Calling all journalists. Are magazine stories true?

[jasper]

This is a trivial question but is something I have always wondered.

Are the real life stories in the quality women's mags (She, Marie Claire etc) true ?

I have just read one in this month's She where a woman goes from being happy and loaded with a lovely husband and son to a destitiute jobless disabled single parent of a boy with Aspergers in the space of a few months. Oh, and 50K in debt .
Amongst this poor woman's troubles were the fact the other mothers forced her to take her son out of their "normal" school.
The whole thing sounded a bit far fetched and I have often wondered if these stories are true, exaggerated, or plain made up.

Anyone know?

If they are made up I would like a job writing them as I think I would be good at it

Well Jasper I don't know about this particular story but, two friends of mine have been in Bella. It was basically about them being together for 15 years and then deciding to get married, that was about 4 years ago.

Like you I sometimes wonder whether some stories are true to life.

But, what the heck, it keeps us occupied and gives us somewhere to escape whilst the kids are sleeping

Hate to admit this but I was featured in 'Best' magazine a few years ago, my SIL's friend writes for them & SIL recommended me; it was a very dull story about cooking for dinner parties but the bit about me, including photos, was all true!!

I can't believe that some of the more outrageous stories are really true though.

The particular stories I have in mind are big full length "heavy" articles and never have photos accompanying them.

Lindy I am impressed!

I do wonder about some of them. I used to work on a weekly and can vouch that, at the time, the stories definitely weren't made up. Finding the subject was a job in itself. A friend used to work on Chat mag and said they used to sell their "tabloid" stories to Marie Claire who would change the names and re-write it all in their house style. Having said that, I often wonder how true some of the more general pieces are. The Sunday Times style mag used to regularly have a feature on the topic of the moment - illustrated by case histories that were just that bit too perfect - yet the people were only ever referred to by their first names or their profession. Reading it I always felt that it had been made up. Sorry if it wasn't though!!

Having worked on weekly and monthly consumer magazines, I can say, hand on heart, that none of the 'real life' stories I worked on were ever made up, although we sometimes changed people's names without actually saying 'names have been changed', etc. However I worked with a freelance writer once who told me she did occasionally make stories up and got a friend to pose for the pictures if any were needed. However, I'd be very surprised if it happened on mags like Marie Claire and She, as the sub-editors are supposed to check up on details, and anything that sounds vaguely dodgy and might libel someone with the same name, for example, has to be legalled.

Some are definitely made up. Have some friends in the magazine world and they are always being creative with the truth, to the extent of dressing up and posing for the photoshoot in each others' magazines when they can't find RL people who fit the bill. Pesky media types! It's a good laugh seeing them in the photos though...

The bit about being hounded out of the "normal" school sounds is a fairly common experience though for AS kids. I have heard of other parents making the AS kids mother's life a misery but it's more usual for the head to do the forcing. Sounds all too familiar to lots of stories I've heard though. Have to say that divorce is fairly common in households witn a ASD kid (mind you divorce is fairly common anyway isn't it). And I suppose divorce can lead to pretty hefty debt- sure it would in my case.

I did have a friend who was in chat or something like that. Her husband had cheated on her whilst she was pregnant. There were photos and the works. Apparently the photographer was staking out the husbad trying to get photos of the girlfriend. All very tabloid.

I do always wonder how they get problems for the problem page of the first edition of a new magazine. Plus, how come Mariella Frostrup a) has a job as an agony aunt AT ALL, and b) how she ALWAYS knows someone who as been in the same situation.

I know quite a few people who have been in mags - mainly Woman or similar weeklies but also in the Sunday Times. Another friend posed for a breastfeeding book.

I get regular emails from someone who writes for one of the weeklies and I pass them on to internet friends/RL friends.

Also the NCT press office is regularly approached and the messages are passed on using email. Sometimes the deadlines are very short - sometimes requiring someone with the next couple of days max.

The longer I live, and the more I experience, the easier it gets to believe that some of the most outrageous stories are true. Life is like that. People do go from riches to rags and vice versa.

Tinker, I'm with you on wondering about Mariella Frostrup. Her advice is s*e imo! And what ever qualifies her anyway? Being blonde and c list famous? Dodgy galodgy.

I have always wondered about the women and babies in the parenting magazines ... basically that the woman always looks to glam to have just given birth recently etc.
My query was answered recently when a good friend of mine was featured in Prima Baby for the pregnancy diary section ... she did photos and interviews at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 2 weeks after the birth ... All good photos, all proper and true interviews etc.
BUT ... they then used her baby for another section and photographed her with a model ... who had obviously never been pregnant or given birth ... !!!! For some reason that really bugs me ... and I was quite surprised that my friend let them do it ...
On the other mag front I don't believe much in the weekly ones ... you know the gossipy stuff but I would like to think that the glossies like Elle, Marie Claire etc don't need to make up stories ... but then again I wouldn't know ...

