Lewinsky lined up for Edinburgh TV festival
Monica Lewinsky: earned £400,000 for her first UK interview, with Channel 4
Monica Lewinsky is to attend a British TV conference to discuss the ethics of chequebook journalism with David Beckham's alleged former mistress, Rebecca Loos, and Max Clifford.
Ms Lewinsky has agreed to take part in a live panel discussion on the subject of "chequebook versus notebook" at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International TV Festival at the end of August.
The former White House intern was paid £400,000 for her interview with Channel 4's Jon Snow in 1999 and recently did an interview with ITV to coincide with the publication of the memoirs of former US president Bill Clinton.
"I'm delighted that Monica Lewinksy is joining this prestigious panel to take part in a long overdue discussion about the industry's escalating practice of paying for stories," said Paul Woolwich, a senior producer with the BBC who is organising the session at the festival.
"With such a line-up, these important issues will no doubt get a proper airing in front of a very packed audience."
The former Sun editor turned PR executive, David Yelland; Steve Anderson, controller of current affairs, art and religion at ITV; and Peter Horrocks, head of current affairs at the BBC, are also taking part in the debate about the growing practice of paying interviewees.
The session will look at the price of a news story and discuss how those payments are frequently disguised.
Ms Lewinsky became an overnight celebrity following her affair with Bill Clinton, earning £400,000 for her first UK television interview, a record fee for an interview on Channel 4.
Although she received no payment for her first interview in the US, with ABC's Barbara Walters, the publicity helped her launch a career as a TV presenter and she has hosted a series of high-profile shows in the US including reality contest Mr Personality.
Ms Loos earned an estimated £800,000 from interviews on her alleged affair with David Beckham in a series of media deals brokered by Mr Clifford.
The News of the World paid Ms Loos £350,000 for access to the lurid text messages from the England football captain that she had stored on her phone.
She received a further £150,000 from Sky One for her interview with Kay Burley, which brought near record ratings to the channel.
Chequebook versus notebook will take place on August 28 at 2pm and will be chaired by the BBC news presenter, Sian Williams.
mediaguardian
