Anyone who voluntarily walks into that, knowing what is coming (as Kate surely did) has my admiration. I don’t think I could.

Yes, the Anglo-American predilection for gossip, especially anything to do with sex, has obviously been the seed and the soil for the kind of reportage. And you are right, in that we are stuck with it, in some form or other. But there is no reason why valid privacy laws cannot be written into our statute books, to at least curb the worst excesses of the media.

I doubt that Jeremy Kyle is likely to invade my life, to be honest, as I’ve a low threshold of boredom for such stuff. I grant that this sort of thing has a kind of awful fascination, and I’m quite grateful for my low boredom threshold.

With respect to my original rant, it seems to me that this kind of TV show, magazine article, have not come about because the media are reacting to a perceived need of the public, but because they have seen a market, and created the vehicles to exploit that market.

Yes, the Anglo-American predilection for gossip, especially anything to do with sex, has obviously been the seed and the soil for the kind of reportage. And you are right, in that we are stuck with it, in some form or other. But there is no reason why valid privacy laws cannot be written into our statute books, to at least curb the worst excesses of the media.

I doubt that Jeremy Kyle is likely to invade my life, to be honest, as I’ve a low threshold of boredom for such stuff. I grant that this sort of thing has a kind of awful fascination, and I’m quite grateful for my low boredom threshold.

With respect to my original rant, it seems to me that this kind of TV show, magazine article, have not come about because the media are reacting to a perceived need of the public, but because they have seen a market, and created the vehicles to exploit that market.

Over there, the media is controlled by the law, and so has developed a different way. I have to say, I do admit to finding French newspapers as dull as ditchwater! But clearly the French like them, because they have learned to like them. And they are in fact NEWSpapers.

Could we ever recreate that in Britain? I don’t think so, not with our reporting tradition and the existence of the internet spreading anything the newspaper would not be allowed to.

And on the subject of media targets, can I respectfully point you to the Jeremy Kyle show, which is little more than bear baiting in human form – these people CHOOSE to be disrespected and belittled in public because their desire for media exposure is greater than their self respect. When people are prepared to put themselves through that of their own free will, what hope is there for society? (PS I’m a terrible hypocrite – I love the JK Show, and hate the fact that I do!)

Over there, the media is controlled by the law, and so has developed a different way. I have to say, I do admit to finding French newspapers as dull as ditchwater! But clearly the French like them, because they have learned to like them. And they are in fact NEWSpapers.

Could we ever recreate that in Britain? I don’t think so, not with our reporting tradition and the existence of the internet spreading anything the newspaper would not be allowed to.

And on the subject of media targets, can I respectfully point you to the Jeremy Kyle show, which is little more than bear baiting in human form – these people CHOOSE to be disrespected and belittled in public because their desire for media exposure is greater than their self respect. When people are prepared to put themselves through that of their own free will, what hope is there for society? (PS I’m a terrible hypocrite – I love the JK Show, and hate the fact that I do!)

I think you highlight a number of salient issues here.
I’m certain that the average journalist carries a level of integrity in their work, as most people do. It is not a given individual journalist that I have an issue with. Nor do I wittingly imply that there is any kind of conspiracy involved, at any level within the mainstream media. However, the sum of many individuals acting within a similar or identical framework or ideology will produce results that are likely to be very similar. This is not collusion, though, but the result of the constraints of the framework.
So, whilst you may have resolved to not ‘expose’ the gay singer, the framework within which you were operating placed a higher value on sales than on individual privacy, hence publications other than the one you worked for ran the story. If, as you did, every other journalist had placed privacy above profit, or their publishers had, the story would not have been run, the singer would have had the privacy he or she obviously wanted, you would not had to pay a professional price for your integrity, and the public would not have known, or cared, about it. The public probably didn’t care about it anyway.
I agree that if a famous person has a personal support structure, and are comfortable about themselves, fame over a period of decades can be handled well, but the driver for many people who want to be famous is an inner discomfort, a psycho-spiritual need to be something more than they presently are. And here we are talking only of those who want fame, not Mrs. Bulger or Mrs. Venables. Such people are raw and extremely vulnerable when fame is thrust upon them. They pay the same price for their unwilling fame as Susan Boyle does for her desired fame.
I’m saying that the ‘price’ that the media set on fame is too high.

I think you highlight a number of salient issues here.
I’m certain that the average journalist carries a level of integrity in their work, as most people do. It is not a given individual journalist that I have an issue with. Nor do I wittingly imply that there is any kind of conspiracy involved, at any level within the mainstream media. However, the sum of many individuals acting within a similar or identical framework or ideology will produce results that are likely to be very similar. This is not collusion, though, but the result of the constraints of the framework.
So, whilst you may have resolved to not ‘expose’ the gay singer, the framework within which you were operating placed a higher value on sales than on individual privacy, hence publications other than the one you worked for ran the story. If, as you did, every other journalist had placed privacy above profit, or their publishers had, the story would not have been run, the singer would have had the privacy he or she obviously wanted, you would not had to pay a professional price for your integrity, and the public would not have known, or cared, about it. The public probably didn’t care about it anyway.
I agree that if a famous person has a personal support structure, and are comfortable about themselves, fame over a period of decades can be handled well, but the driver for many people who want to be famous is an inner discomfort, a psycho-spiritual need to be something more than they presently are. And here we are talking only of those who want fame, not Mrs. Bulger or Mrs. Venables. Such people are raw and extremely vulnerable when fame is thrust upon them. They pay the same price for their unwilling fame as Susan Boyle does for her desired fame.
I’m saying that the ‘price’ that the media set on fame is too high.

Having been a journalist myself I can vouch for that. What people forget is that at the end of the day it’s a job. A lot of the time, publishers will jump on the next big thing and because it’s a highly competitive world, it’s about getting the most sales – so there’s no real thought or conspiracy (as far as journos go) in ‘productising’ people.

Saying that, from the personal point of view, I was always aware that while I had to do the best job possible, I also wanted to be fair to the people involved but it’s a tough thing to do. I once interviewed a high profile singer in the 90s who I knew was gay but hadn’t come out yet. I chose not to run my story because I felt that was a personal decision and a life changing one. Our competitors got the story and ran it – they sold we didn’t and I had to pay the price. It went against my appraisal but within myself, I knew I’d made the right decision.

I also think that what we’re forgetting here is that fame has a price but you can withstand it if you are comfortable with who you are – and already have a strong support network around you before you reached that point. Sadly, a lot of people don’t have this and become victims.

B