The People has claimed reality TV judge Amanda Holden may not have held her baby yet.
You could, of course, add that claim to an almost infinite list of claims about things Holden may not have done. Or may have done for that matter should you be trying to invade her privacy through the medium of guesswork.
The word 'may' tells us The People doesn't have a clue whether its story is true. It is merely speculating on a very private and sensitive situation that it would clearly love to intrude upon further, despite there being no public interest angle.
For the record, it's not just a misleading headline, the story itself is little better. It hinges on a quote from "a friend":
A friend said: "Every new mum's natural instinct is to hold her baby...and it's no different for Amanda."
That's classic tabloid filler. The value of that quote in moving the story on is zero but it's in there to make us think The People did at least speak to Holden's friends, so their speculation may be informed speculation. Of course they can't name the friend, or use a quote which might be challenged in any way, so they opt for something totally safe and neutral.
The People also claims to have quizzed Holden's spokeswoman:
Yesterday the star's spokeswoman stressed her condition had improved, adding: "I can confirm that Amanda is now out of danger." But she was unable to say whether the beauty was out of intensive care and if she had held baby Hollie yet.
That inability - or unwillingness - to comment left The People with no choice but to speculate on what the spokeswoman may not have been telling them.
And then, because it was their own baseless speculation and nobody else's they stuck an EXCLUSIVE badge on it.
Comments