Gossip Page Becomes Focus of Scandal

April 9, 2006 — -- If there's a burning scandal among the rich and famous, chances are it played out on Page Six of the New York Post.

But the column is now at the center of it's own scandal, under investigation by the FBI and accused of taking tabloid journalism to entirely new depths.

For years, Jared Paul Stern was an influential contributor to the Page Six dish, and late last month, he was captured on a secret surveillance video allegedly offering to keep supermarket tycoon Ron Burkle out of the column in exchange for a $100,000 down payment, and $10,000 a month.

'Nobody Has Clean Hands'

Vanity Fair media columnist Michael Wolff called Stern's alleged request for money "astonishing" because if true, it would reduce the back scratching that may go on in gossip pages to "hard cash."

"I don't think it is common or if we find out it is common, then we enter a whole new realm of this tawdry business," Wolff said. "What is at issue is the idea of a transaction. Everything that happens on that page and in most gossip columns and gossip magazines is a transaction … so in a very real way, nobody has clean hands. In a very real way, nobody is supposed to have clean hands."

The extortion allegation follows a number of embarrassing Page Six items on Burkle, a fiercely private billionaire. One story had Burkle buying a modeling agency as a gift for his friend Bill Clinton. Another claimed he was dating supermodel Giselle Bundchen while he was still seeing his girlfriend at the time.

In December, Burkle reached out to Post owner Rupert Murdoch in frustration. In a letter published by the Post's competitor, the New York Daily News, he wrote: "I can't sue a friend. … Every time I am mentioned in your newspaper the facts are just plain wrong. … If I did something wrong I could understand being hung by your newspaper. However, when I'm simply minding my own business and inaccurate stories appear, it is out of control."

According to the Daily News, Murdoch never responded, and when Stern sent e-mails hinting at a solution, Burkle set up a meeting and secretly videotaped the alleged extortion attempt.

Lawyer Denies Allegation

Stern's lawyer, Edward Hayes, denies the extortion allegation and claims his client was approached as a media consultant. He said Stern did not ask for $100,000 in exchange for media protection.

"What he probably did was he talked to the guy about advising him about media coverage, and he's got this business, whatever it was," said Hayes. "It was not his brightest hour."

The question remains how the scandal will effect the Post's circulation of 700,000.

"If it could be shown that Stern is just a rogue cop, then the New York Post can handle it," Wolff said. "If however, other people are directly implicated, I think we go into really perilous waters for the New York Post and Newscorp and Rupert Murdoch in particular."

Even journalists who trade in gossip, like New York magazine's Deborah Schoeneman, say a severe line has been crossed.

"People know that gossip is dirty, they know that it's different than journalistic standards," she said. "But to try to extort money from someone is appalling to, I think, everyone in this industry."

With it's tales of "canoodling" celebrities and misbehaving moguls, Page Six, which first appeared on Jan. 3, 1977, has helped turn the Post into an alpha tabloid. No one of note is immune -- even the people of ABC News have landed on Page Six; for better and worse.

Wolff said that Page Six never pretended to be ethically driven journalism. Part of it's appeal is the boundaries it pushes.

"I have planted items, traded favors and been eviscerated in Page Six," Wolff said. "One thing to remember is Page Six is not a holy grail. … It's never set itself up as anything more than a certain percentage true."