Task 6

1. Piers Morgan 30/03/1965 - 25/11/2014
Piers Morgan was born to Vincent Eamonn O'Meara and Gabrielle Georgina
Sybille on the 30th March 1965. Piers took his stepfathers surname after his
mother subsequently remarried after Vincent's death.
Piers married Marion Shalloe in 1991. They had three children, Spencer, Stanley
and Albert. They later divorced and Piers remarried to Celia Walden, a fellow
journalist two years later. Piers had another child, Elise, a year after his marriage
to Celia. It was on her third birthday when her father past away.
Leaving four children and a wife was not the only thing he left behind. Piers
Morgan left a legacy, the idea that if you work hard and are determined to
achieve success you will reach it.
It was not by chance that Piers worked his way up the media ladder. Huge
amount of work was put in to give him the opportunity. From the early age of 7
he went to the independent school Cumnor House and received some of the
finest tuition, he went to various other private and comprehensive schools
around East Sussex where he lived before moving to Harlow College in order to
study his love for journalism.
After leaving Harlow, Piers briefly worked for numerous small newspapers
including the South London News as a cub reporter. Piers’ first big opportunity
arrived when he was headhunted to become Editor of The Sun’s ‘Bizarre’
column. He seized his big chance and became the youngest editor of a national
newspaper for more than 50 years when he took over at News of the World'
under the influence of Rupert Murdoch.
Age 49, Piers Morgan lived an eventful life working at the most prestigious
newspapers around the United Kingdom. Using The Sun, Mirror and News of the
World as his platform, he sprung on to better things. Piers Morgan’s time at The
Mirror will be remembered by the negativity surrounding his departure rather
than the things he achieved their such as winning the 2002 best selling
newspaper in the British press awards.
Shortly after this Piers plunged into a variety of roles within the media. If he was
not winning best selling author for his book ‘The Insider’ he was taking part in
interviews and documentaries for the BBC and ITV. The television side to
Morgan’s work expanded even further when he was asked to be a judge on
Britain’s Got Talent by good friend and fellow judge Simon Cowell.
Piers Morgan was well known for some of the heavy questions he fired towards
public figures and it was from this where his show ‘Piers Morgans Life Stories’
became so popular in the UK due to the emotional outpourings that he created
from the guests. In this, Morgan went through a large variety celebrities
including the then British Prime Minster Gordon Brown. Even with such a high
profile name, Morgan never held anything back and looked for the answers the

2. public wanted to hear. This reflected his full career and epitomises who Piers
was as a person.
''I want to interview the most important people in the world and have everyone in
America the next day saying 'Did you see that'?''
Rightly or wrongly, Piers always wanted to carry out his duty to provide a
service to the public. The perception of Morgan decreased during his spell within
newspapers in the early stages of his career, however he rebuilt this back with
the integrity shown in many of the articles just before his passing.
''There are many different ways of categorizing news. It doesn't have to be just war
and famine and serious politics''
In 2010, Piers was given the chance to add to his successful career and replace
Larry King in CNN’s famous 9pm slot. A British male posing big cultural
questions towards Americans was always going to be difficult, however Morgan
won over many viewers with his blunt honesty. Piers Morgan Live achieved
years of success before Daily Mail offered Piers the chance to go back to the
editorial role with newspapers that he loved so much.
There were plenty of people who criticised Piers Morgan and the way he
portrayed himself among the media with his strong opinions and some
controversial actions leading the way behind his hatred. However, no one ever
doubted his commitment and passion to every piece of work he presented and
the love for the industry was evident.
It is from this that we remember Piers Morgan to be a well loved, energetic,
engaging speaker that spoke exactly what he felt.
''Journalism is no longer just about the print medium and in 25 years' time
newspapers will have died out. You're left with a new form of journalism which
will be conducted through the prism of iPads and everything else. It will always
be about content - journalists will always have work, just in a different format''.
It is from that we have to remember what Piers brought the media industry as
well as providing a great service to the public.