In Mediabistro’s latest So What Do You Do? interview, Star editor-in-chief James Heidenry tackles his newsstand nemeses head-on, calling People and Us Weekly “the mouthpiece of celebrity publicists” – and he didn’t mean that in a positive way. 

“They covet these relationships with the publicists, and as a result they don’t say negative things about the celebrities, something like a famous person getting caught cheating, whereas we don’t have any such relationships,” he explained.

Although the pub isn’t necessarily beholden to PR pros, said Heidenry, getting on his team’s good side can sometimes work in your favor. “If a publicist wants to serve their clients, they should have a good relationship with us, because, frankly, we do have stories on certain people that we hold, because we like the relationship with the publicist and we’ve done Q&A with the celebrity in the past or photo shoots with them,” he said. 

Read the full interview in So What Do You Do, James Heidenry, Editor-in-Chief of Star?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In his So What Do You Do? interview, Howard describes how he pursued Charlie Sheen directly, and eventually scored an exclusive interview with the #TigerBlood celeb.

“After a little research, I hit gold, sourcing Sheen’s phone number from another source. When I called his cell phone, his personal assistant Rick Calamaro, told me Sheen wouldn’t be commenting. Unperturbed, I sent Sheen many more text messages, offering him that time-honored reporter’s standby: a chance to put forth his side of the story. Eventually it paid off and I got replies from the man himself,” he said.

Read the full interview in So What Do You Do, Dylan Howard, Editor-in-Chief of Celebuzz? and let us know your comments.

How do you handle it when a journalist bypasses you and contacts your client directly?

– Andrea Hackett

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.