Friday, June 22, 2007

My blog on 20 May 2007 noted that Newsround's celebrity gossip page is no longer being updated daily. I had been concerned about heterosexist bias of the gossip and asked for the heterosexism to be "toned down a little."

Recent surveys indicate that kids are cynical about celebrities and that, together with cost-cutting, might explain the cutback.

An analysis of celeb goss stories from the beginning of 2007 up to the last daily update on 13 May 2007 was made - some 360 different stories. They were divided into neutral stories (a few examples shown in blue below) and stories with a heterosexist bias - mention of boyfriends / girlfriends / husbands / wives / hetero families (examples in purple below).

5 Jan 2007
Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan has had to put her partying on hold to have an operation to remove her appendix. Get well soon Lindsay!

Is it all over for Justin Timberlake and his girlfriend Cameron Diaz? The couple are rumoured to have split after they spent Christmas apart and the Sexyback singer turned up to the premiere of his new film Alpha Dog alone.

05 Feb 2007
X Factor loser Ray Quinn is apparently recording his debut album - in Los Angeles. The singer is working with TV's Mr Nasty Simon Cowell.

Hubby and wife Vernon Kay and Tess Daly have agreed to be patrons of the kids' hospital Great Ormond Street after spending lots of time visiting sick children.

06 Mar 2007
Rockers Arctic Monkeys are going into the rag trade! Drummer Matt is releasing a limited line of t-shirts, jackets and hoodies, which are going on sale soon.

Fashion princess Coleen McLoughlin has admitted she asks for fashion tips from an unlikely source - her footballer boyf Wayne Rooney, who's been nicknamed 'Scruffy' in the past! She said he is happy to tell her if he thinks she doesn't look good in something.

04 Apr 2007
Always one to stand out from the crowd, Victoria Beckham decided she'd had enough of skiing down the French Alps on holiday so she decided to go hang-gliding over them instead!

Spare a thought for Noel Gallagher's next child. The Oasis singer songwriter is set to be a dad again later in the year and said if it's a boy he wants to call him Chutney or Gizmo!! We assume he's joking...

04 May 2007
TV star and singer Peter Andre has come out of hospital after suffering from a nasty infection. He started feeling ill on a US tour and spent 12 nights in hospital.

Gavin Henson and pregnant girlfriend Charlotte Church could be quitting the bright lights of Cardiff for a place in the countryside, according to reports.

The analysis found that very nearly 25% (1 in 4) celebrity gossip stories included a some kind of heterosexist content.

There was no lgbt gossip, however on 3 January 2007 the gossip included:-

Celeb Big Brother was kicking off a new series on Wednesday. The final line-up is being kept a secret but the contestants are rumoured to include Ian 'H' Watkins, who used to be in a pop band called Steps.

And on 8 February 2007 this:-

Pop star Mika's already scored a number one hit with his debut single Grace Kelly and now he wants a date. But the cheeky chart-topper reckons he's always struggled to get people to go out with him. Ahhhhhhh.
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Congrats to Sinéad Rocks on becoming Editor of Newsround

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