Not Unlike Gretchen Weiners' Hair
July 25, 2014 7:49 AM   Subscribe

The Down and Dirty History of TMZ: Anne Helen Peterson (previously) recounts nine years of gossip site TMZ.
posted by almostmanda (9 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
It amazes me that when you start to dig into the roots of some current pop culture thing, you very often find one of them curled around a BattleBot.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:19 AM on July 25, 2014


Others, unaccustomed to Levin’s management style (described by one former employee as one of “constant screaming”) wearied of his constant antagonism and bullying.

Oof. I've had bosses like that.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:19 AM on July 25, 2014


Harvey Levin is basically J.J. Hunsecker from Sweet Smell of Success, only instead of looking like Burt Lancaster, he looks like Harvey Levin.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:34 AM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


Anne Helen Peterson is so great at this stuff. I love her articles.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:54 AM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


The article references Metafilter at one point.

It is also interesting that it uses TMZ's techniques against it. It hints that TMZ uses material to blackmail celebrities to get scoops. It also hints at sexism and misogyny. But it never directly makes the charges itself--it just presents the evidence and wonders if it is possible to draw these conclusions.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.
posted by eye of newt at 12:10 PM on July 25, 2014 [2 favorites]


The article does reference MetaFilter, but so far as I can tell the referenced 'blind item' was part of a comment that was later deleted. It's an interesting example of why deleted comments can be problematic (though totally understandable why it would have been).

The number of allegeds used, sources mentioned but not named, and use of links to other sites all point to a piece that seems to have been very carefully vetted by Buzzfeed lawyers. It's an interesting contrast from Anne Helen Peterson's pieces on old Hollywood scandals, which are much more casual and chatty in tone.
posted by librarylis at 1:53 PM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


The number of allegeds used, sources mentioned but not named, and use of links to other sites all point to a piece that seems to have been very carefully vetted by Buzzfeed lawyers.

I follow AHP's blog on Facebook (Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style), and she posted about this today... she's been working on this article for at least the past four weeks, but probably a lot longer because she's been asking her followers for help sourcing certain things about Justin Bieber on TMZ (without saying what it was for) for quite a while now.
posted by palomar at 2:41 PM on July 25, 2014


Looking forward to the TMZ tell-all about Buzzfeed.
posted by bleep at 11:20 PM on July 25, 2014


I prefer this recounting. More direct and to the point.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:50 AM on July 26, 2014


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