Tabloid hacks or, how not to write an article

Post by **Gillian** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 9:43 am

What a ridiculous woman. Not only has she managed to sensationalize JI's interview with The Independent that I mentioned previously, but she's taken his remarks completely out of context ...

"Jason Isaacs thinks acting is "silly." The "Harry Potter" actor - who plays Lucius Malfoy in the movie adaptations of J. K. Rowling's popular books - has blasted his profession, branding it a "ridiculous" way to earn money."

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7014741893

kjshd05 · Post by **kjshd05** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:09 am

Gillian, I just read that article, and I was horrified....
Everything he said was totall taken out of context. Yikes

virtu1889 · Post by **virtu1889** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:14 am

How dare she!

Twisting Jason's words for sensationalism!

Celebrity news reporters can be so infuriating.

grannybear · Post by **grannybear** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:18 am

Who would trust anything she says now? That's why you have to take everything you read with a grain of salt. It shouldn't have to be that way.

thunder · Post by **thunder** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:19 am

"Journalist" is not a protected title, so any idiot can call them selves that. If they kicked journalists like her out, maybe people would have taken the media more seriously.

It's only because they think we like to read stuff like this.

Sea Lion Woman · Post by **Sea Lion Woman** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:37 am

Oh my! It's disgusting what some "journalists" can do just to create some sort of interesting news. *rolls eyes*
How dare she? Honestly...I'm very upset right now.

Helen8 · Post by **Helen8** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:30 am

Some of these "journalists" purposely file articles like this online, so they can get a lot of hits just to keep their "traffic" numbers up, thereby somehow justifying their existence. Jason will continue to act long after she's forgotten.

virtu1889 · Post by **virtu1889** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:54 am

Helen8 wrote:Jason will continue to act long after she's forgotten.

Hear hear!

Post by **Hilary the Touched** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:11 pm

Gillian, I thought your link read "http://www.AIRHEADlinenews.com/"!!
Now I think maybe it should . . .
This "article" was simply a sloppy pastiche of previous quotes.

Here's another interesting link about the source: "AHN calls itself a `news service,'" the lawsuit said. "However, on information and belief, AHN has no reporters and is simply a vehicle for copying news reports and misappropriating news gathered and reported by real news services such as AP." http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp ... 1003696651 Sounds about right to me.

Man, I want to get my writing from an organization that declares, "In short, our core competency is to generate and syndicate dynamic news content and information to our customers in an easy to use [sic] format."

Angel Tavington · Post by **Angel Tavington** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:22 pm

Well, what can I say....I'm speechless and disgusted (I wouldn't call her a journalist). I clicked on the link Gillian posted, but it said the page could not be found. Was the article removed?

~me

Post by **Hilary the Touched** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:52 pm

Both links still work for me, Angel . . .

Post by **Gillian** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 1:32 pm

This "article" was simply a sloppy pastiche of previous quotes.

I think it's more deliberate than that. Google the name "Anne Lu celebrity news service" to see what I mean.

BTW, I was also mystified by the word BANG in the credits, so I did a little hunting. AHN is partnered with Bang Media International (Bang Showbiz - a UK entertainment news agency) to help address "customer requests for expanded celebrity and entertainment oriented content,”. According to PR Web, this "allows All Headline News to offer any customer, whatever its purpose, objective or style, the digital material and content it needs."

Yeah.

And not just to one-off or or two-bit celebrity gossip sites, either. There's The Insider, The Hugginton Post, Bostom.com, Yahoo News (and oh, guess what just turned up?).

That of course, gets picked up by other sites. And so on and so on ...

Honestly, it's the kind of "journalism" one aspires to if you were reporting on Bat Boy for the Weekly World News.

Roz · Post by **Roz** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:59 pm

grannybear wrote:Who would trust anything she says now? That's why you have to take everything you read with a grain of salt. It shouldn't have to be that way.

Grain of salt? Sheesh, some times I think the whole salt shaker is needed! What an awful article!

Wolfie · Post by **Wolfie** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 2:40 am

Journalism at it's "best"

Yes, I've seen that article spread around the web..