Establishing the facts
We've been hearing the rumours for months - contrary to belief tabloid newspapers rarely splash stories on their front page on a whim and we knew what people were saying in the business. The marriage of the Material Girl and her "Mockney" film director was on the rocks. Madonna is arguably the most famous woman in the world - her record-breaking success in the music industry has made her an instantly recognisable face on every continent. And her personal life has been played out in public. For millions of people the break-up of her marriage is a story of interest and they want to know what's happening.
And a lot of people choose to turn to the 91Èȱ¬ - is one of the biggest sources of showbiz news in the UK. Yesterday we woke up to a Sun front page exclusive - an announcement of their divorce was imminent. A fantastic showbiz scoop that all my team were envious of. But with just one source - which we sensed was true but couldn't prove - we were in a dilemma.
How do we report someone else's journalism which we haven't backed up ourselves? We can't ignore the story because we know our website audience would be talking about Madonna and would want to know what we had to say about it. Our attributed the story to the Sun and made clear that the 91Èȱ¬ couldn't at that point verify it. That's not being lily-livered or protecting ourselves if it wasn't true - it was just telling the truth. By 4pm - we had the statement and the story was out.
It's fair to say there's a lot of debate about some entertainment stories, especially when they're about stars' personal lives. But for a good proportion of our audience, these stories are as relevant to their lives as any political intrigue or bank implosion. And as long as we carry on establishing the facts as we know them and telling the truth then we're doing our job.