Buzzfeed published a really fascinating analysis of just how In Touch Weekly managed to change the gossip around the Duggars by doing some old-fashioned leg work and genuine investigative reporting. In Touch broke the Duggar family’s scandals wide open, and it will be interesting/funny to see if the Duggars actually do try to sue Bauer Media. But within this Buzzfeed piece, there’s some interesting little tidbits sprinkled in, about how gossip is cultivated, the narratives being driven by the editors, and how certain stories are “sourced.” If you like the insider-y media gossip stories, this is a good read – go here for the full piece. Some assorted piece of information:
In Touch & other tabloids will pay for gossip tips: “The money,” of course, is what In Touch and the rest of the tabloids are willing to pay for tips, documents, and leads — a practice that’s frowned upon in mainstream American journalism circles, but an accepted and long-standing tradition in Europe, where the National Enquirer began poaching reporters from in the 1970s. Today, the National Enquirer homepage lures tipsters with the promise to EARN BIG BUCK$$$$!; In Touch’s “Hot Celebrity Tip Box” makes no mention of payoffs, but current Editorial Director David Perel acknowledges that they do pay for certain stories, and part of In Touch’s stigma stems from its willingness to pay for truly worthwhile tips and stories.
The Golden Age of Gossip, 2002-2008: In Touch piqued that fascination by manufacturing elaborate, multipart, melodramatic narratives — the stuff of soap operas. Which made sense: The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Richard Spencer, came directly from Soap Opera Update. Several former employees remember Spencer laying out a four-act cover drama for what would happen between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the beginning of each month — a pregnancy, for example, followed by a breakup scare, a reconciliation, and then marriage rumors.
How In Touch (and other tabloids) source their stories: The beats of the drama may have been fictionalized, but it was easy to find sources — including rival publicists, other celebrities, former friends, estranged family — to support the claims. Still, according to Jo Piazza, who served as executive editor at In Touch from 2012 to 2014, “the majority of the stories were true…They were double-sourced. It’s just that those sources were celebrities and publicists,” and then referred to as “a source close to the family” or “a friend.” It’s not that In Touch made things up; it’s that the publicists and family members and celebrities themselves did.
Kim Kardashian used to give tips to In Touch: Several former employees confirmed that before Kim Kardashian’s sex tape with Ray J was leaked in 2007, Kim served as a source for In Touch stories, providing a steady stream of information on Paris Hilton. (A spokesperson for Kardashian states that the claim is “absolutely false.”)
In Touch isn’t paying for Duggar tips: In the three weeks since first breaking the scoop, In Touch has chased the story relentlessly. And while In Touch acknowledges paying for stories, it seems that payoffs had no place in the Duggar scoop: just attention to the tip hotline and old-school legwork. Egusquiza (who refused to comment for this story) told The Advocate that “one tipster led to another, and then another,” but the smoking gun — and what differentiated the scoop from tipster-supported fodder that makes up so much of In Touch — was the documents.
I totally believe Kim used to tip off In Touch Weekly about Paris Hilton. I also believe Kim – and other members of the clan, mostly Kris Jenner – still “tip off” the tabloids about certain stories too. Also, you’ve got to love what’s unspoken about In Touch’s “double-sourcing” technique. Basically, they’re saying that if a celebrity or publicist had an axe to grind about another celebrity, they would just use whatever they said.
The Buzzfeed piece also answered some questions I had about just how quickly In Touch managed to turn around their reputation by going full-throttle at the Duggars. Last year, Bauer started shifting around senior editors and David Perel, a tabloid veteran from Star and the National Enquirer, was brought in. Perel had overseen the Enquirer’s John Edwards story, which was a journalistic scoop for that tabloid. When Perel came to In Touch, he started replacing the soap-opera writers with tried-and-true tabloid journalists with backgrounds in investigative reporting. So, that explains it.
Covers courtesy of In Touch Weekly.
Not that we needed further evidence of the kardashian’s fame wh0ring, but this is awesome. She was so desperate to be famous, she sold gossip to a tabloid magazine!
Gossip on the person she was trying to come up off…just look at Kim’s trail of friends and lovers,she used all of them and tossed them away when she was done. Karma is waiting and doing push ups for this family.
And it’s going to be glorious
I hope so. Every now and then Karma works itself out beautifully and I recently had the extreme pleasure of it unfolding on someone who brought a lot of s**t upon my family. What goes around does indeed come around eventually. @katie I agree it will be glorious.
