Understanding England's "Gag Order" Scandal

Balk: So, and this will never happen but I want someone to match all the silhouettes in the Mail and Sun to the actual photos they are based on.

Choire: Whoa. “ONE of Britain’s top bloggers caused chaos on Twitter yesterday after appearing to link more than a dozen celebrities to gagging orders.”

Balk: But I wouldn’t even know who to start with on that.

Choire: I don’t even know how to find what blogger they’re talking about!

Balk: It’s Guido Fawkes.

Choire: Huh. Okay, but I’m confused….

Balk:

Annie Lennox, papers seem to have stopped covering her lately.Wed May 11 13:40:30 via web

Guido Fawkes
GuidoFawkes

Choire: Oh no, not Annie! Well, hmm, this is like reading a foreign language.

Balk: Ha.

Choire: Literally this is impenetrable to me!

Balk: Really?

Choire: I never said I was bright. So wait. There’s a gag order about what?

Balk: Oh. It’s more about who HAS the gag orders out.

Choire: … Regarding?

Balk: They are all privacy claims.

Choire: …

Balk: “Slept with hooker,” “had affair with,” etc.

Choire: Annnnnd? Oh God, am I stupid? SOME DAY THE GUARDIAN WILL EXPLAIN THIS TO ME.

Balk: Basically, one or more papers was going to report on these stories, but before they could the celeb in question got a prior restraint.

Choire: Ohhh! So there were a number of stories, and then these people went to the courts… and everything died.

Balk: Right. So the papers all know who did what to who but can’t name names.

Choire: Ah.

Balk: Which is unfortunate for the prostitutes who want to sell their stories to the tabs.

Choire: So much for Nick Denton’s romanticization of the English newsroom!

Balk: I’m not sure how I feel about this take, but it does explain a lot.

Choire: Yow! What happened to the days when people just got to have hot sex with footballers and then go on with their lives?

Balk: I blame our “everyone’s a celebrity” culture.