How to place a fake story in a Tabloid Newspaper
October 15, 2009 by Douglas Chalmers
Tabloid graffiti
According to a fascinating story by Gary Neale in the Press Gazette, film makers behind an new feature documentary about the UK tabloids have successfully duped the Sun, the Mirror, the Star and the Express into publishing fake stories by the simple method of phoning up the tip off numbers placed in the tabloids.
Their film, ”Starsuckers’” which opens on 30 October, describes itself as “a feature documentary about the celebrity obsessed media, that uncovers the real reasons behind our addiction to fame and blows the lid on the corporations and individuals who profit from it”. They claim that amongst the stories that they successfully planted were:
- Sparks from a fuse which blew at the flat of singer Amy Whinehouse set fire to her beehive hairdo: Mirror and Star;
- Director Guy Ritchie received a black eye after juggling cutlery: The Sun;
- Singer Sarah Harding is into quantum physics: The Sun;
- Comedian Russell Brand wanted to be a banker when he was a child: Daily Express;
- Pixie Geldof stuffed pick and mix sweets into her bra: The Daily Mirror.
The director of the movie, Chris Atkins, told The Guardian: “Had those fake stories been fact-checked by the newspapers before they were printed, they would have realised – I think within minutes – that they were about to publish complete and utter babble.”
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