“Karma is waiting and doing push ups”
Love that.
I thought the fact Kim and her family sold stories (bad and good) came out during the deposition for her divorce to Kris K? There should be no surprise this family plays dirty. You don’t stay around this long playing fair. The only difference is compared to others is The Klan gets others to do their dirty work for the most part so they can keep their hands clean. I mean look at jonathan cheban and the bleach blonde stylist – always attacking others who dare even say boo about them.
They sell stories about themselves and anyone who dares cross them, look what they did to Lamar. I am waiting to see the ugliness when Kanye is no longer in use,that will be epic.
@loopy oh I know when they are done sucking kanye dry for all he can give And bring to them it’s going to be an epic hot a$$ mess explosion. Kim and Kris have always been the driving force for the constant Ks all over the tabloid covers. The fact they will even make up smear campaigns about themselves just so how far they will go. Any publicity is good publicity to them.
Loopy- not just Lamar but also Humphries. After Kimmie filed for divorce in a record 72 days (without bothering to discuss it with the husband), one smear story after another about Humphries (his only crime was being married to her and wanting an annulment) came out with the Kardashian mark on them all. They even inserted entirely fictional scenes into their TV show to try to pretend she had any basis for a divorce other than Kanye saying “gee, if you weren’t married, we could get together now since I’m free”.
They even did fake stuff off tv to smear Humphries. Cheban tried to pretend that some hireling in a basketball uniform was flour bombing him on behalf of Humphries. When that didn’t work, they tried a similar scenario with Kim herself, setting something up with an anti-fur activist who got publicity for the cause out of it. Kim was dressed for minimal damage (no fur) and quick cleaning, she and her mom were uncharacteristically calm, Kim even had a funny quote ready, video shows security letting the “flour bomber” get into proper position etc. Plus they tried to claim she said something about Humphries as she tossed the flour, although that was too ridiculous even for the tabloid crowd.
These Kardashians are world class liars and manipulators. And they are not harmless – they hurt real people with their antics.
Kris Humphries is a trifling POS. Watch his epsiodes again, and no I’m not referring to the “faked out” scenes. I am refrring to his own talking heads where he said sh8tty, abusive things about women. He was an absolute Class A jerk.
Anon33- come up with real quotes in context. I only saw parts of the shows, but I saw a typical blunt Midwestern guy who also was being coached to say things by producers to cause drama. A lot of things fans claimed were “mean” were just honesty, I listened and didn’t hear “mean” at all. Their shows are scripted, that’s come out in court depositions. He got tired of the fake drama pretty quick. But if Kim didn’t like his bluntness (being used to surrounding herself with California suckups), she knew him long enough to know how he talked and should have called off the wedding. She was a full grown adult woman. Instead, she dragged him into a stupid show, living with another family, and showing no sign of even talking seriously with him (you know, like real couples do when there is real conflict) but just doing stuff to shock him and get a reaction. He wanted counseling when she filed for divorce (without even telling him!!!), she just wanted him to roll over and play dead when she got her chance to get with Kanye. Kim just wanted a fancy wedding, she wasn’t interested in a real marriage with someone who couldn’t get her a Vogue cover.
She no doubt learned the ropes from paris, she is known to call paps and plant stories herself and has been sued at least once for doing it.
Oh, wow, all this is like glitter and rainbows to someone who, eight or nine months ago, didn’t even know who the Kardashians (and lots of other celebs) were! I want more! I want to know:
1: “The sick reason Kim did it”.
2: Why Selena chucked her parents out of the house.
3: Is that really Kim in the Spanx and struggling with that dress?
4: Is that Kim’s crying face? What is she blubbering about?
5: What does Tori hope to achieve by getting even skinnier?
6: Why do so many people insist that Kim is lovely, polite and kind; a really nice person?
7: Is In Touch available in Australia?
8: if so, should I start buying it?
Aaahh… So many gaps in my celebrity knowledge… I need guidance from the Expert Celebitches, please.
Thank you, one and all.
She was Paris Hilton’s assistant. Tipping off the paps for Paris was probably one of her job responsibilities. It was Kim’s personal version of on-the-job training.
Anybody who’s seen her ghastly sex tape, knows that there is no limit to what the Kartrashians will do for fame & fortune, so selling dirt on her friends can hardly come as a surprise
LMAO wow is that really a picture of Kim bending over.
