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04/08/2006: "In NY Post Page Six Inquiry, Gossip Swirls Around Gossips and the world they live in."

I admire the way The New York Post took a lemon and made lemonade. A major story hit it yesterday. According to The New York Daily News, "A New York Post Page Six staffer solicited $220,000 from a high-profile billionaire in return for a year's "protection" against inaccurate and unflattering items about him in the gossip page, the Daily News has learned."

But The New York Post broke the story first yesterday on its own Web site.

The staffer, Jared Paul Stern, is said to have claimed, "We know how to destroy people. That's what we do." He added that major gossips do so "without liability." I wasn't clear if he was talking about the Post or gossips or newspapers or reporters or who exactly. But frankly, it could have been said by Dan Rather just as easily as many media people believe they carry such inordinate power. And to some extent, they do.

When I was in journalism school we were constantly told how valuable the "Forth Estate" is and how much power it holds. Of course, Watergate proved that to be true and it caused many young people to enter journalism. It was an exciting business to be in. I think it still is.

The New York Daily News is leading with the story. In fact, it's everywhere. Drudge is making a big deal out of it --- as well he should.

People fear being exposed.

Jared Paul Stern, the reporter at the center of this mess, is quite an impressive man. He is said to wear jeans and a sports coat and be quite the dandy. He loves gossip as much as most everyone else. The difference is he writes it.

I remember back in the fifties everyone loved to listen to well-known celebrity gossip Hedda Hopper. Then there was Walter Winchell who was unlike any gossip reporter ever before or ever since. People love gossip. Stern may have taken it to a new and dangerous level, however.

The New York Times tells us in a story today, "The New York Post is cooperating with a federal investigation into whether a longtime contributor for the Page Six gossip column — the avidly read daily log of wrongdoing, double-dealing and sexual indiscretions by celebrities both minor and major — tried to extort money from a California billionaire, according to a spokesman for the newspaper."

Well-known gossip Jeannette Walls wrote a popular book in 2000 called Dish: The inside Story on the World of Gossip. She is the person who outed Matt Drudge as a gay man. "I outed him in my book, and he posted my home phone number on his website," she said in an interview with mediabistro.com.

"I got literally thousands of calls. Oooh, they were nasty! Death threats, really. I had a couple of sources on the story. I talked to somebody who had dated him. David somebody. I quote him in my book. Nice guy. He was telling me all about Drudge's sexual habits. According to him, some of it was pretty kinky, and some of it involved eggs," Walls says in the 2002 interview.

Journalism and the fringe craft of gossip can be dangerous. I remember when my father was young he did a story that helped send a man to prison. The man threatened to kill dad and dad carried a gun every day of his life. People, while they love gossip, don't want their dirt read by others. They want to hide their dirt and appear to be nice guys. The media, at its best, exposes the dirt.

Having said that, it is totally unethical and totally wrong to ever ask for or accept money or anything of value for either writing something or not writing something about anyone. The money for a publication should come from advertising --- not the news or the gossip. And while I'm at it, gossip is news. It's just a different kind of news. We all love it.

Even the story coming out about President Bush approving the leaking of classified information to help make a case for war is gossip even while it's news. It's tantalizing.

Media people have to check facts before they print or post anything. It's hard to protect against libel and other liability offenses. But the truth is an absolute defense and as long as one tells the truth and can prove it there is no problem. But I question some online gossips.

For example, Matt Drudge published an e-mail sent by an ABC News producer. Was that a copyright infringement? My copyright book tells me that the person who creates the e-mail owns it and owns the copyright to it. An e-mail can't be posted without the owner's permission. Yet Drudge did it with no repercussions of which I'm aware and others do it frequently. I know lawyers who forward e-mail to clients. Are we ignoring the law at every turn? Is there no individual privacy?

I have an idea that this breaking story will blow the doors of the shadowy world of professional gossips wide open. What will we find inside. Ooooh, I can't wait to see!