Anatomy of how GOSSIP makes it to the top of the NEWS

The Clay/Jaymes baby story evolved in a way quite a few celebrity stories do nowadays.

The so-called "News" was first published by a celebrity gossip site.

People.com then fanned the flames by adding that they themselves have spoken to a rep for David Foster, who they said "confirmed" the story (Seems the person later said he was misquoted, according to another site). Within a very short time, this People article spawned a host of reports in mainstream media (print, web AND television) -- all reporting that People.com confirmed the story.

Can you see the problem here? A story which remains unverified by the people involved, ie Clay and Jaymes, is making the rounds as if it were fact.(And, actually, later in the day a Canadian publication reported that David Foster's ex-wife stated that the story is not true).

The sections below tell the evolution of the story in more detail.

Picture: screenshot of TMZ.com story dated May 29, 2008

TMZ.com, a gossip website, cites unnamed 'multiple sources' in their story of Jaymes Foster having a baby, and the father being Clay Aiken.

Excerpts from the TMZ.com story:

Multiple sources tell us the mother is Jaymes Foster, a record producer and Clay's best friend.

We're told Foster was artificially inseminated.

... we're told he [referring to Clay] will have an active role in raising the child.

Picture: Screenshot of the PEOPLE.com story dated May 29, 2008

PEOPLE.com took the TMZ story and ran with it. They proudly claim in their own story:

Clay Aiken is going to be a father, PEOPLE has confirmed.

According to them, a rep for David Foster confirmed it:

"The story is true," a rep for David Foster, told PEOPLE Wednesday, of the TMZ.com report that Aiken, 29, impregnated David's sister, music producer Jaymes Foster. "It is true Clay is the father. She was artificially inseminated by Clay. She's due in August."

Picture: Screenshot of the X17ONLINE.com story dated May 29, 2008

X17ONLINE.com then joined the fray, claiming that they contacted the source named by "another website", and that person said he neither confirmed nor denied the story, and that he was misquoted.

Picture: Google Search page captured on the evening of May 29th (US time) showing the proliferation of media stories.

Many news outlets, some of them extremely well-known ones, just repeated the PEOPLE.com story without, it seems, any attempt at trying to verify the information with either Clay Aiken or Jaymes Foster.

They just prefaced their own report with the comment that People.com confirmed the story.

Picture: Screenshot of The Province (Canada) story dated May 29th, 2008.

The Province (Canada) reports on their site that B.J. Cook, David Foster's ex-wife, has said that the story is not true:

Celebrity gossip website TMZ reported yesterday that Victoria resident Jaymes Foster is due in August with the former American Idol star's baby. But Foster's former sister-in-law says the rumour is "ridiculous."

"Jaymes is definitely pregnant, that much is true," said B.J. Cook, the ex-wife of David Foster. "I can guarantee that it's not Clay Aiken's baby."

Source: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=439f1f00-151a-4739-957d-5390800accfd

Picture: Print article in Today (Singapore), May 29th, 2008. Interview with Clay related to the release of his new CD, On My Way Here.

In an interview published in a Singapore newspaper (Today, May 29, 2008) just a few hours before the TMZ story was posted, Clay was quoted as saying this:

"That's what's so great about America," he said, laughing. "One of our valuable amendments to the Constitution - freedom of the press - is also one of the crappiest. You can write anything you want. You don't need to have any proof or any truth to what you write."

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/256346.asp

* Don't visit gossip sites. It still amazes me how some sites can make lots of money by publishing made-up stories masquerading as scoops.

* Read and watch the more thoughtful, well-researched items, and provide feedback to your local media about them.

Prunella commented: How do we all get major media sources including local news on a major network in a major metropolitan area to stop this practice?

I think one of the problems is that the public still believe in the media, and thus gobble up the stuff they print. I'm constantly surprised at how many of my friends and family still believe what they hear and read in the media. And argue vigorously with me whenever I question any such 'news'.

So I think one answer is to promote awareness among the general public. That's why I've wanted to write something like this for a while -- a concrete example of how lax the media are when it comes to verifying their information these days.

Legislation is something that's used in some countries. But I anticipate that many people, especially in America, will object to such legislation, as it impacts on the principle of "freedom of speech".

Although it's not really important to my point, I thought that it's only fitting that if Clay Aiken or Jaymes Foster ever issues a statement, that I should mention it here.

This is the holding space for that.

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IT'S HERE -- THE OFFICIAL VERSION OF THE STORY

Clay blogged about the baby at his Official Fan Club:

Clay's blog on 8 August 2008

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First media to break the news - Lynda Loveland of WRAL News, a reporter that Clay obviously trusts. Now, this is exactly how we should hear news, not through unverified gossip.

Clay Aiken becomes a father
Raleigh, N.C. - Clay Aiken became a father Friday morning with the birth of a baby boy, his mother told WRAL's Lynda Loveland in an exclusive interview.

For rest of article:
WRAL News, 8 August 2008, Clay Aiken becomes a father

I added this section in response to Lulubear7's insightful comments. She brought up important related issues.

How far should the media go or be allowed to go when reporting items which infringe on the privacy of individuals, especially when the news isn't related to issues of public interest at all? When it comes to news like celebrity pregnancies and births, personally, I'm quite content to have the celebrities themselves tell me about it if and when they want to. It's not like 911, or the cyclone in Myanmar, or election news, where I'd be interested in knowing news and rumours fast.

Should we hold the media morally/ethically accountable?This is something that's quite difficult in today's world, where we are more diverse in terms of values we consider to be universal. What may be morally/ethically reprehensible to me, may be quite okay to you. I think the media has taken full advantage of this to print a wide range of stories.

Do celebrities have the right to privacy? I understand that there are quite a few people out there who think that celebrities don't have the right to privacy because they are earning lots of money from being in the public eye. Yes, there are celebrities who find all ways and means to be in the public eye. But I believe there are even more who just want to do what they love, and have people appreciate it. And they shouldn't be penalised for that.