Tuesday 7 June 2011

Shock as ghost doesn't actually sell house

Tuesday's Daily Express contains an eye-catching headline on its front page:


It sounds more like a headline from the Sunday Sport than something found in the, ahem, 'world's greatest newspaper'. Anne Diamond was 'sold a house' by a ghost?

Well, although she does claim that the ghost of the previous owner opened the front door when she visited the house for a viewing, that's it.

In fact, that claim of the front page headline doesn't even survive the first two paragraphs of Nathan Rao's article:

Anne Diamond has revealed she was once scared off buying her dream home after coming face-to-face with the ghost of its previous owner.

The TV presenter said she could not bear to live in the house with her children ­knowing it was haunted and so gave it up even though it was perfect in every other way.

And just in case that's not clear enough, there's an actual quote from Diamond:

'I decided not to buy the place after all.'

The story comes from a forthcoming TV show called Celebrity Ghost Stories UK. Surprisingly, it isn't a Channel 5 show, but that doesn't stop the Express mentioning that Diamond is:

a regular guest on Channel 5’s current affairs show The Wright Stuff.

The headline on the online version of the article, incidentally, is 'Haunted house that spooked TV's Anne Diamond'. At least that reflects the content of the article - unlike the attention-grabbing one they've put on the front of the paper.

4 comments:

  1. Putting aside the fact that they've lied in the headline, what would make the Daily Express think that advertising a story of Anne Diamond on the front of the newspaper would help to sell newspapers?

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  2. The day a ghost failed to sell me a house.

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  3. Surely "Ghosts cost me my dream house" is a more enticing headline anyway?

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  4. Maybe I'm a little naive, but isn't the bigger issue that The Express considers ghost stories credible enough to make front page news? Next week; "SHOCK NEWS! DIANA ALIVE AND SHACKED UP WITH YETI!"

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