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)

*I'm also flabbergasted it wasn't published (not sure what that garbled sentence below was meant to be)

@BoreOfWhabylon

Great thread!

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

Michael Palin no idea but I think, in the far reaches of my brain, I remember a colleague telling me they'd had an unfriendly encounter with Anthony Head. I might be getting that completely wrong though - I'm sorry I can't remember! I remember mostly just being excited colleague had met him because I love Buffy.

According to everyone I've ever met Bill Nighy is an absolute sweetheart though.

Anthony Head!

Ever done a death knock?

I knew what you meant @AprilONeil The hypocrisy of the whole thing was astounding!

In terms of justice - there was one story about a very MeToo situation (and this was pre-MeToo) where an older (well-known) man was using funds from his public-facing job to prop up this very, very young woman to work in his institution and be his mistress - it was so gross and we were all set to run it but he got an injunction to stop us so it never ran. I was really upset we didn't fight it harder. He still pops up from time to time pontificating about morality and such, which makes my blood boil.

I always knew the Archbishop of Canterbury was a wrong ‘un

I've got another question related to the TV presenter that recently came out.

Other celebrities have had super injunctions but the press turned on them and decided to print other unflattering stories instead. This didn't seem to happen with the TV presenter. Is it because he is 'untouchable' or do you think everything that happened with Caroline Flack and then COVID meant the press didn't want to be seen as attacking a beloved tv presenter?

TBH I find it sickening that he is still in TV doing a show that is all smiles and hugs.

Is the stuff about William and his alleged mistress true?
(I think it is..)

@SuzieCarmichael

Ever done a death knock?

No thank goodness - like I said upthread, it was one of the things that originally put me off journalism. The reason I went into showbiz was precisely so I didn't have to deal with stuff like that on a regular basis.

I did have to knock on someone's door that had been accused of sexual assault though and his young daughter answered it. I obviously did not say what I was there about and just left a card asking for her parents to contact me. I don't think we ever ran that story iirc.

@GCAcademic

In terms of justice - there was one story about a very MeToo situation (and this was pre-MeToo) where an older (well-known) man was using funds from his public-facing job to prop up this very, very young woman to work in his institution and be his mistress - it was so gross and we were all set to run it but he got an injunction to stop us so it never ran. I was really upset we didn't fight it harder. He still pops up from time to time pontificating about morality and such, which makes my blood boil.

I always knew the Archbishop of Canterbury was a wrong ‘un

😂😂😂

Do you view yourself as a feminist? And if so have you stuck to those principles in what you have written?

I'm so disappointed by what you wrote about Rachel Riley. . I'd fallen for the nice person image.

Q:. How is Amanda Holden in the press all the bloody time? All through lockdown 'Amanda Golden mows lawn in bikini' etc. I don't really read the DF

I’m a news reporter and we have to back up (with paperwork or credible sources) every tiny aspect of our stories before they go to print. Every allegation or fact or we leave ourselves vulnerable to legal difficulties.

I have always wondered why tabloids seem to be exempt from this? How can you say “a place source said the couple have been arguing” when it’s blatantly not true.

@PoppySeedSaid

I've got another question related to the TV presenter that recently came out.

Other celebrities have had super injunctions but the press turned on them and decided to print other unflattering stories instead. This didn't seem to happen with the TV presenter. Is it because he is 'untouchable' or do you think everything that happened with Caroline Flack and then COVID meant the press didn't want to be seen as attacking a beloved tv presenter?

TBH I find it sickening that he is still in TV doing a show that is all smiles and hugs.

I think a lot of unflattering stories had been coming out for months prior and if, as I suspect, the fact was the other person involved wouldn't talk and, more than that, sent out a legal letter effectively saying "I was under age when it happened/I'm not publicly out/it didn't happen and I'm not making any further statements" there's just nowhere to go with that story.

And then of course Caroline Flack died a week later - so 1) it completely blew him out of the news cycle anyway and 2) yes I wouldn't be surprised if after the (imo completely unjustified) torrents of abuse the tabloids were getting in the wake of her death they felt there was no option other than to be extremely supportive of him, especially because he'd been seen to do this extremely "brave" thing.

Really interesting thread! Thank you. My question is: what do you think about headlines as clickbait? Granted this is about web journalism which you said is of poorer editorial quality, but I noticed on the DM last week two stories run about a man in court on charges of sexual assault: the first headline practically called him a rapist (on day 1 of the trial) and two days later reported he had been acquitted. It made me wonder about how people google each other for job interviews and the like nowadays how the DM could get away with it? I mean surely they should wait until he’s convicted before naming him a rapist?

@WellGoshDarnIt

Is the stuff about William and his alleged mistress true? (I think it is..)

🤐

Were you ever told to not report a story, or had a story 'hushed' up that has since come into the light?

Usually the anonymous ‘friend’ of a celebrity who you quote is the celeb themselves, right?

@AprilONeil

I reckon that means it's true

Sorry, me again. Are there any stories that you haven’t been able to publish that you think the public should know about? Things that would completely change the public perception of that person? If so, how does that make you feel? Do you tell your close friends/family about them or keep them completely secret?

Hello, I'm a hack too but I work in the broadsheets. Do people inside the red tops secretly want to cross over, or are the my generally happy because the employment conditions are so much better?

@HandsDownRoundTheTown

Do you view yourself as a feminist? And if so have you stuck to those principles in what you have written?

Interesting qs. I didn't view myself as a feminist until after I had kids and then suddenly the veil lifted - and I'd already left tabloid reporting by then.

I have written deeply "unfeminist" stuff in the past but the problem is the people that I'm predominantly writing it for - and that I know are reading it - are women. I know that because I still read it too.

It's a disconnect I need to think more about tbh. But my feeling atm is that some of the broad aims of feminism - eg stop objectifying women - are unrealistic, because both men and women do it. (And yes I know you could say women do it because patriarchy but I don't know if that's entirely true). Great qs though and I need to think about it more.

@RunningHoops

I'm so disappointed by what you wrote about Rachel Riley. . I'd fallen for the nice person image.

Q:. How is Amanda Holden in the press all the bloody time? All through lockdown 'Amanda Golden mows lawn in bikini' etc. I don't really read the DF

I think she's done great stuff on fighting anti-semitism but beyond that...

Re: Amanda Holden, I think it's just the fact she's on TV so much and shameless!

Oooh yes, I really want to known the truth about William and Kate. I really want them to be the real deal!