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)

Genuine question, why do you think a newspaper would be more interested in "supporting the government" than itself? Like, what is actually in it for Paul Dacre?

The primary goal of a newspaper is, like any business, to make money.

Tabloids make money by appealing to as many people as possible (so they can then attract advertisers) and that's why, as far as possible, they write stories that will appeal to and reflect the majority of the public.

Ok, but tabloid papers do take political editorial lines nonetheless – the Mirror tends to be left-leaning and tend to support labour, whereas the Sun, the Express, the Mail, etc. tend to be right-leaning and tend to support the conservatives.

Newspapers make relatively little money for the usually very wealthy people who own them – they are not especially lucrative businesses despite being commercial enterprises.

As you mention, the Guardian is a notable exception to the usual model in that it is funded by the Scott Trust.

Newpaper owners will have numerous other commercial interests in addition to the paper(s) they own. It will be in their own personal interests to support a particular political agenda through the paper (usually a rightwing tory agenda as this better suits their own interests).

Thanks for a fascinating thread, OP. Sorry that you’ve had to put on the virtual body armour.

I’m curious about what happens to people after they leave national papers. In Private Eye’s ‘Street of Shame’ section I often read about large scale cuts affecting journalists and editorial staff on eg The Independent. If print journalism jobs are reducing in number, not just nationally but regionally, what do people do if they are in their thirties, forties and fifties and have never done anything else? Do they retrain?

Also, are there still people working on national papers whose life revolves around the pub, or are those days long gone?

@Camassia

Great thread OP. Thank you for being so candid.

When you started the thread, was there anything you expected to be asked that hasn't yet been asked?

Similarly, are there any more hints, cryptic clues or rhyming surnames that haven't yet been touched upon that you know we'd love to hear ? (I'm rubbish at rhyming surnames though - I was thinking of a different "ooney" for ages!)

Oohhhhh so not the footballer?! As if I only just got that 😂

Great thread! You say that the press have to follow a lot of rules about what they print. However, some years ago, I was a witness at a tribunal. It’s far too complicated (and boring) to go into detail, but the judgement was that the person who instigated the case had lied throughout. A couple of days later, a tabloid paper ran the story - an even more highly embellished version of the one told in court by the ‘victim’ and stated that they had received damages for their ‘ordeal’. Nowhere did it report that they had actually lost the case and the only money they had received was a small amount of back pay that had been held back until after the case was judged. I thought it a very poor piece of journalism and unfair to the other (blameless) people involved who had to deal with the aftermath. If it weren’t for the fact that the ‘victim’ was notorious locally as an absolute nightmare, it might have ended several people’s careers. I don’t think I’ve ever read a newspaper article since without having a little doubt in my mind as to whether it’s being absolutely truthful.

@kerrymucklowe2020

How is is that a certain elderly royal can have a car accident and appear to have no consequences ditto one half of a famous jungle presenter duo .

Also how come the Mcanns were never slated for leaving very young children alone in a hotel room. If it hadve been Tracey from Essex It would've been a whole different story. Plus how the hell did the manage to get a ( legal? Press? representative) and why

I though they were slated for leaving her in the hotel room alone?

@igot20joe ooooh I was assuming the footballer?!?
Were you thinking of the coffee salesman? I can't believe it would be him?!?

....goes off to think of more famous people with surnames rhyming with ooney....

Having been the victim of the press years ago, And still very bitter about it, I do have some questions.

How can a paper justify running a story that is so damaging to someone without checking facts or approaching the other party for any comment at all?

Trying to keep this brief and non identifying, but in my case.....

A certain paper ran a story about a person which named me as being a perpetrator of something which was completely false and inaccurate. In fact, had the journalist taken time to research, they would have discovered the story was completely false and there was plenty of evidence to prove this. At no time was I approached for comment. I woke up one day to find my name in a national print paper. The following day several other papers had jumped on this and ran the same false story. I even remember calling the first paper and talking to the editor and telling him it was completely untrue. He didn’t even apologise. In fact. He was patronising and rude to me that it cemented my plan to sue them.

