Stuff.co.nz.
Published: 4/12/06
Excerpt:
The New York Post's Page Six is the widely acknowledged king of gossip with
its daily dose of inside dish on the rich and famous.
But
the column itself generated more gossip than any who-was-seen-where-with-which-starlet item when accusations surfaced
last week that a contributor may have offered to keep a billionaire off
the page in exchange for money – lots of money. ...
The
story erupted after Post contributor Jared Paul Stern was caught on
videotape offering various "levels of protection" for Los Angeles
billionaire Ron Burkle. When Burkle asked "How much do you want?" Stern
asked for $100,000 up front and $10,000 a month. ...
"If
you're writing a gossip column, it's just different and shouldn't be
held to the same standards as reporting on the war in Iraq," Stern said. ...
Journalism ethics expert Kelly McBride disagrees with Stern's approach -- to a point. "If
you are going to do a gossip column, you should do it with the same
ethical standards as in the rest of the paper. But the minute that
comes out of my mouth, it sounds preposterous," said McBride, ethics
group leader at the Poynter Institute.
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