I used to be a tabloid reporter AMA

[AprilONeil]

Been meaning to offer up a thread on here for a while but tbh have been too nervous, since I know how people round these 'ere parts feel about the tabloids.

Anyway, I used to work as a showbiz reporter on a British tabloid newspaper (would rather not say which one because potentially outing) and have since moved into a more 'worthy' area of journalism.

AMA...

(Dons hard hat)

do you really believe rebekah vardy was hacked-according to her several times-she was awful on im a celeb so im siding with colleen on this one

What do you think about the recent tabloid news cycle on Meghan and Harry and the cruelty them?

"Because, in order to be famous, you have to court publicity, or done so at some point. It's a Faustian bargain - if you want your single/film/book whatever to be really successful (so someone pays you to make more) you need publicity and the reality is the public aren't really interested in your craft but your personal life, it's human nature"

That's the lies you people tell yourselves to justify what you do.

Getting wedding details from a mutual friend's personal mail - that is disgraceful.

And your comments about what 'famous' people want and what their motivations are - you're deluded. Most musicians, actors and other artists simply want to produce and share their work. For a significant proportion - fame is a necessary but unwfes part of what they do.

Justify all you want. It doesn't change what you parasites do. And how many lines you cross. And how many lives you negatively affect.

@lolawasashowgirl

So why is the OP the worst then? I think if you're going to insult him / her you could at least have the gumption to explain why

I thought it was fairly obvious given the quote I had used

OP seems to think people who strive to succeed in anything, e.g. sports or literature in these examples, make them fair game for being the subject of gossip columns as they courted celebrity somehow. It reeks of self-justification for doing a shitty and intrusive job. She's saying 'they asked for it', when they certainly didn't.

I think people who go on shows like TOWIE/Love Island etc fit that bill, not world class athletes and best-selling authors.

We’re you aware of any of the rumours that half of the showbiz elite are dabbling in satanic rituals and child abuse?

@MadMadaMim that's your opinion not fact; everyone needs a protagonist and clearly yours are journos.

Your comment is not only grossly aggressive but also backwards. Fame and fortune is what the majority want not the minority; if you don't want it you dont pursue it, extreme success brings extreme fame. They are indeed symbiotic.

Take your faux indignation elsewhere.

@AprilONeil my good friend knew about Philip Schofield 10 years or so back as her husband is a Met officer and saw him coming out of a gay club with a "friend" in the early hours of a Sunday morning. When he told her she didn't believe him. You can imagine his smug face when the story broke.

As for Caroline Flack: as desperately sad as that situation is (no denying it) she did not kill herself because of the media. Lots of celebrities go through scandals such as this without committing suicide. She was not a well woman and this was well documented even before she was arrested. Had she have gotten the help she so desperately needed this would never have happened but it's horses and water sadly and I say that as someone with a moderate mental health problem.

@Mags5Bia

Are there any celebrity feuds that the public don't know about? I know there are lots that we do hear about but any that would surprise us?

I can't think of any off the top of my head that the public don't already know about - I think Robbie Williams and Jimmy Page is my favourite If I think of a better one I'll update

I’m sorry but Freemason of the press comes with responsibilities. Publishing a book or becoming a professional in your field (even sport) does not equate to giving up your personal freedoms and right to privacy. What the public is interested in (and will sell newspapers) is not the same as in the public interest and the media and journalists recklessly ignore these points on occasion.

*freedom

OP I'm a middle aged mum, currently doing a degree, how do I become a journalist?

How do you think BLM has changed things? Do you think people like Cheryl Cole would have been able to come out of her court case and become the nations sweetheart today?

Do you think we will see a lot of the current celebrities dropped from their shows? I'm thinking about Williams on BGT after the black face incident. Louis Walsh after the accusations of racism from previous X factor contestants.

The Sun famously switched allegiance every election to whichever party they think is going to win, rather than the party they want to win.

I watched the Rupert Murdoch doc that was on recently and it did not seem so clear cut. It suggested to me it was only with the support of widely read tabloid papers would a govt win. Tony Blair courted Murdoch and his policies were not going to change structures significantly so Murdoch gave his blessing. The Sun crucified Neil Kinnock in 1992 election which he subsequently lost.

