EDITORIAL: The very welcome death of Bell Pottinger
Is former Bell Pottinger CEO James Henderson set to have a wonderful career as a house husband to Heather Kerzner?
What you saw this week were the first signs of cardiac arrest at Bell Pottinger, the dark arts spin doctors whose client list includes such odious scumbags as Augusto Pinochet and the family of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. It is somewhat ironic that its demise has been caused not by creating fake propaganda videos for the US Pentagon meant to dupe Iraqis, or selling "access" to British politicians. Instead, it is Bell Pottinger’s work for the Gupta family — sowing the "white monopoly capital" narrative in SA to deflect attention from the pernicious capture of state institutions by President Jacob Zuma’s friends — that has been the fatal blow. On Tuesday, the UK’s Public Relations & Communications Association (PRCA) terminated Bell Pottinger’s membership — the most serious sanction it has ever levied. It said the firm’s campaign was, "by any reasonable standard of judgment, likely to inflame racial discord in SA". It also sent its ruling to PR associations in 54 countries, includ...
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