I always wondered why the journalist who wrote the story did what she did. Did she have a conscience? Did she remotely care about the consequences for me? Probably not. I did wonder how she slept at night with so little morals.

Did you successfully sue the publications concerned?

I did indeed sue them. But it was a long hard process. My lawyer was amazing though.
I’m not sure it made up for the backlash I received because of it. Threats, messages, harassment. And my reputation was tarnished. Since then I lost faith in accurate reporting.

Such an interesting thread

Did you manage to get a redaction/apology flumps and was it so teeny tiny tucked away on page 28 it wasn't worth the paper it was written on. The only proper apology I can recall was Elton's back in 88.
I am sorry this happened to you flumps - a libel lawsuit must be so costly and so stressful that they hope you give up.

@AlwaysOnAbloodyDiet

Not really a question but more of an observation... Isn't it true that showbiz articles post unflattering pictures of a celebrity in a bikini, often only a few pounds over their usual weight, (or sometimes quite overweight), are intentionally printed with headlines calling her 'sensational' 'stunning' 'jaw dropping' etc, to encourage nasty readers to pile on and call her a whole list of insulting names? It's quite obvious. I sometimes wonder if the celebrity reads them and how they feel about them. I'd imagine it wouldn't matter so much if you're A-list and earning ££££, but for young, minor celebs, you'd want an incredible thick skin.

Yes this, The Daily Fail contributes to Jesy Nelson anxiety as they literally post photos of her in certain dance positions where they know the trolling will commence. It's disgusting to treat her like this.

Hi @AprilONeil would we know who you are as I think I may have worked out who you are?

BooteusMaximus I did get the ‘apologies’, but like you say, they were tucked away in print, and only found on the online version if you searched for it.
Thankfully the Lawyer I engaged took it on a CFA basis as my case was so strong. The morning the article came out, I must have rang about 10 libel lawyers in London. He called me back first. I went through everything and in about 20 minutes he had taken my case and was on the phone to the Principle paper. It all snowballed quickly from there.

Unfortunately there are still remnants of it on the internet. Anything published outside the UK doesn’t fall under our jurisdiction so I will never be able to escape the untruths told.

@OhioOhioOhio

I have a really quality story about myself I'd love published. How could I do it without losing my anonymity?

Spill the beans

@iamtheoneandonlyyy

Is mark owen really nice? Terrible cheating aside obviously lol

Yes he is, I have met him and he is genuinely a lovely guy!

I very much enjoyed the OP’s takedown of Bryon Gordon earlier in the thread. She is surely the ‘useless daughter’ whose retired journalist mother got her shifts by calling editors and who now has her own column (in the Telegraph).

BRYONY, not Bryon!!

Little Mix security stopped journalists hounding the girls in the lift OP, but let's just say Chris Hughes certainly used Jesy Nelson for fame

flumps I'm sorry to hear that - does google freezing effects, ykwim, not help in that regard if you give them the case verdict? Well done for standing your ground.
I read Jon Ronson's Publicly Shamed a few years back, and Monica Lewinsky's Shame sticking like tar is an apt simile, but here's the thing - whatever is in the news is fish n chip paper...the German phrase is beautiful: Schnee von gestern (yesterday's snow). The people that know you, know you. Other people's opinion, nah - I do hope police took threats etc seriously though - that kind of harassment on a daily basis must be soul-destroying. I am glad you got justice. I am sad you had to fight for it.

@BoreOfWhabylon

Great thread!

Please tell me that Anthony Head and Michael Palin really are as lovely as they seem.

@BoreOfWhabylon Anthony Head is lovely, and has a gorgeous wife and family

Thanks Betty

[quote Tistheseason17]@TheSpottedZebra - the latter ;)[/quote]
Really?

Once worked with a lady who had a run in with Liz Hurley, apparently she pulled the, " Do you not know who I am" to a Police Officer at an Airport for a security stop and search.