You also argue that the papers give what the readers want. Again the reality seems more nuanced. Sure papers know the angles their readers will support, but papers heavily direct their readers on what issues to focus on.

If a paper supports the govt in power I feel it also can quite overtly guide its readers to support changes that a govt was planning. Eg the 2011 Welfare Bill led by George Osborne made significant cuts to many benefits including sickness benefits. Reducing support for the sick and disabled could expect possible dissent across the political divides. However, between 2010 to 2012 the Daily Mail ran frequent articles (felt almost daily at times) on people claiming DLA for say poor mobility and then being found to play in the local five a side football team. It gave the impression many people receiving DLA were lying in their applications. Yet govt’s own reports showed fraud was actually low. These stories though meant when DLA was switched to PIP and the criteria narrowed meaning many lost disability support there was less dissent as the readers had been persuaded many of the claimants ‘didn’t deserve it’. Once the Welfare Bill had passed it was noticeable how Daily Mail stopped running their stories on DLA applicants. I found it grim.

Why does the DM and Sun consistently refer to migrants arriving from France as ‘illegal immigrants’ when this is both wrong and inflammatory? They are asylum seekers as you have to physically arrive in the UK in order to claim asylum. You only become an ‘illegal immigrant’ once your asylum claim has been denied and you go underground to avoid deportation. In your opinion do these newspapers merely reflect the racism of many of their readership or deliberately stoke it? How do journalists who are presumably quite intelligent square writing incorrect racist headlines about desperate asylum seekers to please their bosses with their moral conscience?

Sorry if it has already been answered but how far would you consider that the tabloids shaped the outcome of the Brexit referendum?

From what I've heard Fleet St has changed a lot

It certainly has, most newspapers moved out of Fleet Street in the late 80's, 20 years before your time OP

to be fair, the term Fleet Street is still used to refer to the print newspapers collectively

"Ugh. You’re just the worst. Exactly the sort of person I thought would do this job."

You're obviously entitled to your opinion @purplemunkey although I question how much you know about me to come to the conclusion I'm the "worst"

I do find the vitriol that tabloid reporters get fascinating. There are plenty of people that do unpopular jobs - bailiffs, parking wardens etc. At the end of the day we're all just humans trying to get by 🤷‍♀️

@redskittleorangeskittle

How did you get into the job op? Also does your job mainly attract more middle class, wealthy people due to variable job security?

I personally got into it by networking - going to talks etc. I met a journalist at a talk who heard about a job going at my paper and she told me to email the editor.

Absolutely full of middle/upper classes and tons and tons of people there through nepotism. Know of one retired journalist who regularly called up an editor to bag shifts for her useless daughter (can't say why she was useless as too outing but she was). Daughter now has her own column on another paper and a budding TV career.

to be fair, the term Fleet Street is still used to refer to the print newspapers collectively

DH used to work with the media and has friends involved in journalism (not just journalists). Neither of us have heard the term "Fleet Street" meaning the Press for decades

Tbh I just want to know more about which famous people are and aren't nice in real life lol. Did you ever meet any of the Disney stars? My daughter is obsessed with a lot of the ones who did the teen shows and I'd love to know if they are as nice/normal ish as she is convinced they are or if they are as arrogant as I perhaps unfairly imagine they are!

@MadMadaMim but there are so many big celebrities that are left alone. Think of the Rednaps when they got together he was big in football and she was on a big band. They could have been huge if they wanted but were rarely in the papers until she decided to make a name for herself again more recently. I do agree that some stuff published is not on at all and I do feel for some celebrities who are hounded but a lot of them do chase it definitely

*in a big band not on it!

Surely you dont mean Claudia Winklemen?😂😂

The Redknapps got together before sleb gossip was as big. And she was always in lads' mags... until he put a stop to that and (metaphorically) chained her to the kitchen sink. And got an injunction or 2 to hide his cheating.

But I think I'm agreeing with you, Frazz -they weren't hounded as they didn't chase fame. I think that if people use their family status to sell product, then it's fair game to call them/expose them for cheating.

Why so many stores about Ian Beale actor having left his wife over a year ago? Is there some really juicy gossip they're hinting at, or is it all a PR thing and he's going to be announced for Strictly?