A DAY Alan Hale would never forget began with a phone call at 9.01am.
“Alan? Help! Please?”
“Kate?”
“Yes. It’s Kate. Help! We’re under siege and you will probably be as well when you leave your cabin.”
Hale was baffled.
“I don’t understand.”
“Haven’t you seen the Daily News?” she asked.
“No, not yet. It will be outside … in a bag on the cabin door,” he told her. "Well, they will be outside. I ordered seven so you and the girls could each have one.”
“Well don’t bother!”
“Why?” he asked.
“Everyone on the ship’s got one. They printed hundreds of complimentary copies.”
“I don’t understand,” said Hale.
“Don’t keep saying that. Go and take a look and ring me back please?”
“OK.”
He put the phone down and darted to the door. Outside was a ship’s carrier bag with seven copies of the News. He dragged one out and spread it on the bed.
“Oh, my God!”
Under the headline “DANCING WITH THE CAPTAIN”, his picture of the girls and James Norton on the gleaming bridge of the White Satin was spread in full colour over the whole eight columns on the front page.
The sub-head read: “Kate and her high-kicking team find a knight on White Satin”.
Hale also recognised the picture underneath … his own.
And the by-line: Words and pictures By ALAN HALE, Reporter of the Year. And alongside his picture and by-line the caption in 16 pt type:
“First the good news. We make no excuses or apologies for the prominence given to Alan Hale’s delightful picture on this chilly Saturday morning.
“Credit crunches, stock market crashes, job losses, cheating politicians, acts of terrorism around the world and continuing conflict in the Middle East must, of course, be reported.
“But, hey, why should we in Britain always have to show our gloomy faces? What’s wrong with occasionally spotlighting smiling people who still realise that life is for living … and enjoying?
“And that includes the 4,000 people on the maiden voyage of the world’s biggest passenger ship, the £500 million British-owned White Satin, for example.
“So let’s salute Captain James Norton, master of this super vessel, for entering into the spirit of the occasion and former Daily News reporter Kate Hammond and her ‘Dancing Chic to Cheek’ team of DeeDee, Kim, Joanne, Rae and Olivia.
“They should be symbols of hope in an age of depression and cynicism. “More pictures and Hale’s brilliant full report inside on Pages 42 and 43. And don’t miss the second and third instalments of his odyssey over the next 12 days.”
Under a heavy line drawn below was the heading: “And now for the bad news” and half a dozen potted versions of stories known in the trade as “downers”.
Hale, the journalist, was elated. He had always believed that one good picture was worth a thousand words. And this proved it. They had followed his suggestions of the front page cross reference and used his caption word for word.
But all he had expected was a small taster picture, promising more inside … certainly not the biggest picture in the paper’s tabloid history.
But, what the hell?
Oh, yes, the hell seemed to be what Kate and the girls were going through. He rang back.
“Yes, Alan?”
“Kate! I’ve seen it. I’m sorry but I think it’s great,” he told her. “However, if it has caused serious problems …”
Suddenly she laughed.
“Alan. I’m sorry. I was joking!” she confessed. “You’ve got six girls here having the time of their lives. We’re on Cloud 2009. It’s an absolute buzz. Everyone wanting us to autograph their copies of the paper. Everyone wanting to take our pictures and talk to us. And we’ve each been given a thousand dollar bonus.”
“That’s amazing,” said Hale simply.
“Yes it is,” she confirmed. “And all thanks to you. And, oh, yes, and we’ve had calls from TV people. I hope you don’t mind Alan, but I told them you were taking all our phone calls and acting as a sort of manager and said you would get back to them as soon as possible.”
“Yes. OK,” Hale told her. “It’s better than being your pimp.”
“You can be both, if you want,” she said. “But thanks.”