The Natalija Belova Story Unravels

[Update at end of post]

The exclusive revelation in yesterday’s Sun that a Lithuanian single mother was on benefits, on an apparently taxpayer funded spending spree, and over here, was too tempting to allow the Murdoch press to have it all to itself. So the Mail decided to lift the story and, in the process, add its own rant-provoking embellishments. And it is these that have been its downfall.

Facts?!? Who f***ing cares about those, c***?!?

“A single mother from Lithuania who lives a life of luxury at the expense of Britain's taxpayers takes home more than £1,000 a month in handouts which funds her love of designer clothes and holidays” is the first paragraph of the Mail piece, published without by-line, and it is characteristically and blatantly untrue. But it speaks to the agenda of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre, which is the priority here.

And, as with the Sun article, there is no mention of Ms Belova being an actress, nor that she has easily searchable CVs out there which confirm the fact, as well as her recent studies at Kingston University, from where she graduated with a BA in Business Administration in 2011. But where the Mail lets it slip is not in the body of its copy, but in the photographs it has used.

The Dacre attack doggies have to show that they are different, so those four photos provided by news agency INS were out. In came two photos from a different source, the copyright shown being held by one Nicholas Razzell. Sound familiar? Nick Razzell is a regular member of the High Court press snapper pack. He has advised representatives of the British Press Photographers’ Association (BPPA).

Razzell helped organise a last minute press pen before the BPPA delegation appeared before the Leveson Inquiry. Put simply, Nick Razzell does not just go around asking benefit-claiming single mums if they’d like him to take their picture. He is a pro, and he does snapping for a living. Natalija Belova did not just appear in his portfolio by chance.

Spot the difference: before ...

Nor did Razzell just happen across Ms Belova in Fuerteventura back in 2008, the time and location of the second of those photos. Either there is some personal connection (less likely), or she was otherwise worthy of him taking time out to photograph her (more likely). The Mail, by using Razzell’s photos, has blown the lid on its own conceit: no wonder nobody wanted their by-line on that piece.

... and after yesterday's edit

Meanwhile, Ms Belova has been at work editing her entry on CastingCallPro: she has subtly amended her first name from Natalija to the more usual Natalia. That can only be in an attempt to head off any searches resulting from the Sun and Mail articles, but she’ll have to do better than that. And so will the Mail, along with an explanation of how benefit-claiming single mothers have their own portfolio.

Time to come clean, press people. You’ve been rumbled once again.

[UPDATE 22 January 1310 hours: my thanks to the commenters who have taken time out to update me on this story. It seems that ITV's This Morning was also taken in - one might have thought they would stop and think after Philip Schofield's encounter with Young Dave backfired on them - but one media outlet has had second thoughts.

Yes, after jumping on the bandwagon and stoking up the mob, the Mail has pulled its version of the Sun's anti-EU and scrounger bashing hatchet job (the latter is still live as I type). No reason has been given, but then, none ever is by Dacre's finest]