ySTINK

For those that have never been to the London or anywhere in the U.K., tabloids are more popular than the malls in America - yes, way more than America's check out line scandal sheets. I think they are more senseless entertainment, and they are not believed as gospel as they are here (as much) and more like something to read in the privy before wrapping fish and chips (or maybe that's after eating fish and chips) but nonetheless, the ramifications and damages suffered by normal people are very serious indeed -- as they are here.

I've been following the NEWS OF THE WORLD scandal with great joy and interest as you can imagine, and have been planning to do a series, but I lost a lot of the bookmarks I had stored up when Firefox crashed on me and it sort of took it out of me. But recent news from across the pond about tabloid practices in general have me all juiced up again.

This excerpt from the BBC story on recent hearings sums up what I've been saying for years: (full article link is below). The key takeaway here is, the notion that celebrities need the 'press' just as the 'press' needs them, is completely FALSE. We're all just humans here, with families and problems trying to figure it out -- think about how you would feel if someone you loved disappeared, and you had to face the fact that they may be dead - then like an answered prayer, you learn there's activity on their cellphone - sorry, it's just a tabloid scumbag looking for a buck you can go back to grieving -- again.

Ms Rowling told the inquiry that children deserved privacy and that she had always tried to protect her private family life from the press, by taking measures which included wrapping them in blankets to hide them from paparazzi.

"They (children) have no choice over who their parents are or how their parents behave.

"A child, no matter who their parents are, deserves privacy. Where children are concerned the issue is fairly black and white."

For whatever reason, the tabloids across the pond are more plentiful than CVS, Walgreens and Starbucks combined here, but if greedy ol' Murdoch can be taken down than so can the rest of them, and their American counterparts. I for one have a new found respect for the 'Barrister' system. 'Right- O Jolly old chaps! Pip pip and keep up the job well done.' Let's hope we don't have to rely on a tea party to adopt their diligence over here.

BBC Article

I opted to give Gibson's interview to Deadline because editors at other media outlets seemed inclined to use this story to pursue their own agendas. It's his first major sitdown since portions of the taped conversations between the filmmaker and his ex-girlfriend were leaked to the Internet. There were no pre-set conditions, no topic off limits, and no ground rules. This is just Mel being Mel. I found him to be funny but also melancholy, occasionally brazen and often abashed. And I was often reminded that I was in the presence of a true creative talent. I’ve always found Gibson to be amazingly honest in interviews, but I was taken aback at times by how self-knowing he was in response to certain questions. While there were topics Gibson was legally prohibited from discussing, he did his best to provide direct answers to all of my questions:

via www.deadline.com