Conclusion

This gossip news item as scandalous as the media presented it, in my observation turned out to be a successful gossip. The majority newspapers after the 21st May 2010, posted a media release made by Mr. Campbell apologising to the public, his family and friends, furthering Klein’s concept of gossip providing a platform for communicating a personal interest and retaliating any allegations made against a person. The scandal has been spiced up with the fact that it was voyeuristic gossip, something which is common in at a small scale, and hence more acceptable at a larger scale.

The story has also been successful to commercial media since as Baruh’s study shows, people find pleasure in access to private details (especially voyeuristic gossip/information) especially in political figures. It has also provided a platform for government officials to make appearances to defend their position and assure the public of their good governance which can be categorised as propaganda.

To add to that I would say, the news content (gossip) in most of the media sources was one that supported Mr. Campbell example statements from government officials supporting David, his apology and the like, and hence the media played a large role in forming the emotions and reactions of the general public which was mostly in favour of Mr. Campbell. It seems to me the initial goal of