“Real or Rumour”, a new feature in Southscope. Need your take!

I was reading all kinds of celebrity tabloids in my trip in the US. Some of them are People, OK! Magazine, US Weekly, inTouch which churn out huge amount of celebrity gossip week after week. All the magazines look identical, cover the same stuff & there are loads in the market. People everywhere love to read gossip about celebrities.  Dont know how it works in the West, but in India especially our southern states where fan loyalties are extreme, many people get offended when something nasty is written about their favorite stars. Some of the gossip like star link-ups & movie news are harmless, but a section of the media hit the celebrity below the belt, trying to malign their image & benefit from it.

Being an “insider”, I get asked on Twitter all the time whether to a certain rumour being circulated on the net is real. When its about my family, I do respond. At times I dont because its below my level to come and clarify every piece of junk. The more I answer, the more I will be made answerable. Many a time, I even get asked to clarify about celebrities who are not from my family. At this point – I really dont know what to say. I know its untrue, but how can I go about defending other people? I always wished I could do something about it. Sometimes, I see some hardcore fans of actors really getting worked up on these rumours.

While flipping OK!, one of the celebrity mags I bumped into a coulmn which totally caught my eye. Its titled “Real or Rumor?”, and simply states which of the gossip floating is true & which was one is real. I felt it was a good idea and suits our magazine very much. We could also get a quote from the celeb or their PR machinary. Would make it fun & authentic. While some harmless gossip can just float around, the ones that malign a celeb’s image can be dealt with. It would also make an interesting new feature in our magazine. I need your advice on whether we should introduce it.

Despite being the fastest & easiest way to popularity, Southscope kept away from rumour-mongering & attacking celebrities. Stars and our reader love our magazine for the fact that we keep away from yellow journalism. Doing this would would earn me more personal attacks from the “yellow press”, but I am game for it. Think it would be a good idea. Do vote and let me know your opinion.