Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, the 1st Viscount Northcliffe (1865–1922) was a British newspaper and publishing magnate, and a pioneer of tabloid journalism.
I would never have heard of him if it hadn’t been for my sixth grade teacher, who was fond of saying “Power, Pelf and Pulchritude” at any opportunity. That was far from being his only quirk, but it is one that stuck in my mind.
He never explained why he said it, and sixty years passed before I learned that the words formed part of a quote from Viscount Northcliffe.
Explaining his formula for the success of his newspapers, Northcliffe supposedly said “Power, pelf and pulchritude make news, while veracity, humility and normality do not.”
His statement has withstood the test of time, and is still true - although today, Power is the only one of his three P’s that you are likely to see in print.
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