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Busting bad dish!

Hot Topics Justin Timberlake Lady Gaga Lindsay Lohan Robert Pattinson Britney Spears Justin Bieber Kristen Stewart

Gossip Cop Expands Beyond Web with OK! Magazine Print Deal

3:27 pm, December 9th, 2009

(OK! Magazine)

(OK! Magazine)

OK! magazine has agreed to publish a Gossip Cop feature called “Real or Rumor” on a weekly basis.

We’re happy to announce that we’ve teamed up with the celebrity magazine, which reaches six million U.S. readers per week, to expose the untruths that run rampant in the gossip industry. The “Real or Rumor” feature separates fact from fiction in stories reported in magazines, newspapers, blogs and on TV. It will carry the same branded look and feel as GossipCop.com. ”Real or Rumor” can be seen as a two-page spread in the issue that just hit newsstands today on pages 44 and 45.

Gossip Cop is excited to have the chance to bust bad dish for a print audience in addition to our daily online reporting.

“We’re thrilled about this opportunity with OK!,” said GossipCop.com’s Top Cop and co-founder Michael Lewittes. “They showed an impressive willingness to provide us with editorial autonomy over the page, which was crucial in our decision.”

“OK! is the first celebrity weekly to provide a branded platform for the best blogs from around the world,” said Mark Pasetsky, Managing Editor, OK! Magazine. “Gossip Cop is a perfect example of this unique strategy.”

It’s vital to know, however, that OK! is absolutely NOT exempt from Gossip Cop‘s mission to bust bad dish. Any outlet that gets a story wrong will come under our scrutiny.

The “Real or Rumor” page debuted in the December 7 issue and debunked inaccurate stories about Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Richie and Brad Pitt.

The Gossip Cop brand is growing on the web and beyond. We’re grateful for everyone’s support, excited about other developments on the horizon, and committed to delivering the best in accurate and timely celebrity news.

  • Leah

    OK Magazine is one of the worst publications out there. Michael Pasetsky? Ugh. That guy worked for Bauer. Nuff said

  • dancing

    I respect Gossipcop, but Ok magazine not so much they make stuff up all the time..

  • lilyflee

    It would be funny to see if you guys will debunk stories written by OK magazine in the feature since they are the worst culprits

  • Vickielee

    Strange bedfellows. Not sure how I feel about this. I respect Gossip Cop,but OK is always making up crap.

  • Maguilita

    AH?… This is odd… I feel confused… Probably OK is trying to become a nice one now, but I’m not really totally comfortable with seeing GossipCop in the pages of OK… Sleeping with the enemy?… I’m happy that Michael feels great about this, and the “editorial autonomy” certainly is good, but yet, I’m not totally comfortable…
    You know, that in order to find about “Real or Rumor”, ppl would have to buy the whole magazine, which includes a bunch of lies (if OK follows as it has come)…?… Isn’t that like… double?… Like helping them make more money?…

    Besides, when it comes to bust them (’cause you say you’ll keep watching), you’ll bust them in their very own pages?… Who will buy a magazine that in the cover says something like “Yes, I’m Pregnant”, and in the 44 page says “Hey, it’s not true, the cover of this magazine is BS”… OK is clueless but anyway we’re printing on OK?… I think this comes to be a matter of credibility, so, which page should ppl believe? The cover and inside story of probably 4 pages, or page 44 and 45?… Sorry, but I truly think ppl deserve more respect than that… JMHO

    A while ago I thought it was a matter of time (and money, yes I know, just put some adds… lol) for you to come press, but certainly not this way… I don’t think it’s even… ethical… jmho again…

    I’ve always been honest with you GossipCop, and this is no exception: I don’t like the idea of printing on OK, but if you’re cool with that, that’s fine… your choice… I’ll keep reading you on Internet (as long as that doesn’t represent hits for a Gossip site) anyways, but more cautious now…

    ·:·Mags·:·

  • Suefromnc

    That is too bad!! I considered Gossip Cop a reliable source, for them to team with OK! magazine which is right up there with National Enquirer and Star!, means it’s time to start looking for another source for the truth because Gossip Cop can be bought!!!

  • http://www.gossipcop.com Michael Lewittes

    Relax everyone.

    As we wrote in the post, “It’s vital to know, however, that OK! is absolutely NOT exempt from Gossip Cop’s mission to bust bad dish. Any outlet that gets a story wrong will come under our scrutiny.” And in the post was a link to an OK! story that we busted.

    Trust me, we thought this through for a very long time, and we knew there would be concerns, but I guarantee you we have 100 percent editorial autonomy. We wouldn’t have agreed to allow them to publish our work otherwise.

    Also, we’re not saying you should go out and buy OK! That’s up to the consumer. But for the person who does read OK! they will have at least one page of fully fact-checked celebrity reporting.

    Another key thing: We are not taking a single penny for this.

    We’re doing this to introduce a different audience to GossipCop.com.

    Hope this allays your fears, and please keep checking out GossipCop.com — for FREE — online.

    Best,
    Michael

  • pelvis

    See, here’s the problem with this. You claim to be independent, but you’re already peddling OK’s lies. The mag “reaches six million U.S. readers per week”? C’mon. It sells 200,000 copies on the newsstand each week, the bottom of the celebrity weekly pile. And if you’re too hard on them, they’ll cancel the partnership and you’ll lose the platform, so there’s a clear incentive for you NOT to call them out on their made-up cover stories. Honestly, you can’t pretend this isn’t a total selling out of what you supposedly stand for.

  • Maguilita

    Yep I know… you’re not saying ppl should go buy OK, I know, but it’s really odd to have both things (truth and BS) for the same money (even if it all goes to OK)… know what I mean?, like I’ve said, it comes to be a matter of credibility…
    I just do not feel totally comfortable with OK’s move with this one… I tend to guide myself by intuition, and there’s something here that doesn’t feel right… I sincerely hope OK is thinking about beginning to check stories, and report on the right road… with the help of GossipCop… Make it your New Year’s resolution OK… :)

    “We are not taking a single penny for this.”… This is good (and probably you should have mentioned it on the very post)… Not that you-not-getting-money-for-this-work is good, but that then again you won’t be directly linked to that…
    “We’re doing this to introduce a different audience to GossipCop.com.”… And now I see your point! :D… which is good… let’s trust people-curiosity to find more about GossipCop, even if it’s busting from enemy field (still odd)… Guess time will tell… ;)

    Thank you for taking the time to post Michael and really wish you the best with this move… you’ve been on this for a long while, and I trust you’ll do what you think it’s best… ;)
    I’ll keep on checking online… count it!
    :D
    ·:·Mags·:·

  • L N

    I hope now Ok! will think twice before posting bs stories with Gossip Cop spread in every issue. Because that would be awkward to read a “true” story on a page of OK! and then see it busted on the “Real or Rumor” pages

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