I was just thinking the same thing. Not flattering at all
No, sorry, it’s fake. Obviously. 😉
“David Perel, a tabloid veteran from Star and the National Enquirer, was brought in. Perel had overseen the Enquirer’s John Edwards story, which was a journalistic scoop for that tabloid.”
I was thinking of that story recently during In Touch’s Duggar coverage. This explains alot. That John Edwards story wasn’t just a journalistic scoop for The National Enquirer it put more respected media to shame.
It’s so weird to imagine tabloids are (sometimes) doing better investigative journalism than traditional media nowadays.
The same reporter was also on the John Edwards case………….
That’s because traditional media is all about dancing around eggshells when it comes to big names. It is sad that most of the time the mainstream media waters down stories just to not PO some big shot, it’s like they’re afraid of saying the truth about a friend because they know they’ll end their relationship
That’s why I love celebrity gossip. Mainstream media, especially ‘respected’ news outlets, has somehow grown to treat public figures as sacred cows. They can now dictate the terms of interviews, they’re lobbed softballs, and no one is ever held accountable for anything anymore. And yet gossip media (entertainment, but even sports and politics) isn’t afraid to ‘go there’. Of course you have to keep a healthy dose of skepticism.
+1. Mainstream media is full of lies and s**t.
This isn’t recent. The national media would never mention or photograph FDR during WWII while he was in a wheelchair (polio sufferer) and it was sort of an unspoken agreement. Only a few pictures remain of him using any sort of assistance to walk or stand. Mainstream media ignored the amount of pain killers (and more than likely severe pain) JFK suffered through or the fact that he used a cane during his brief service in office in order to portray a healthy leader in the face of Communism.
Which John Edwards are we referring to? There’s the psychic guy, but as I understand it, there is a politician in the U.S. with the same name? Does anyone have a link to the In Touch story about him? I’ve done a search, with no success so far.
@TeaAnd:
here ya go: 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards_extramarital_affair
Thank you so much, Troof! Cheers, x.
Tabloids like Daily Mail, TMZ get the scoop first because they pay sources, doesn’t matter if they are credible or not and most often, they are. Comedians like John Oliver and Jon Stewart are even better at extracting information than some journalists. That Snowden interview, no journalist was able to do that.
I liked the Snowden interview, John Oliver is great.
The National Enquirer also told the world what OJ Simpson was really like.
is the Jen and Angelina still a thing? I would think that either party couldn’t care less
Before I started visiting this site I had no idea that the “Jen and Angelina war” was still on or their fans was so crazy about it. It’s been 10 years!
I like them both and I find that war thing ridiculous.
It’s a thing to the tabloids and deluded fans, it’s not a real thing between them, I’m sure they’re all sick to death of the association but there’s no shaking it.
I believe it. If it involves screwing someone (in one way or another) and there’s money to be made, a Kardashian is up for it.
The crying photo and the dress not fitting photo are hilarious.
That “Wedding From Hell” cover is over the top! gah! hilarious!
“It’s not that In Touch made things up; it’s that the publicists and family members and celebrities themselves did.”
So basically anyone can make up anything about a celeb as long as they are celebs and publicists etc making the stuff up?! There needs to be laws changed where you can’t just make things up for fun. It can really damage and hurt an innocent celebrity. Can you imagine? Some rival actress can anonymously say something about another actress out of jealousy and intouch or whomever will print it.
Even if people say “oh it’s harmless, no one believes gossip anyway”, um, that’s exactly what readers do; believe shit, even blind items are believed these days and get millions of visitors and readers even when it says right at the bottom: WE MAKE THINGS UP SOMETIMES. People still flood the site and guess who the blind item is about, it’s sinister and it’s dangerous.
Yes, well said.
So true!
There’s no protection from reality, people do lie and make stuff up and spread vicious rumors. And unorthodox behavior gets noticed and commented on. It may not be right or fair but anyone who courts fame should be aware they run the risk of being unfairly character assassinated by the media. It happens to people all the time, they don’t even have to be famous.
Hear that Kanye?
really!?
I love Anne Helen Peterson (the writer of the Buzzfeed article).
Same. She’s brilliant!
Thanks for linking to that Buzzfeed article; it was fascinating.
I’ve never taken such pleasure in seeing someone’s cry-face. Just glorious.
Well of course she did. She needed to make money because she had none. And now she makes up lies about herself and family and contacts the same rags to stay relevant. She knows most people are sick to death of her and her family and that the clock is ticking.
