interest over such an extended period of time. As a result of the attention, Marriott has received inquiries from several other potential clients.Marriott counts more than 6,700 Google News alerts for “Amanda Knox” that arrived over the
four years. Most of those alerts contained links to three or more stories. And those are just the English language articles.“There’s just so much hunger for information with this thing,” Marriott said. Marriott has formulated a media plan for the days going forward, but he won’t discuss details. He plans to be ready if the prosecution appeals the acquittal. He also wants to help Amanda find the best vehicle to tell her story, and advise her on when to do so.
David Domke, who chairs the UW communication department, said there’s every chance to
make a positive impression when Amanda chooses to speak out.“My sense is that they have the opportunity for a lot of goodwill toward Amanda,” Domke said.
“The fact that that’s there after the incredibly negative coverage she initially received is just remarkable to me.”And Kathleen Fearn-Banks, who teaches crisis communications at the UW, believes Knox could
impart what she learned during her ordeal. For example, Marriott spoke to Fearn-Banks’ class
about the risk of online postings that could be misconstrued. In Amanda Knox’s case, media
people culled photos and writings from her MySpace account, including the “Foxy Knoxy”
nickname.“I’m hoping that the lessons our students learned may be taught by Amanda now in media
appearances and perhaps writings she may do,” Fearn-Banks said.And then there’s the curiosity factor. “People around the world really want to know her story,” Bremner said.
If it’s up to Curt Knox, the 68-year-old Marriott will remain part of that effort until his daughter has followed this saga to the end.
“He’s not retiring,” Curt Knox said, “until he’s done with this.”
Amanda Knox timeline
Nov. 2, 2007: Meredith Kercher’s body found in Perugia apartment shared with Amanda Knox.
Nov. 6, 2007: Knox arrested.
Nov. 9, 2007: David Marriott hired.
Feb. 1, 2008: “20/20” story.
April 10, 2008: “48 Hours” story.
Jan. 16, 2009: Trial begins.
Dec. 4, 2009: Knox found guilty of murder and sexual assault; sentenced to 26 years.
Nov. 24, 2010: Appeal trial begins.
June 29, 2011: Expert discredits DNA evidence.
Oct. 3, 2011: Court clears Knox.
Posted by Skeptical Bystander on 10/22/11 at 12:47 AM in Defendants in court, Amanda Knox, The officially involved, The wider contexts, Seattle context, Hoaxes Knox & team, 20 No-PR hoax, Hoaxers from 2007, Knox-Marriott PR, More hoaxers
Comments
10/21/11
Thanks, Skeptical Bystander, for an incisive look at the Marriott game. He looks jolly and sweet like Santa but most bad children get coal in their stocking or a bundle of switches. What can he do to spin straw into gold? Look what he’s got for a client. Can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
Steve Moore on his gmancasefileblog has a crazy story of “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”. He illustrates it with a picture of a girl in pigtails sitting on Santa’s lap. It looks like a dream image of Marriott with Amanda sitting on his lap asking for Christmas wishes. Oh, they’ll roll in the money now, Ho Ho Ho. Or could end up like the Santa in “Die Hard.” Like you say, it’s not over yet.
Marriott looks like a jolly Scotsman, the one who conceived “Jurassic Park”. What a titanic disaster. Yes, the PR was poured on for Miss Trixie Knoxie, she couldn’t hurt a fly, she loved dogs, her parents were barely divorced, she went to a Catholic school, she worked three jobs, she made A’s, she spoke languages, she rock climbed, all is well in her la la world. Facts soon revealed a very different person.
And like you point out, Vargas tried to airbrush away the formidable and reserved Arline Kercher. She’s the real mother, weeping in private, patiently waiting for due process justice, her heart broken worse than anybody’s. Yet she remains powerful in her silence as the most vital person involved. Nobody can take that away from her.
Her youngest daughter is the light of this dark “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” play. We got the big weepy boozy eyed Liz Edda Taylor and the hapless Curt Burton who can find a sharp tailored dress jacket now that he’s high viz TV fodder, but rebelled in the courtroom. Now it’s gametime, Get the Guests.
