Amy Winehouse and the journalistic hook

The Observer Magazine has a lovely interview with Amy Winehouse's brother, Alex, today.

I'm not sure if it's just me, but while the piece by Elizabeth Day is nicely handled, the sell feels a little misjudged.

You might have seen the promotional tweet:

Cover story: Amy Winehouse's brother talks to @elizabday about his sis – and reveals what he thinks really killed her http://t.co/V5FRemmsFI

— Observer Magazine (@ObsMagazine) June 23, 2013

Or, possibly, read the standfirst:

As an exhibition opens about her family life, Amy Winehouse's brother Alex talks in his first major interview about the girl who became a superstar – and reveals what he thinks really killed her

This focus on "what he thinks really killed her" is both grisly and disingenuous. As a way of attracting attention to the piece, it might work - A killer unmasked! A challenge to the coroner? - but in effect it distorts what Alex was trying to say, and depicts an important and personal observation into a false promise of a CSI plot twist.

Maybe I should say 'spoilers' here:

"She suffered from bulimia very badly. That's not, like, a revelation – you knew just by looking at her… She would have died eventually, the way she was going, but what really killed her was the bulimia… Absolutely terrible."

What does he mean by that? "I think that it left her weaker and more susceptible. Had she not had an eating disorder, she would have been physically stronger."

I wouldn't suggest that The Observer have added something that wasn't in Alex's words, but by stripping them from the context and using them as a hook, they've not really represented them that fairly. Something important and subtle has been lost for the sake of a grab.

The Daily Mail thinks Katy Perry is fat

This is a photo of Katy Perry stomping about the stage in Budapest last night. You might look at it for a long time before you see what the Daily Mail apparently sees:

California girth: Katy Perry's skin-tight silver dress clings in all the wrong places

With the material buckling around the waist, the figure-hugging design even gave the impression of a protruding belly.

Really, Daily Mail?

As one of the commenters on the Mail site pointed out, earlier this week the Mail ran a piece about a teenager whose eating disorder claimed her life.

Britney: Of course it's drugs this morning

We've had the sex, we've had the allegations of attempted murder: today, of course, it's drugs. Commissioner Gordon - who has taken time off running Gotham City Police to act as judge in the Spears-Federline custody battle - has ordered Britney to have random twice-weekly drug tests, claiming:

“there is a habitual, frequent, and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol”.

We're not sure twice weekly tests can be all that random, can they? Isn't that more like a perpetual testing regime?

Meanwhile, according to OK! - and we say that like that's a phrase that has any real meaning - Britney is "battling an eating disorder."

Or, rather:

A source told the magazine that Spears will do anything to lose weight, including starving herself as well as binging and purging.

The alleged pal reportedly revealed that Britney said, “I’ll starve myself because I’m fat.”

We love the way The Sun suddenly get sniffy about the idea of unnamed friends being used as sources when it's in another publication.

Girls Aloud not thin, just wearing tight clothes

Sunsilk's new Girls Aloud advertising campaign has been condemned by eating disorders charity b-eat:

A spokesman from eating disorders' help group Beat said fans could be encouraged to copy the skinny look: "They look unnaturally thin - they look like Barbie dolls."

Polydor, on behalf of the band, say this is rubbish:

But a spokesman for their record label Polydor told the Daily Mail: "The girls are all perfectly healthy and are all different shapes and sizes.

"They have always spoken about and promoted healthy eating habits."

All shapes and sizes? You'd stump a pub quiz audience by asking "what is the name of the overweight member of Girls Aloud", wouldn't you?

Still, the band have done their bit to promote eating, if not healthy eating. Or, at least, they've been in an advert for crisps. What more can they do?

Meanwhile, Unilever - makers of Sunsilk - are insisting that far from being dangerously underweight, they're just wearing clingy clothes:

And a spokesman for Unilever, who make Sunsilk products, added: "The girls were wearing strong elasticated waist belts with elasticated black bodystocking-style skirts."

What - every time they go out?