I used to work on the baby mags (not Prima baby though) and I am afraid all the stories/pics were tue. It is amazing what can be done with lighting and make-up!!

I see this all the time as my dd is a model and even when she looks dreadful, her pics don't.

The stories I think are in teh main true, I think thee would be real problems if the actual stories weren't. Often the pics say 'posed by a model' so the photos aren't

I know for a fact some "true life" stories are made up. Years ago now I made up a story, claiming it to be true, and got paid for it! And when I spoke to the lady working on the mag she even asked me if I had any other true life stores to tell that they could pay me for!

Have worked on mags but not "true life" type ones, however I know those who do and I think most stories are true...thing is, if you look at them, often they are cribbed from colleagues, eg, "Helen, 27, is a picture researcher and met her husband when..." yeah, she's a pic researcher on our sister title! Red used to be esp bad for this. So all very incestuous. But not fake. No journo worth their salt would make up a story, tho sometimes we do give them a spin or two. A friend was in a pg mag and the piece was basically a recognisable version of her. WWW love that phrase, dodgy galodgy, am going to start saying it!

tinker, www, IKWYM re: Mariella but at least the one I read in the Observer this weekend she did put a bloke in his place - he was moaning about his "overweight" partner, feeling holier than thou & not fancying her any more now he's toned up a bit and she hasn't..she said the woman would be better off without him

oh - and in answer to Jasper's original question, I've never worked on a magazine (work in broadcasting - so we can't make them up ) but once was 'interviewed' by a psychologist neighbour (over coffee - thought it was just a chat!) and saw my words quoted back as a case study - bloomin' cheek!

Yes, re Mariella, I thought her advice yesterday was better than usual - she did put him in his place a bit.

I have a friend who has a portfolio of clippings of herself in "true life" stories. "I met my partner while on a white water rafting holiday". That sort of thing. Totally hilarious if you know her.

Funnily enough the story in She is true and the person concerned is a journalist (ex-tabloid) who had to give up her job because of the problems with her son. As to whether all stories are true...well...depends what you mean by true, if you mean does "Sophie, PR executive, 27, says, "I found out my husband was having an affair when I read his emails" exist, the answer is probably, 'sort of', ie it may be Emma, 36, admin assistant, and the facts are basically true. Most magazines now want named and photographed case studies and the vast, vast majority of these are absolutely true - because I do these and it's a complete bugger to find people sometimes. I once had to find five women who'd given up dieting and improved their bodies (ie lost weight or gained weight from being underweight) and their lives, all of them had to be quite posh and attractive too. It's not easy! Sometimes you edit the story a bit as you go along, but I don't make things up. However, some of the sex stuff used to be either completely made up or wildly exaggerated. We used to have to road test the positions and most people either hated them or couldn't be bothered at all, so the 'oh-oh-orgasmic rating' was definitely faked!!

PS Yes, it is amazing what hair, makeup & good lighting can do!

Aloha, it wasn't one of the Wipe co-founders was it? I read the story in She and wondered about that.

I don't think so - I seem to recall she was quite a hardcore tabloid journalist. But it goes to show how hard it is to cope with a child with a disorder like that, no matter how well off you are and how married you are. Makes me even more respectful of the women on this site managing with children with disabilities and no support worth mentioning. Mind you, having children changes the lives and careers of journalists as much as anyone else!

aloha- you're so sweet! TBH I don't think I could cope without my husband or the money he brings in. We would have so little choice without it. I spent an hour on the phone to the LEA today and came to the conclusion that as I suspected they have no chance of providing a suitable education for ds1. Without hubby being around I don't think I could contemplate HE (and then what would I do with ds1) Without the money we couldn't be going for the BIBIC assessment and setting up of a home programme in June (cost 1000 pounds and that's subsidised by BIBIC- anyone want a charity to support can I recommend them). We're only doing that as OT will be a 2 year wait on the NHS, the NHS has missed ds1's probable hearing impairment,the dietician we saw gave incorrect advice, and now I find that ds1's visual problems have been ignored as well. Hmmm I have to say I am really looking forward to spending a few days in an environment where they really understand autism and are positive (wow) - but we would have no chance of doing that without money (as it is familiy are chipping in). The She story is similar to others I have heard unfortunately.

Jimjams, what is BIBIC? (Always on the lookout for worthwhile charities to support!)

british institute for brain injured children. They assess and set up home programmes (from an hour a day) for children with all sorts of problems. From very complex special needs to dyslexia. They have webpage here. One thing they do is collect used toner cartridges and mobile phones. I have to say I have found them to be great so far- very understanding and knowledgable.

Well, JimJams, at least you don't have to road test sex positions on your weekend