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TMZ.com, which stands for Thirty Mile Zone is a celebrity news website which debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online (AOL) and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. TMZ is now under the sole control of Warner Bros. Thirty-mile zone, refers to the “studio zone” — the thirty-mile (48.3 km) radius of the intersection of West Beverly Boulevard and North La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles.
View TMZ ‘zero’ at Beverly Boulevard and North La Cienaga in The Cardinal World Map in a larger map
TMZ’s managing editor is Harvey Levin, a lawyer-turned-journalist who got his start as a legal expert on LA’s KCBS-TV. The website claims that it does not pay for stories or interviews, but, Levin has admitted that TMZ does “sometimes pay sources for leads on stories.”
First to Report …
TMZ has gotten the scoop on several recent stories, including Mel Gibson’s DUI arrest, Chris Brown’s assault on Rihanna, the million dollar spending spree of federal bailout money for a series of lavish Northern Trust Bank parties, and the death of Michael Jackson.
Creepy Paparazzi
The TMZ website has been criticized for its usage of photographs and videos obtained from paparazzi. Critics, such as FOXNews host Bill O’Reilly have questioned the effect that aggressive and obtrusive photographers have on the subjects they cover. Many of TMZ videos on the site show, in the footage, that paparazzo chase people (mainly celebrities)–a practice that has been called dangerous and described as being “creepy”. Creepy in the sense that paparazzi often ‘suck up’ with obsequious comments only to act as predators to get that newsworthy shot. Or sometimes they outright try to press a celebrity’s emotional buttons to get a heated response.
Stepping in ‘it’
In December 2009, TMZ.com published an “exclusive” picture of a man purporting to be John F. Kennedy on a ship with several naked women that could have “changed history” had it come out during his presidential campaign. Despite having a Photoshop expert proclaim the picture as “authentic”, the picture was later discovered to be a picture of another male. The picture did not show candidate John F. Kennedy, because it wasn’t him. The photo was discovered to have been part of a Playboy photoshoot from November of 1967, which was later confirmed by Playboy representative.
Somebody’s Gotta Do It …
The Cardinal is a long way from Hollywood, but likes to be hip. Generally TMZ is a favorite resource for keeping up on the frivolities of Hollywood. So we’ll leave it up to the specialists at TMZ to deliver Hollywood news. Plus we like their Cardinal Red colors!
TMZ’s Hot Celebrities (January 2010)