LONDON (Brand Republic) - Phil Hall, the former editor of the News Of The World has joined forces with PR guru Max Clifford.
Hall confirmed that he started his new job today as 鈥渕edia consultant鈥 to Clifford, who owns PR firm Max Clifford Associates. 鈥淚鈥檝e got my pencil sharpened and my packed lunch and I鈥檓 all ready to go,鈥 he said.
Hall was sacked from the News Of The World last month and was replaced by Rebekah Wade, deputy editor at The Sun. He had been editor of the Sunday newspaper for five years and was previously deputy editor for two years. He said the reason he was attracted to his new PR role was the freedom and the new challenge. 鈥淚 have been working for big companies all my life, and have always had to do what the boss says,鈥 he explained. 鈥淣ow I can do what I want to do and have more freedom to be creative. Also, as editor of a newspaper, you spend 10% of your time on journalism and 90% on managing people. I now have more time to do the things I love.鈥
He has already begun to explore new areas, including TV. Two of his ideas have been accepted by TV companies 鈥 one for a documentary and one for a sporting programme. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 give details, but they鈥檒l be very high profile,鈥 he said.
He joins Max Clifford Associates at an interesting time 鈥 South African cricketer Hansie Cronje has just asked Clifford to be his PR representative. Cronje is at the centre of an inquiry regarding alleged match-fixing.