Friday, May 11, 2007

Blowing a trumpet of self praise over a dead horse!



Gulf News has done it again, taking UAE journalism to ever dizzying heights with an exclusive "Seven Minute" interview with Shilpa Shetty.

After every tabloid in the world has analyzed and viewed her antics under a microscope on Big Brother and then her famous kiss with Richard Gere, we have the Gulf News Tabloid blowing their own trumpet on their website claiming they had an exclusive 7 minutes with her. Wow- a real motivation to read the article! (See picture above)

"In town for the premiere of her film Life In A... Metro, by UTV Motion Pictures, Shilpa handled the press conference deftly. Later, we found a corner in Le Meridien Dubai's Falcon Ballroom and sat down for an exclusive one-on-one interview. We'd exactly seven minutes because Shilpa had a flight to catch." ~Gulf News

A dream come true for the tabloid editor probably! It is difficult to say if the article aims at ridiculing Shilpa Shetty or praising her. The article quotes the actress, "That moment of winning was unbelievable... The most surreal moment in my life. I've never won a major award. All the awards I expected I never got, the one I never expected I did," she said, laughing."

The article is more like a page from a Shilpa Shetty fansite, gushing adoration all over my morning paper! Even the article starts with the reporter exhibiting characteristics of a child in awe of a superstar, "All that Celebrity Big Brother adulation and hobnobbing with the Queen should have made Shilpa Shetty arrogant. But it hasn't. Perfectly dressed in skinny jeans and fitted white jacket, she displayed amazing sang-froid when facing the press yesterday morning." ~Gulf News

When did meeting the Queen of England make anyone arrogant? Do Gulf News reporters carry stop watches to time interviews? After all the only USP of the article is the time spent with her and not the content of the interview! Must have been tough, fixing an interview with an actress whose only claim to fame now is for winning a TV reality show, not seen by the majority of the UAE population amongst all the big names and acts coming in to Dubai everyday. Gulf News is expected to do much better, keeping norm with its better stories and informative layouts!

Flogging a dead horse, wont make it more alive or dead!

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