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A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially in a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are written in a light, informal style, and relate opinions about the personal lives or conduct of celebrities from show business (motion picture movie stars, theater, and television actors), politicians, professional sports stars, and other wealthy people or public figures. Some gossip columnists broadcast segments on radio and television.

The columns mix factual material on arrests, divorces, marriages and pregnancies, which are obtained from official records, with more speculative gossip stories, rumors, and innuendo about romantic relationships, affairs, and purported personal problems.

Gossip columnists have a reciprocal relationship with the celebrities whose private lives are splashed about in the gossip column's pages. While gossip columnists sometimes engage in (borderline) defamatory conduct, spreading innuendo about alleged immoral or illegal conduct that can injure celebrities' reputations, they also serve as an important part of the publicity machine that turns actors and musicians into celebrities and superstars that are the objects of the public's obsessive attention and interest. The publicity agents of celebrities often provide or "leak" information or rumors to gossip columnists to publicize the celebrity or their projects, or to counteract "bad press" that has recently surfaced about their conduct.

Libel and defamation

While gossip columnists' "bread and butter" is rumor, innuendo, and allegations of scandalous behavior, there is a fine line between the legally-acceptable spreading of rumors and the making of defamatory statements, the latter of which can provoke a lawsuit. Newspaper and magazine editorial policies normally require gossip columnists to have a source for all of their allegations to protect the publisher from lawsuits for defamation (libel).

In the United States, celebrities or public figures can sue for libel if their private lives are revealed in a gossip column and they believe that their reputation has been defamed – that is, exposed to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or pecuniary loss. Gossip columnists cannot defend against libel claims by arguing that they merely repeated but did not originate the defaming rumor or claim. Instead, a columnist must prove that the allegedly defaming statement was truthful or that it was based on a reasonably reliable source.

In the mid-1960s, rulings by the United States Supreme Court made it harder for the media to be sued for libel in the US. The Court ruled that libel occurs only if a publication prints falsehoods about a celebrity with "reckless disregard" for the truth. A celebrity suing a newspaper for libel must prove that the paper published the falsehood with actual malice or with deliberate knowledge that the statement was both incorrect and defamatory.

Moreover, the Court ruled that only factual misrepresentation, not expression of opinion, is libel. Thus, if gossip columnists write that they "think that Celebrity X is an idiot", the columnist does not face a risk of being sued for libel. On the other hand, if columnists invent an allegation that "Celebrity X is a wife beater" with no supporting source or evidence, the celebrity can sue for libel on the grounds that their reputation was defamed.

In some circumstances, however, gossip columnists do not fact-check the information that they receive from their sources before they publish their stories. Also, some gossip columnists who are not themselves reputable post articles about celebrities. As a result, there is a chance of published stories leading to the defamation of celebrities.

History

The precursors to gossip columns were the society columns of the 19th and early 20th centuries. James Gordon Bennett Sr. is credited with first creating this position at the New York Herald in 1840.^[1]

Walter Winchell, a gossip columnist famous in the 1930s and 1940s, was the first writer to have a syndicated gossip column. Winchell used his political, entertainment, and social connections to mine information and rumors, which he either published in his column On Broadway or traded to accumulate more power. He has been referred to as "the most feared journalist" of his era.^[2] From the 1930s to the 1950s, the two best-known Hollywood gossip columnists were the competing Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons.^[3]

In Hollywood's "Golden Age" in the 1930s and 1940s, gossip columnists were courted by the movie studios so that the studios could use gossip columns as a powerful publicity tool. During that period, the major film studios had "stables" of contractually-obligated actors, and controlled nearly all aspects of the lives of their movie stars. Well-timed leaks about a star's purported romantic adventures helped movie studios to create and sustain public interest in their star actors. The studios' publicity agents also acted as unnamed "well-informed inside sources." In this capacity, agents could counteract whispers about celebrity secrets, such as homosexuality or an out-of-wedlock child, which could severely damage both the individual reputation of a movie star and their greater box office viability.

Having fallen into ill-repute after the heyday of Hopper and Parsons, gossip columnists saw a comeback in the 1980s. Many mainstream magazines such as Time, which once considered the hiring of gossip columnists as beneath their stature, now have sections titled "People" or "Entertainment". Such mainstream gossip columns provide a light, chatty glimpse into the private lives and misadventures of the rich and famous.

At the other end of the journalism spectrum, there are entire publications that deal primarily in gossip, rumor, and innuendo about celebrities, such as the British 'red-top' tabloids and the celebrity 'tell-all' magazines.

