Gossip columnist

The columns mix factual material on arrests, divorces, marriages and pregnancies, which are obtained from official records, with more speculative gossip stories, rumors, and innuendo about romantic relationships, affairs, and purported personal problems.

Newspaper and magazine editorial policies normally require gossip columnists to have a source for all of their allegations to protect the publisher from lawsuits for defamation (libel).

In the United States, celebrities or public figures can sue for libel if their private lives are revealed in a gossip column and they believe that their reputation has been defamed – that is, exposed to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or pecuniary loss.

A celebrity suing a newspaper for libel must prove that the paper published the falsehood with actual malice or with deliberate knowledge that the statement was both incorrect and defamatory.

Winchell used his political, entertainment, and social connections to mine information and rumors, which he either published in his column On Broadway or traded to accumulate more power.

In this capacity, agents could counteract whispers about celebrity secrets, such as homosexuality or an out-of-wedlock child, which could severely damage both the individual reputation of a movie star and their greater box office viability.

Many mainstream magazines such as Time, which once considered the hiring of gossip columnists as beneath their stature, now have sections titled "People" or "Entertainment".