My second EOTO presentation was on the history of gossip columns. I chose to present the history of gossip columns because I've always found it fascinating how journalists can get such personal information on high-profile people such as celebrities, politicians, and even royalty. Researching this topic led me down a rabbit hole of alluring knowledge that I was able to put in my presentations and even some fun surprises as well.
A gossip column is a section in a newspaper or magazine that usually talks about personal information regarding a celebrity or a politician. The information on the public figure usually discusses something scandalous to catch the reader's attention and keep them reading the article. The idea of gossip columns begins to expand with the new invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century. Although it was started centuries prior, gossip columns exploded in popularity in eighteenth-century Europe.
The first known "gossiper" was known as James Boswell. James Boswell was a diarist who wanted to write interesting stories about the entities around him. Having this in mind he began to write about the events around town, such as local hangings and political conferences. Between the years of 1777 to 1783, he wrote 70 gossip columns for London Magazine. He published the columns under the name Hypocondriack to not reveal himself to the public. This then began a trend of other gossip columnists keeping their identities hidden from the public so that they would not face any backlash for their work. Throughout the mid to late eighteenth century, gossip columns became easily accessible due to the rise of the printing press, to the point where every local town had its own newspaper. As well as it became easier for writers to publish their work as Libel Laws became less restrictive.
In the United States, due to the rise of films in the twentieth century gossip columns began to be written about the movie stars that were in the films regarding their personal life. Actress and writer Hedda Hopper became the prime target that celebrities wanted to avoid due to Hedda's ability to publish one of their personal stories. Hedda Hopper usually wrote pearl-clutching scandals in gossip columns about the shocking lives that celebrities lived off-screen. Most celebrities disliked her due to her ability to release the truth, one being Elizabeth Taylor, but regardless she was always able to release a juicy story to her own benefit.
In the 1950s a popular magazine Confidential was notoriously known to slander the lives of celebrities with their gossip columns. An example of this is in 1953 when I Love Lucy stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez were on the April 1953 cover of Life Magazine holding their two children. This photo of them displays a loving family and domesticity at its finest. Nonetheless Confidential still found a way to twist this narrative into a negative story. A few weeks after the Life Magazine cover was out, Confidential released a story regarding Desi Arnez having an affair with a prostitute that turned out to be true.
One of the most infamous Hollywood affairs between Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, and Elizabeth Taylor broke the news in the late 1950s. The story between these three actors was that happily married couple Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds had been broken apart by Elizabeth Taylor. Who essentially "stole" Eddie Fisher away from Debbie Reynolds. When this news story broke gossip columnists spread this story like wildfire calling Elizabeth Taylor evil and a jezebel while Debbie Reynolds was labeled as a "good girl" who had her stolen away from her. When revisiting this affair, it reminded me of a current story, just as scandalous that is currently in the news today.
In the summer of 2023, news broke that Ariana Grande was rumored and now confirmed to have had an affair that broke up her and her
Wicked film co-star and new boyfriend Ethan Slater's marriage. The story is that both Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater left their marriages to pursue a relationship with one another, respectively tossing both of their spouses to the side. Similar to the infamous Hollywood affair in the 1950s, the story of Ariana Grande's affair broke headlines calling her evil and a homewrecker as well. These two news stories both mirror each other due to their willingness to slander the names of two very famous women while leaving the men free of zero slandering. Gossip journalism has the issue of blaming the women for stories such as this and not the men. The main reasoning behind this is that it is easier to slam a woman for committing an ethically wrong act, but not so much for men. Making it easier to sell news stories to the public.
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