And now Foxy has her bodyguard, a la Kate plus Eight. Bodyguards tend to fall in love with their object of protection. My liege, I live to serve. Choke.
I think Steve Moore is perfect for Amanda Knox. Perfect. They deserve each other. Steve Saint Nick, nicely done.
Posted by Hopeful on 10/22/11 at 02:15 AM | #
They’re so bloody transparent dept: As news reports appear of a multi-million dollar bidding war between ABC and CBS for an exclusive first interview, we get false news about how the Kerchers stand to make millions too.
The media gives sleazebags a good name.
Posted by Ergon on 10/22/11 at 02:39 AM | #
Wow those FOA comments below the Puget Sound puff piece are defensive. Bluster wont make this thing go away. Maybe Marriott should have shut up until Amanda emerges from the attic looking and sounding somewhat normal if that’s possible.
She may not be thanking him in the long run for the polarization and wide perception of callousness and unpunished guilt and illegitmacy he has created. And the watchfulness of a million eyes waiting for her to lose it.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/22/11 at 02:42 AM | #
Does anyone know how you access the comments on
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2011/10/20/seattle-pr-firm-reveals-efforts-to.html#comments
Posted by starsdad on 10/22/11 at 03:10 AM | #
I told you all the debating sites seem to have been done by the same web developer, same format etc.
Posted by starsdad on 10/22/11 at 03:42 AM | #
Hi Starsdad. The Puget Sound link is correct. I can only see the comments using Internet Explorer, not Seamonkey (Firefox).
You can see Marriott wafflng on on YouTube as well. Seems to me simple minded stuff. I dont see that he had any influence over the appeal verdict.
I’m reliably told that more than any other single factor it was the parlous state of Italian politics (and the economy) that mattered which is why we several times posted on Berlusconi.
Nobody in that universe has ever heard of David Marriott. And the revelation of the millioin dollar PR campaign by Mignini at the appeal came as quite a shock to Italy. News to them.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/22/11 at 04:12 AM | #
It’s a who’s who of FOA in the comments section of that bizjournals article. I would have given them a piece of my mind except you have to be on facebook to post. When is Doug Preston going to give it up with the medieval metaphors? Someone might think he’s obsessed with the occult. Candace can’t wrap her head around the idea that a commenter who has UW on her facebook ID, who writes “I think…”, is actually speaking for themselves and not for university.
Posted by brmull on 10/22/11 at 04:51 AM | #
brmull. “Someone might think he’s obsessed with the occult. “
Sure. Kermit did! Click through to the second half of these slides here to see Preston and Mignini compared.
http://truejustice.org/ee/documents/perugia/Kermit13Railroad-to-Hell.pps
Preston is totally obsessed with the occult and Mignini’s interests are plain vanilla in comparison.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/22/11 at 05:06 AM | #
It is the absolute lack of integrity, the totally base moral compass, the sheer absence of respect, dignity and simple honesty that is incomprehensible.
To go to these lengths - described above and in the post below - to paint over evil and wickedness is, apart from denying the innocent justice and the guilty a chance at redemption, to descend far out of the reach of all that is the nature of the true human spirit.
Posted by thundering on 10/22/11 at 05:16 AM | #
From an NPR transcript:
KASTE: And Joe Starr, a friend of Knox’s father’s, dismisses the talk of media manipulation
JOE STARR: There was no big P.R. campaign. You heard this over and over and over. This is just a middle-class family. We’re just regular people.
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/04/141031364/friends-of-amanda-elated-knox-is-freed-from-prison
Posted by Jeff Friend on 10/22/11 at 05:37 AM | #
Joe Starr needs to get on script. Marriott himself has now spun his own spin. It’s official. There was a PR campaign from Day 3. Neither the middle class family nor the spinner is willing to discuss the terms.
