Man’s girlfriend found dead. Yesterday bought news fashion designer L’Wren Stott — who’d designed clothing for Michelle Obama, Madonna and countless other celebrities — died of an apparent suicide on Monday. But AP’s headline was simple: “Mick Jagger’s girlfriend L-Wren Scott found dead in NYC”. In its tweet on the news, The New York Times didn’t even mention her name. Local media, using wire copy, largely followed the lead. And a shocking piece from The Times, republished on The Age‘s website, described her in its title as “the only woman who could ever tame Mick Jagger” before taking us through the ageing rocker’s dating history.
There’s no doubt Scott’s 14-year relationship with Jagger is a lot of what makes her death newsworthy. But making him, and more appallingly, his dating life the focus of a piece published in the hours after her death is tacky at best. Mind you, being the subject isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Here’s how the British media reported his loss:
— Myriam Robin
King of Brisbane media defects. Fairfax’s Brisbane Times has announced journalist and long-time Courier-Mail columnist Madonna King will join the site’s new line-up of columnists (including Jessica Rudd, Bill O’Chee and Benjamin Law). King has a long and impressive CV: an award-winning host of the mornings slot on 612 ABC Brisbane for six years, and a senior staff member for The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and other News Corp newspapers prior to that.
King’s husband is David Fagan, the editorial chief at The Courier-Mail and Queensland Newspapers. The pair ruled the media roost in Brisbane with the top-rating talkback slot and the city’s only local paper in their power. But Fagan was boned in June last year after nearly 30 years with the company. Clearly, King’s relationship with her long-time employer is also severed. — Sophie Benjamin
Subediting pratfalls. Last weekend was a busy one for election buffs, and maybe you could forgive long-suffering newspaper subeditors for fudging a few details here and there. For example, The Australian‘s state election guide for South Australia incorrectly listed Penny Pratt as the Liberal candidate for Ashford. Pratt ran for the seat in the 2010 election — the 2014 Liberal Party candidate is Terina Monteagle. At any rate, it looks like incumbent Labor MP Steph Key will retain the seat she’s held since 2002 …
Front page of the day. Ukrainian paper The Day covers the fighting on the Crimean peninsula, and more importantly, its impact on Ukrainian Fashion Week …
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