David Beckham

I watched the review of the papers on Sky late last night and it seems the tabloids are full of an apparent outburst by David Beckham on the media yesterday. Unsurprisingly they have all gone on the defensive, arguing that he had used and manipulated them for his own ends and should therefore live with the flak.

Poppycock. Firstly, it was the media who created the Beckhams, not for him, but because it sold them loads and loads of extra copy. So just because he allowed that to happen does not give them the right to publish stories that are likely to destroy his marriage - whether they are true or not.

When it comes down to it, David Beckham's outburst really gets to the heart of the modern tabloid media. They would argue that they only publish the truth, but that is not entirely the case, actually they make money out of overhype and by sensationalising the truth. If they cannot sell copy by telling things as they are in a (relatively) balanced way, they should not be in business. The reason people buy them is not just because they want to read it, but because they are being sold exaggeration.