Posted by Skeptical Bystander on 10/22/11 at 05:54 AM | #
This week i was in the Doctors surgery here in Italy where i live. I read last weeks copy of GENTE magazine which featured a memorial to Amanda Knox. Including glamour shots of AK provided by Madison Paxton.
Frankly appalled i remember reading what Wendy Murphy wrote WHATS MORE GALLING THAN AK AND RS MAKING OUT IN FRONT OF THE CRIME SCENE just hours after the murder of Meredith. Well in GENTE there was a double page spread and big photograph of two of her stepsisters (the pretty ones) in front of Via della Pergola 7 wearing hotpants. These people are like dogs who are marking out their territory. That have not a clue about decency or decorum.
I have never seen a photograph of anyone else connected with the murder house or on TV either. Only the investigators and police. None of them speak publicly about the horrible crime and they keep a low profile. But i read in one book about the case that as soon as the other residents of the cottage heard about the murder they all thought of AK. These are people who knew her personally. But AK and RS have been out there in front of the house like they are claiming it. Just like the half sisters.
Amanda Knox is a person who you would not look twice at if you saw her on a bus or at the mall. She is certainly no raging beauty. She is the only product of the union of Edda and Curt and with much prettier sisters her type would be vying for attention. Her look is more a wholesome girl next door which belies her depraved dark side.
Makes me remember some dialogue from the movie American Beauty part 8/9. Angela says WELL AT LEAST I AM NOT UGLY. Ricky answers right back YES YOU ARE. AND YOU’RE BORING AND YOU’RE ORDINARY AND YOU KNOW IT. This is the real AK.
When she met the wicked and willing Raffelle Sollicitto it was dynamite. She moved in with him that very night. They were inseparable. He has lied and lied and what about when the police told him there were traces of Meredith on the knife found in his kitchen he said Meredith had cut her finger when preparing food at his flat. All these lies told to the investigators in the beginning of the investigation point to them.
The thing that is sickening is AK get up in Court in the little girl pleading voice and has the gall to say Meredith was her friend. Well AK and RS did not attend the Memorial Service at the church and fews after the murder they were shopping for lingerie. Thats what i mean these people just have got a clue as what is correct just like the parents and the sisters. She could have bought underwear anytime but not at that time.
RS has written to his father that she lives in her own little world and has the ability to compartmentalise everything in her life. I dont think the Sollecittos will be wanting to socialise with the Knoxes
One of your other contributors wrote about AK’s downward spiral into profound depravity. He was very right. She will have to be in a very tight leash and my bet is we will all be reading about her in the future just like Joren Van der Sloot. He go away with murder but years down the track he in a south American jail for another murder.
How could she write a book. She cancelled most of what she said to the investigators except the part about Patrick being the killer.And even after she told her mother Patrick was innocent the mother did nothing. So its easy to see that the problems started a long time before AK got on a plane for Italy.
A book about her boring prison life.
Posted by mason2 on 10/22/11 at 12:00 PM | #
Whats this?
Sky news have prepared a page for an Amanda Knox/Martin Bashir interview. HA, HA, HA…..very unlikely!
http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Martin_Bashir_And_Amanda_Knox
Posted by starsdad on 10/22/11 at 01:08 PM | #
Does GENTE magazine have any connection with PEOPLE in the US? I wonder how much the magazine paid for the pictures, because nothing comes free from Knox Inc anymore.
Would Sky News pay Knox for an interview? I’m certainly not planning to watch any paid Knox interviews, but if it was Martin Bashir I might watch.
Posted by brmull on 10/22/11 at 01:19 PM | #
Max Clifford advised Amanda Knox to prove her innocence before making capital. This is the advice he gave to Louise Woodward. He arranged an interview with Martin Bashir on BBC Panorama programme. She did not come across as conclusively innocent and quickly faded from the public interest. Is Marriott in the same league as Max Clifford?
Posted by starsdad on 10/22/11 at 02:50 PM | #
@brmull none of them will be allowed to ask her any hard questions. It would be pretty galling for the Kerchers if she were to appear on TV on this side of the Atlantic.
