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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Andrew Anthony

All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons and Politicians by Phil Elwood review – a spin doctor for despots

Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad and wife, Asma, were among BLJ Worldwide’s clients.
Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad and wife, Asma, were among BLJ Worldwide’s clients. Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Public relations is a vast and sometimes murky world. It stretches from the promotion of new shampoos to the election of presidents, but all of it is concerned with a simple aim: to get the best or most effective coverage possible for the client.

That doesn’t require much cunning or imagination if the client is, say, David Attenborough or Taylor Swift. But what if you represent the Gaddafi family, the Assads, or the Qatari government? All of these people paid the PR agency BLJ Worldwide to clean up their global image.

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