Problematic PR tacticsToronto's favourite nobody is up to trouble again. It seems gossip monger Zack Taylor recently came up against an age old journalistic conundrum: under pressure, does a journo who has been sworn to secrecy reveal anonymous sources?
A few days ago Taylor got into it with Disney darling Demi Lovato over her supposed romance with her fellow D-Tween, Joe Jonas. When Lovato got wind that Taylor had posted a confirmation of her relationship with Jonas on his Toronto-based gossip blog, the Tweets started to fly.
The snap-back denial began with a Tweet Lovato posted at 3:00 a.m. on November 5, reading: There's been a lot of rumors lately that I'm dating one of my best friends Joe. I can promise my entire career that I am not.
The message was quickly followed up with another firm denial: We've NEVER dated. He's incredible, but we don't have feelings for eachother in that way. I love you guys, and I wouldn't lie about that.
And finally a shot at Taylor: It's ufortunate that some people out there are so desperate for attention that they have to make up gossip to keep their site alive.*
That’s the pressure, or so Taylor sees it. In the face of the flack he was receiving from Lovato through her public tweets, he returned to his source, who had insisted anonymity.
Word from the still unnamed source came in the form of a text message reading, “you gotta be patient cuz no rep is gonna confirm it I can assure you!” and another: “It’ll die down in a couple of days, then the truth will come and ppl will say “OMG he was telling the truth!” Then they’ll respect u even more.”
Taylor was doubtful, and faced with losing his Hollywood credibility (read: points with PR practitioners and loudmouth “insiders”) he caved.
The source? None other than Lovato’s mother, Dianna Delagarza, Taylor says.
But before the plot could take a further Living Lohan twist, Taylor jumped on the defensive. In an interview posted earlier today, the blogger told the known Taylor-haters over at Torontoist, "My emotions went from feeling pissed-off, to feeling betrayed, lied-to, hurt, confused, to finally, a clear conscience."
Can Taylor keep that conscience? Probably, as much as any gossip columnist or blogger can. Shady blind-item ethics are currently kosher amongst the celeb-dishing set, so when it comes to anonymous sources writers like Taylor are forced to either sit on the “truth” in silence, or spill the beans.
But let’s face it: if Mr. Taylor’s moral dilemma is between the shady practice of using un-named sources and the shady practice of concealing a mom-anger’s (equally shady) PR tactics, well, this is embarrassing for all involved.
Conclusion: You always lacked conscience, Mr. Taylor, that’s exactly what keeps your site’s content flowing.
Conundrum solved.
*Spelling mistakes courtesy of Ms. Lovato
A few days ago Taylor got into it with Disney darling Demi Lovato over her supposed romance with her fellow D-Tween, Joe Jonas. When Lovato got wind that Taylor had posted a confirmation of her relationship with Jonas on his Toronto-based gossip blog, the Tweets started to fly.
The snap-back denial began with a Tweet Lovato posted at 3:00 a.m. on November 5, reading: There's been a lot of rumors lately that I'm dating one of my best friends Joe. I can promise my entire career that I am not.
The message was quickly followed up with another firm denial: We've NEVER dated. He's incredible, but we don't have feelings for eachother in that way. I love you guys, and I wouldn't lie about that.
And finally a shot at Taylor: It's ufortunate that some people out there are so desperate for attention that they have to make up gossip to keep their site alive.*
That’s the pressure, or so Taylor sees it. In the face of the flack he was receiving from Lovato through her public tweets, he returned to his source, who had insisted anonymity.
Word from the still unnamed source came in the form of a text message reading, “you gotta be patient cuz no rep is gonna confirm it I can assure you!” and another: “It’ll die down in a couple of days, then the truth will come and ppl will say “OMG he was telling the truth!” Then they’ll respect u even more.”
Taylor was doubtful, and faced with losing his Hollywood credibility (read: points with PR practitioners and loudmouth “insiders”) he caved.
The source? None other than Lovato’s mother, Dianna Delagarza, Taylor says.
But before the plot could take a further Living Lohan twist, Taylor jumped on the defensive. In an interview posted earlier today, the blogger told the known Taylor-haters over at Torontoist, "My emotions went from feeling pissed-off, to feeling betrayed, lied-to, hurt, confused, to finally, a clear conscience."
Can Taylor keep that conscience? Probably, as much as any gossip columnist or blogger can. Shady blind-item ethics are currently kosher amongst the celeb-dishing set, so when it comes to anonymous sources writers like Taylor are forced to either sit on the “truth” in silence, or spill the beans.
But let’s face it: if Mr. Taylor’s moral dilemma is between the shady practice of using un-named sources and the shady practice of concealing a mom-anger’s (equally shady) PR tactics, well, this is embarrassing for all involved.
Conclusion: You always lacked conscience, Mr. Taylor, that’s exactly what keeps your site’s content flowing.
Conundrum solved.
*Spelling mistakes courtesy of Ms. Lovato
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