I wonder how all of this has affected Knox psychologically. Curt Knox has said she will not be going for councelling - that doesn’t surprise me. I’m sure that they’d be concerned about what might come out during a session. Just on that point, would a psychologist be obliged to ‘spill the beans’ if she confessed during the session or is that covered off in patient confidentiality?
Posted by Melanie on 10/22/11 at 09:51 PM | #
What is “Amanda Knox and Viagra In Depth”?
http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Amanda_Knox_And_Viagra
I’m starting to get the feeling that a Martin Bashir interview is more of a computer glitch than a real possibility. She’s going to do a paid softball interview with her American TV enablers. And the Knox fans will watch in droves because it helps soothe their nagging doubts about her innocence.
melanie, In the US a therapist will only turn you in if you are an active danger to self or to others. Most therapists would try to help her rationalize what she did so she can drink her pina coladas in peace. The days of deep psychoanalysis are over.
Posted by brmull on 10/22/11 at 10:45 PM | #
I suggest he’s shooting himself in the foot…or head. In his eagerness to make money out of springing AK from jail [as he sees it - and I’m sure his PR services played a part in it], he is exposing AK to the sort of scrutiny she could do without. And if there is an appeal in Italy against the appeal court’s decision, Marriott’s words will be studied in depth. All he’s after now is winning new business from new clients and perhaps a few bucks from the AK roadshow, and waving his wonky ego around. By his words he has exposed an achilles heel. Nice one, Marriott.
Posted by nopassingby on 10/23/11 at 01:12 AM | #
I, like many others, have been reading the information on this site for many months in silence. I have great respect for those of you who have spent countless hours gathering facts and posting them for the rest of us. The evidence speaks clearly as to the guilt of AK and RS. One can only hope that RG will eventually reveal the entire truth about what happened on that terrible night. Meredith is at peace and I pray that her precious family may get some closure soon.
I seem to remember reading something about AK having a history of violent fantasies…specifically an incident where she had a couple of her fellow college students (male) terrorize a female fellow student in some sort of hazing…a simulated sexual assault type situation. Can someone please expand on this for me, as I have searched repeatedly and cannot seem to find it.
If this is indeed a documented incident, I would like to know why the media has not picked up on this particular fact. It would support motive for AK if she planned/participated in something like this previously. It would also make it easier for her blind supporters to doubt her portrayal of a naive innocent girl. Thank you in advance for your help.
Posted by Valkyrie on 10/23/11 at 08:53 AM | #
“...Ora mi resta soltanto la corona di giustizia che il Signore, il giudice giusto, mi consegnerà in quel giorno; non solo a me, ma anche a tutti coloro che hanno atteso con amore la sua manifestazione ...â€
“...As for the rest, there is laid up for me the crown of the righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all those who have longed for his appearing….â€
(2 Timothy 4:-8)
No comment.
Posted by ncountryside on 10/23/11 at 12:37 PM | #
As you say, ncountryside, ‘No comment’.
Posted by thundering on 10/23/11 at 02:11 PM | #
Hi nopassingby. A very insightful comment.
“I suggest he’s shooting himself in the foot…or head. In his eagerness to make money out of springing AK from jail [as he sees it - and I’m sure his PR services played a part in it], he is exposing AK to the sort of scrutiny she could do without. And if there is an appeal in Italy against the appeal court’s decision, Marriott’s words will be studied in depth. All he’s after now is winning new business from new clients and perhaps a few bucks from the AK roadshow, and waving his wonky ego around. By his words he has exposed an achilles heel. Nice one, Marriott.”
The appeal verdict is hanging by a very thin thread - Hellman’s garbled explanation in court and after, and his report due in just over two months which must show why Micheli and Massei and 40 judges and the Supreme Court all managed to get it so wrong.
First thing would not seem to be for Marriott to gloat so publicly and pump his brand to his own financial and legacy advantage long before the final touchdown.
First thing would seem to be by all means available to try to dispel the huge cloud of illegitimacy, especially in Italy, where few are accepting on the many blogs that the main verdict was an obvious given.
