This week the newspapers in the UK have been abuzz with stories of one particular national sweetheart being struck down with a potentially life threatening disease. The story has been confirmed by her 'people' and has meant all scheduled work (including a major part in one of the UK's biggest Saturday night TV shows) has had to be postponed for the foreseeable future.
Now this is pure speculation and only my opinion, but what if this story was actually a curtain to cover a much darker, more sinister one involving the same star? She has had a fare share of pressure placed on her in the last year including her TV gig, recording two albums, criticism for her abilities as a stage performer and not to mention an impending divorce from her adulterous husband. It's enough to make a girl crazy - perhaps even contemplate trying to kill herself?
Headlines like '******* ****** IN DRUG OVERDOSE' or '****** ****** IN ANOREXIA SHOCK' might sell papers, but do incredible damage to the image of a star like the one we've described. However, if her people can intercept it with a story that does no damage to the star's persona (like said star contracting a deadly disease) and still sells papers, then everybody wins - especially the newspapers, who can use this leverage to command unrelated exclusives with the star that will sell even more copies down the line.
As I've said, this is all speculation based on purely my own scepticism over not only the relationship between PR and press in today's media landscape, but also over what we as the public get to know and not know about public figures. We shall see what happens next.
(this post is dedicated to Rot and Pot)
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