TMZ.com is a celebrity gossip and news website, the result of a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros. Both AOL and Warner Bros. are units of Time Warner.[1] TMZ's managing editor is Harvey Levin, and the site is powered by Blogsmith.
While positioning itself as an independent celebrity news site, the site is more widely regarded as a tabloid journal [2], though unique for its major corporate backing. The site does not pay for stories or interviews, but Harvey admitted that they do[3]. It also pays for video clips and photos. Levin states that "Everything is researched and vetted for accuracy."[4]
'TMZ' stands for "Thirty Mile Zone," a term which originated in the 1960s. Due to the growth of "on location" shoots, studios and various talent guilds established a "thirty mile zone" -- outside of which shooting is considered to be a location shoot -- requiring per diems and other travel and living expenses to be paid. The zone remains centered in Los Angeles around the old offices of The Association of Motion Pictures and Television Producers at Beverly and La Cienega Boulevards in California. It was often said that "Everything entertainment happens in the 'Thirty Mile Zone.'" So essentially, the "Thirty Mile Zone" represents the center of Hollywood.[5]
TMZ garnered some notice for publishing a handwritten police report the night of Mel Gibson's DUI arrest in July 2006.[6] It also garnered attention for posting a video of Brandon Davis insulting Lindsay Lohan for the amusement of Paris Hilton that was then picked up by major newspapers, and for posting a copy of the alleged birth certificate of the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, which was also picked up by Associated Press and USA Today.[4]
TMZ also presented the cell-phone camera video footage of Michael Richards' racially-charged outburst in a comedy club aimed at a couple of African-American audience members who had heckled him.
Contempt of court motion
On June 20, 2007, a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee filed an emergency motion[7] requesting that the web site be held in contempt for its publication of the entire manuscript of If I Did It, O.J. Simpson's purportedly fictionalized account of the murder of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. The filing claims that TMZ's posting of the PDF of the entire book has "diminished or destroyed" the value, which the Goldman family may eventually publish (and promote) as Simpson's confession to the murders.[8]
Criticism
Some have criticized TMZ.com for its usage of photographs and videos from paparazzi media.who? With accidents such as that of Princess Diana, some have questioned the effect the paparazzi have on the stars they cover. Some videos on the site are simply videos of stars being chased by the paparazzi, causing some to argue that this practice is dangerous and "creepy".[9] It is estimated that paparazzo who work for the site can make between $6,000 and $8,000 dollars per week.who? Some have also called for a boycott of the website and its accompanying show.[10]
According to Ken Sunshine, publicist for Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio, "I hate that they have anything to do with trying to put celebrities into the worst light possible and that they play the 'gotcha' game".[4]
Others have harshly criticized TMZ.com's glamorization of figures such as Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton: celebrities who are known more as targets for paparazzi than their actual work. [11]
After TMZ posted the audio of his voice mail message to his 11-year-old daughter, Alec Baldwin said, “You find out that everybody who works in tabloid media are people who are filled with self-hatred and shame, and the way they manage those feelings is they destroy the lives of other people.” [12]
The Time Warner-owned TMZ has been criticized for paying for information, and Harvey Levin has acknowledged “paying for tips” only when TMZ's reporters can “independently verify” the story.[13]
TMZ was criticized for using stolen items pertaining to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. On October 2, 2007, IESB reported that a number of production photos and sensitive documents pertaining to the production budget were stolen from Steven Spielberg’s production office.[14] According to IESB, TMZ obtained some of the stolen property and were on the verge of running the story on its TV division until Paramount lawyers stepped in. After IESB broke this story, TMZ TV did indeed broadcast details about the Indiana Jones production budget on the October 3, 2007 program.[15][16]
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