Prior to the last days of the appeal (when Mignini in court decried it as “the million dollar campaign”) few realised in Italy that under their radar the PR manipulation was going on. Now you can bet your sweet patootie that the Puget Sound Business Journal that Skep links to will be put into Italian and circulated as a sign that the playing field was not level..
The smarter PR types would have especially shut up now and tried to go to earth and proceed forward with more stealth. Marriott seems to have very little talent for the soothing reassuring persuasive type of campaign. Maybe going forward he is not the right man for the Knox job.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/23/11 at 02:53 PM | #
Hi Peter Quennell, i’m in the pr business - hence the insight that you speak of. hope it is. how i speak is really how i see it. Marriott was/is being immoral in his AK campaign. in his own PR campaign, now overtly under way, he is being crass and, damagingly for him, heavy handed/gloating.
Posted by nopassingby on 10/23/11 at 08:43 PM | #
Could it be that Marriot is taking the cream before the milk goes sour?
Posted by starsdad on 10/23/11 at 09:12 PM | #
As Thundering said above, it’s “the absolute lack of integrity” which stuns so much. From Knox herself up to the PR firms and the media, it’s almost as if they’re thumbing their noses at the innocent. It’s truly stunning in its awfulness.
Posted by James Higham on 10/23/11 at 09:31 PM | #
I’m already seeing a sappier remake of “Not Without My Daughter”. Who will play David Marriott? Perhaps Ian McKellan.
Posted by brmull on 10/23/11 at 11:03 PM | #
Although I cringe every time I open TJMK and see this man’s face again, it helps to realize what was actually going on with the PR campaign and the goldmine that this guy saw coming in a story of the American girl victim in the evil Italian police and prosecutor’s clutches. However I think the public interest in AK is fading as new stories take precedence on the websites. I mean, we’ve got the Dr. Murray trial on. They still haven’t found baby Lisa as far as I know. The Casey A story interest is fading into the past too. I don’t know if they really can keep milking the AK victim story that much longer unless some really interesting new twist occurs in the situation. I’m sure they will try to find an angle.
Posted by believing on 10/24/11 at 02:33 AM | #
For academic interest only:
I have just had this, from a Stefaan Willaert, on October 24th, 2011 at 15:05:
MR Higham,
Whether or not the Kerchers are suing Knox, I don’t care,
however in your article you keep pointing the finger to AK and RF as if they are murderers, while being acquitted.
Which is a far bigger lie then the claim you’re attacking.
Stop pointing the finger to innocents.
There was ZERO evidence against them.
I replied:
There were hundreds of pieces of evidence which, taken as a whole, were overwhelming – hence the conviction reviewed by 19 justices, not two on a fraction of the evidence.
The three are convicted killers and the evidence stands. The temporary release [before the Cassation] is no reason to alter the description. If the Supreme court upholds the appeal in its entirety, this blog will alter the description to reflect that.
Meanwhile the appalling slurs and lies of the Knox camp need to be rebutted as and when they come out. This one about suing is just one of them.
Let me repeat the description of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito:
“convicted killers who have been temporarily releasedâ€
There is nothing in that which is inaccurate and great thought went into those words. They were convicted killers, they have now been released but it is temporary because the Cassation can well see the case reopened and the original verdict reinstated, with or without changed penalties.
This thing is still very much alive.
Posted by James Higham on 10/24/11 at 05:46 PM | #
Hello Believing
To keep the case alive and therefore the interest of the general public (sic) I believe someone such as this toad will imply guilt in some way. Perhaps through Nancy Grace. I can’t see any other way, but perhaps I am wrong.
When you consider the Casey Anthony evidence and the case against Knox there is no comparison.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 10/24/11 at 07:07 PM | #
James Higham that is an excellent answer. The Know camp must be rebutted. It is galling that AK got a limo to Fiumecino Airport and a police escort to boot. She must have felt like the Madonna. All courtesy of the Italo American society top brass who love her had visited her and given expensive gifts to her.
