SHOCKING! Publicists Still Love Page Six
Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET
A little over a year after New York Post contributor Jared Paul Stern was accused of extortion and ousted from Page Six, he's struck back.
With a lawsuit and an assist from gonzo gossip and fellow former Sixer Ian Spiegelman, Stern has pushed the Page into printing a veritable laundry list of nasty allegations—editors accepting bribes for favorable coverage (or no coverage), a literal tit-for-tat treatment at strip clubs, etc. It's one thing for savvy gossip readers to assume this sort of thing is business as usual at the nation's leading gutter report, but it's another for Page Six to air out its own dirty drawers. The Post's PR people may consider it spin control, but many say the Page's record-length item was tantamount to Post editor Col Allen (and mag owner Rupert Murdoch by proxy) shooting himself in the face.
Radar presented the quandary to the high-powered publicists that jump into the Page Six shark tank daily. Despite anonymity, they were quick to forgive the column and note its importance in fame-making. Just goes to prove that a lazy journalist's best friend is a savvy PR person—and vice-versa. "Page Six is a frenemy," said one PR honcho. "It is a dangerous minefield for celebrity, but quite often a necessary one. Sure, they have a different standard for what is right, but within the confines of their own rules, they play fair." After the jump, we try and parse even more double talk!
Page Six, you're in the PR/ER!