Notable gossip columnists

Notable gossip columnists include:

Columns not named for a columnist

Gossip columns that are not named after a specific columnist, along with the media source, include:

3am — Daily Mirror, a British newspaper.
Access Hollywood — a syndicated television program^{[clarification needed]}
Bizarre — The Sun, a London newspaper
Page Six — New York Post, a New York City newspaper
Inside New York, in New York Post, New York City newspaper
Inside the Beltway — The Washington Times, a Washington, D.C. newspaper
Off the Record — The New York Observer, a New York newspaper
Vegas Confidential — Las Vegas Review-Journal, a Las Vegas newspaper

References

^ Ross, Ishbel (1936). Ladies of the Press: The Story of Women in Journalism By an Inside. Harper. p. 441.
^ Gabler, Neal (1994). Winchell: gossip, power, and the culture of celebrity. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-679-41751-6. OCLC 29637810.
^ Longworth, Karina (3 May 2021). ""Gossip Girls"".

Mulcahy, Susan (1988). My Lips Are Sealed: Confessions of a Gossip Columnist. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385243599.

[1] Ross, Ishbel (1936). Ladies of the Press: The Story of Women in Journalism By an Inside. Harper. p. 441.

[2] Gabler, Neal (1994). Winchell: gossip, power, and the culture of celebrity. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-679-41751-6. OCLC 29637810.

[3] Longworth, Karina (3 May 2021). ""Gossip Girls"".