Then the Sollecittos have been trying to pervert the course of justice and that is why Vanessa Sollecitto was sacked from the Carabiniere.
Am sick of hearing Edda Mellas say there was no evidence of AK in Merediths room. They had 12 hours to clean up the crime scene. They were still cleaning when the Postal Police arrived and they were shocked. RS lied and said her had already called the Carabiniere but records showed he lied and had called his sister who happened to be a Carabiniere who told him to hang up and call the police but he still hadnt dont it by the time the police arrived.
Wendy Murphy asked WHAT TYPE OF PERSON WOULD ACCUSE AN INNOCENT MAN AND LEAVE HIM IN JAIL, My question is what type of person can return to the crime scene and re arrange the scene as Meredith died with her eyes wide open. No wonder they covered her face they would have to be psycho moving around the room with AKs lamp checking the details. Thats the type.
If it is true what another contributor wrote yesterday that he had heard that AK had violent fantasies at college and there was an incident, probably by now Marriott has ensured the report has been lost in the floods. Mason2
Posted by mason2 on 10/24/11 at 07:09 PM | #
One thing is for sure : AK is really, REALLY lucky she didn´t commit her crime at home:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gTJgwpcs_Y&feature=related
or this (hehehe) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1vps6dKcbQ
Posted by aethelred23 on 10/24/11 at 08:26 PM | #
Actually for AK this is a bad strategy. Keeping the case open in the public mind is going to be counterproductive as the propaganda machine is going to demand their pound of flesh very soon. They have done an excellent job and has to be paid now. Anything they are doing now is just an extra.
I do not know whether the lawyers and consultants and experts and the bloggers have already been paid. If yes, the PR machine will take any additional campaigning as an extra and remember that it will be much extra. It is one thing to influence uninterested people but now quite a few people have woken up and taken notice. Changing an existing perception (about AK) will cost much more extra.
Of course the PR machine will advise otherwise. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Free advice to AK: Do some penance for 2-4 years and get back to a decent spiritual life!
Tu n’ire pas loin, la porte est ferme au dehors- Sartre
Posted by chami on 10/24/11 at 10:39 PM | #
aethelred23 I did not watch the entire video clip but it certainly plays upon the emotions in the beginning when one sees children who look even younger than 13 or 14 in jail, without parents to guide them or shelter them from harm. Life sentences without parole for such young kids is somewhat hard for me to believe. I feel that I must research that further to judge that situation. One thing that is sure is that unfortunately there are young teens who commit horrific crimes. One young man or child of 16 just shot dead two British tourists last year here in my city, for no apparent reason except that they were walking around at 3am trying to find a breakfast place. I believe this boy was out on parole at the time. I have heard of younger children than that purposefully setting upon another child and killing him or her. It’s hard to believe but it happens and of course there can be mitigating circumstances, bullying, horrible upbringing, drugs etc. But it does have to be judged on a case by case basis. I think the age between late teens to early 20s is one of the most dangerous, when teens or young adults are not yet mature but think they are, and leave the home or are much less supervised but are still impulsive, prone to taking risks, and not realizing the consequences. Surely most of us have experienced that in our lifetimes, either personally or with a family member.
Posted by believing on 10/24/11 at 11:31 PM | #
@brmull
With regard to your post above.
Q: Did the scientific police actually state they checked outside for broken glass and signs of tracks, and DNA on the window sill?
Gioia Brocci, photographic agent of the Questura of Perugia (I think she is part of the forensic team).
Testified “We observed both the wall…underneath the window and all of the vegetation underneath the window, and we noted that there were no traces on the wall, no traces of earth, of grass, nothing, no streaks, nothing at all, and none [39] of the vegetation underneath the window appeared to have been trampled; nothing†(p. 142 declarations of Gioia Brocci). (51)
In other words there was nothing to photograph! Why didn’t she photograph the nothingness, stupid woman. Isn’t it wonderful to have hindsight!
Posted by starsdad on 10/25/11 at 04:49 PM | #
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