Victoria Newton
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| Victoria Newton | |
| Born | March 9, 1972 London |
|---|---|
Victoria Newton (born 9 March 1972 in London) is an English journalist and showbiz correspondent. She is best known for being the former editor of the Bizarre showbiz column of Rupert Murdoch's The Sun newspaper.
Newton reached Fleet Street in 1993 through joining the Daily Express, and then started the showbiz beat at The People. In 1998, she became an assistant to Dominic Mohan on The Sun's "Bizarre" pages, before becoming the paper's Los Angeles correspondent in 1999. Newton returned to the UK in 2002 to become the Daily Mail's showbiz editor, and returned to The Sun in 2003 to become editor of "Bizarre" replacing the departing Mohan.[1] In November 2007 it was announced that Newton would be leaving the Bizarre pages and had been promoted to Head of Features and Entertainment. [2].
Under her direction, "Bizarre" was known for presenting awards like 'Shagger of the Year' or 'Caner of the Year' and various other awards in the paper's end of year awards. However, it was revealed that the 2006 winners of the "Bizarre" readers' poll awards - who included Justin Timberlake and Madonna - were presented with their awards before readers had the opportunity to vote.[3] From 2006, Newton started producing a weekly podcast featuring many celebrity friends and musicians. Newton's column often contradicts her News International colleague Rav Singh's showbiz column in the News of the World, believed by many to reflect an internal and personal dispute.[4]
"Bizarre's" biggest rivals were the Daily Mirror's "The 3AM Girls" Eva Simpson and Caroline Hedley, which is billed as the column packed with “proper showbiz exclusives.” "Bizarre" is billed as “award-winning,”[5] but Newton frequently made appearances in Private Eye's "Street Of Shame", and she was also the subject of a blog called "VickyWatch", which aimed to correct the "many mistakes in her column. From basic facts to downright lies." The blog ended on the same day her promotion away from Bizarre was announced.
Among other claims Newton apparently reduces her year of birth by ten years, to hide actual age from "aimed at young and trendy" column readers and uses the terms "I can exclusively reveal..." when a more accurate description would be "I have received a press release" or "I have read this on the internet."[6] She has occasionally missed items when proofreading.[1]
Newton apparently supports Liverpool FC, despite the sustained boycott of The Sun in Merseyside over inaccurate claims the paper made about the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.[7] She also refers to herself as a scouser, despite being born in London.[2]
She also has been accused of glamourising domestic violence,[3] and fabricating and altering her stories.[4] [8]
She was embroiled in controversy over allegations of racism. An article on Hilary Duff having a Bollywood theme on her latest video was captioned "Hilary Poppaduff".[9] This is similar to the controversial racist remarks that Jade Goody made about Shilpa Shetty being "Shilpa Poppadom".
Another example of her odd approach to journalism was to publish a 'World Exclusive' review of the new Britney Spears album, which was based on an article from the Entertainment Weekly website three weeks earlier, and leaked songs uploaded to YouTube.[10] In November 2007 Victoria left her Bizzarre column behind, replaced by assistant Gordon Smart. Victoria still works at The Sun newspaper where she is now an Executive.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Victoria Newton: My Life In Media - Media, News - Independent.co.uk
- ^ Senior executive reshuffle at the Sun | Media | guardian.co.uk
- ^ Roy Greensladeblog column, Guardian Unlimited website, 7 January 2007. Retrieved on 2 September 2007.
- ^ Press Gazette - Axegrinder 16.02.2007
- ^ Victoria Newton | Axegrinder | Press Gazette
- ^ Blogger exposes Sun columnist's Bizarre 'mistakes' | Greenslade | Guardian Unlimited
- ^ VickyWatch: Vicky's Bizarre Outfit
- ^ No Rock And Roll Fun: victoria newton
- ^ http://www.holymoly.co.uk/images/stories/Week:%20300707/thesunduff.jpg
- ^ VickyWatch: First listen of Britney album - 29th September