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 {{globalize|date=December 2009}}
 }}
-A '''gossip columnist''' is someone who writes a '''gossip column''' in a newspaper or magazine, especially a [[gossip magazine]]. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal lives or conduct of [[Celebrity|celebrities]] from show business (motion picture movie stars, theater, and television actors), politicians, professional sports stars, and other wealthy people or public figures. Some gossip columnists broadcast segments on [[radio programming|radio]] and television.
+A '''gossip columnist''' is someone who writes a '''gossip column''' in a newspaper or magazine, especially in a [[gossip magazine]]. Gossip columns are written in a light, informal style, and relate opinions about the personal lives or conduct of [[Celebrity|celebrities]] from show business (motion picture movie stars, theater, and television actors), politicians, professional sports stars, and other wealthy people or public figures. Some gossip columnists broadcast segments on [[radio programming|radio]] and television.
-The columns mix factual material on arrests, divorces, marriages and pregnancies, obtained from official records, with more speculative gossip stories, rumors, and [[innuendo]] about romantic relationships, affairs, and purported personal problems.
+The columns mix factual material on arrests, divorces, marriages and pregnancies, which are obtained from official records, with more speculative gossip stories, rumors, and [[innuendo]] about romantic relationships, affairs, and purported personal problems.
-Gossip columnists have a reciprocal relationship with the celebrities whose private lives are splashed about in the gossip column's pages. While gossip columnists sometimes engage in (borderline) [[defamation|defamatory]] conduct, spreading innuendo about alleged [[Morality|immoral]] or illegal conduct that can injure celebrities' reputations, they also are an important part of the "Star System" publicity machine that turns movie actors and musicians into celebrities and [[superstar]]s that are the objects of the public's obsessive attention and interest. The [[press agent|publicity agents]] of celebrities often provide or "leak" information or rumors to gossip columnists to publicize the celebrity or their projects, or to counteract "bad press" that has recently surfaced about their conduct.
+Gossip columnists have a reciprocal relationship with the celebrities whose private lives are splashed about in the gossip column's pages. While gossip columnists sometimes engage in (borderline) [[defamation|defamatory]] conduct, spreading innuendo about alleged [[Morality|immoral]] or illegal conduct that can injure celebrities' reputations, they also serve as an important part of the publicity machine that turns actors and musicians into celebrities and [[superstar]]s that are the objects of the public's obsessive attention and interest. The [[press agent|publicity agents]] of celebrities often provide or "leak" information or rumors to gossip columnists to publicize the celebrity or their projects, or to counteract "bad press" that has recently surfaced about their conduct.
 ==Libel and defamation==
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 In the mid-1960s, rulings by the [[United States Supreme Court]] made it harder for the media to be sued for libel in the US. The Court ruled that libel occurs only if a publication prints falsehoods about a celebrity with "reckless disregard" for the truth. A celebrity suing a newspaper for libel must prove that the paper published the falsehood with actual [[malice (legal term)|malice]] or with deliberate knowledge that the statement was both incorrect and defamatory.
-Moreover, the Court ruled that only factual misrepresentation, not expression of opinion, is libel. Thus, if gossip columnists write that they "think that Celebrity X is an idiot," the columnist does not face a risk of being sued for libel. On the other hand, if columnist invent an allegation that "Celebrity X is a wife beater" with no supporting source or evidence, the celebrity can sue for libel on the grounds that their reputation was defamed.
+Moreover, the Court ruled that only factual misrepresentation, not expression of opinion, is libel. Thus, if gossip columnists write that they "think that Celebrity X is an idiot", the columnist does not face a risk of being sued for libel. On the other hand, if columnists invent an allegation that "Celebrity X is a wife beater" with no supporting source or evidence, the celebrity can sue for libel on the grounds that their reputation was defamed.
-In some circumstances, however, gossip columnists do not fact check the information that they receiving from their source before they publishing their stories. Also, some gossip columnists who are not themselves reputable post articles about celebrities. As a result, there is a chance of published stories leading to the defamation of celebrities.
+In some circumstances, however, gossip columnists do not fact-check the information that they receive from their sources before they publish their stories. Also, some gossip columnists who are not themselves reputable post articles about celebrities. As a result, there is a chance of published stories leading to the defamation of celebrities.
 ==History==
 [[File:Louella-Parsons-1937.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Louella Parsons]] (1937)]]
@@ Line 28: / Line 27: @@
 The precursors to gossip columns were the [[Society reporting|society columns]] of the 19th and early 20th centuries. [[James Gordon Bennett Sr.|James Gordon Bennett]] Sr. is credited with first creating this position at the [[New York Herald]] in 1840.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ross |first=Ishbel |title=Ladies of the Press: The Story of Women in Journalism By an Inside |publisher=Harper |year=1936 |pages=441}}</ref>
-[[Walter Winchell]], a gossip columnist famous in the 1930s and 1940s and the first to have a syndicated column, used political, entertainment, and social connections to mine information and rumors, which he either published in his column ''On Broadway''or used for trade or blackmail to accumulate more power. He has been referred to as "the most feared journalist" of his era.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gabler |first=Neal |title=Winchell: gossip, power, and the culture of celebrity |date=1994 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-679-41751-6 |location=New York |oclc=29637810}}</ref>
+[[Walter Winchell]], a gossip columnist famous in the 1930s and 1940s, was the first writer to have a syndicated gossip column. Winchell used his political, entertainment, and social connections to mine information and rumors, which he either published in his column ''On Broadway'' or traded to accumulate more power. He has been referred to as "the most feared journalist" of his era.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gabler |first=Neal |title=Winchell: gossip, power, and the culture of celebrity |date=1994 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-679-41751-6 |location=New York |oclc=29637810}}</ref> From the 1930s to the 1950s, the two best-known Hollywood gossip columnists were the competing [[Hedda Hopper]] and [[Louella Parsons]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Longworth |first=Karina |date=May 3, 2021 |title="Gossip Girls" |url=http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2021/4/26/gossip-girls-louella-parsons-and-hedda-hopper-small-town-girl-episode-1}}</ref>
-In Hollywood's "[[Classical Hollywood cinema|Golden Age]]" in the 1930s and 1940s, gossip columnists were courted by the [[movie studio]]s so that the studios could use gossip columns as a powerful publicity tool. During that period, the major film studios had "stables" of contractually-obligated actors and controlled nearly all aspects of the lives of their movie stars. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the two best-known Hollywood gossip columnists were the competing [[Hedda Hopper]] and [[Louella Parsons]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Longworth |first=Karina |date=May 3, 2021 |title="Gossip Girls" |url=http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2021/4/26/gossip-girls-louella-parsons-and-hedda-hopper-small-town-girl-episode-1}}</ref>
-Well-timed [[News leak|leaks]] about a star's purported romantic adventures helped the studios to create and to sustain the public's interest in the studios' star actors. As well, the movie studios' publicity agents acted as unnamed "well-informed inside sources" and provided misinformation and rumors to counteract whispers about celebrity secrets, such as homosexuality or an [[Legitimacy (family law)|out-of-wedlock]] child,  which could have severely damaged not only the reputation of the movie star in question but also the movie star's box office viability.
+In Hollywood's "[[Classical Hollywood cinema|Golden Age]]" in the 1930s and 1940s, gossip columnists were courted by the [[movie studio]]s so that the studios could use gossip columns as a powerful publicity tool. During that period, the major film studios had "stables" of contractually-obligated actors, and controlled nearly all aspects of the lives of their movie stars. Well-timed [[News leak|leaks]] about a star's purported romantic adventures helped movie studios to create and sustain public interest in their star actors. The studios' publicity agents also acted as unnamed "well-informed inside sources." In this capacity, agents could counteract whispers about celebrity secrets, such as homosexuality or an [[Legitimacy (family law)|out-of-wedlock]] child, which could severely damage both the individual reputation of a movie star and their greater box office viability.
-Having fallen into ill-repute after the heyday of Hopper and Parsons, gossip columnists saw a comeback in the 1980s. Many mainstream magazines such as ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', which would once have considered the idea of hiring gossip columnists to pen articles to have been beneath their stature, now have sections titled "People" or "Entertainment". Such mainstream gossip columns provide a light chatty glimpse into the private lives and misadventures of the rich and famous.
+Having fallen into ill-repute after the heyday of Hopper and Parsons, gossip columnists saw a comeback in the 1980s. Many mainstream magazines such as ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', which once considered the hiring of gossip columnists as beneath their stature, now have sections titled "People" or "Entertainment". Such mainstream gossip columns provide a light, chatty glimpse into the private lives and misadventures of the rich and famous.
 At the other end of the journalism spectrum, there are entire publications that deal primarily in gossip, rumor, and innuendo about celebrities, such as the British [[tabloid (newspaper format)|'red-top' tabloids]] and the [[Gossip magazine|celebrity 'tell-all' magazines]].