She actually had plenty – her Dad was a rich man, and not just well-off. Rich. I think it’s more than she wanted fame and she didn’t have the talent to get it any other way. It’s also lazy as all get out.
Robert Kardashian was rich but he didn’t have the kind of money they have now.
I read the whole article last night and it was a really good read. I remember watching morgan spurlock (i think thats his name – the supersize me guy) when he had that 30 days show and he was a paparazzi in LA for 30 days. It was around the time Kim really started to blow up and Morgan was at a nail salon with dozens of paparazzi waiting for Kim and the paparazi were like “her publicist/she called US” its insane how theyve been trying to “legitimize” themeselves in pop culture when at the end of the day they are just reality famewhores
See, I didn’t read that as Kim seeking gossip to further her career or get money, I read that as Paris Hilton’s assistant called intouch. Like back in the day, Paris called paps on herself and such. Like she was the fame whore back in the day, so she probably had her assistant-Kim-call the tabloids for her. It says right in the story that celebs and their publicists and stuff would just make up stories and that was their source.
If that’s the case, sassback, Kim sure did learn the lessons well…
I’m not saying the Kardashian don’t call the ops on themselves and plant stories, they definitely do, but I’m just thinking in this case, she was calling on behalf of her boss, not furthering her own agenda, because nobody knew her name at all at this time. After the sex tape is when she actually started calling for herself haha
Celebritys control the tabloids..
The government controls the news..
That Kim K. wedding cover is classic.
The photo of PMK hanging out of the limo window is priceless, whether it’s fake or not.
It’s not that In Touch made things up; it’s that the publicists and family members and celebrities themselves did.
That statement is so fascinating to me that celebs would make up bs stories about themselves just to stay in the news cycle.
Which is why stars WITHOUT publicists- like Brad & Angie- are that much more amazing. They are smart enough to speak for themselves and have found better things to do with their money than pay it to liars and spin doctors. It also explains why all these tabs write so much trash and lies about Brad, Angie & their kids- PR agents of other needy, threatened stars who give tabs lies to write- no other “sourcing” needed. So gross.
They’re afraid of “out of sight, out of mind” probably (esp. with the z-list, more interchangeable celebrities).
I remember many years ago (somewhere around 2003), the morning news show on Channel 5 in Los Angeles did an interview with Kim, who was then known only for being Paris’ best friend. She was promoting some sort of clothing shop she owned. I remember the interviewer kept asking about Paris (who was really big at the time) but Kim just wanted to talk about her shop.
I just love that on the header image on the home page with the headline, it looks like Kim is shocked and frightened to be near a bubble that says $2.99.
“WHAT is a $2.99? Where are the rest of the numbers! The good kind of numbers that at least come in threes and fours before the period?”
HAHAHA. Great catch!
Let’s just hope Paris decides to unload her stash of dirt on Kim. Wait, I’m not sure anything she could provide would make her look any worse than she already does, so I think Kim may be safe this time.
Why is Kims mouth open? Eating flies?
I don’t think she’s figured out how to breathe without her mouth open.
Who do you think spilled the beans on Bruce’s transition a year ago ??????
I know it was really obvious that it was came from Kris. Like I said in a previous post funny how as so as Kris and Caitlyn split
tmz which is on Kardashion pay roll started saying Caitlyn was transcending and printing/posting poor Kris stories.
I’m not even sure why this is news..no revelations..agents, pr people, ‘friends’ plant a lot of these stories..some are just recycled, some are kernels of truth wrapped in hyperbole..doesn’t everyone already know that? As far as getting paid, if I was in a public place and saw a celeb screaming at a waiter or making out with not-their-spouse, I’d take that video..and call Harvey Levin..cha ching$$.
It’s not necessarily “news”, it’s just that the Kardashian/Jenner clan seem to always be “protected” by the media. No one ever asks Kim the REAL questions…they usually just butt kiss. The fact that In Touch is actually calling Kim out is a big deal. I bet they are bitter because Kim probably tells all her “juicy gossip” to TMZ now instead.
Many people have come forward over the years to say tell how Kim, PMK operate(d).
Tabloids in Britain and Aus/Nz have always been good at investigative journalism even if their focus tends to be more prurient. They frequently scoop the broad sheets because the broad sheets don’t want to go to the gutter. They were never aliens live amongst us type of us tabloids, and for the most part have contacts within the establishment.
The US tabloids stopped doing their wall to wall aliens are amongst us stories when they started hiring British/Aus/Nz journalists.