The Star, the Superstar and Sarah

More reactions to The Star's coverage of Beckham and Malaysia Boleh, this time from commentator Martin Jalleh:

“Sarah tells why”—was the headline that stretched across the front page of The Star on 14 April 2004. It was very telling indeed…on the newspaper.

Malaysians, especially with children, saw stars when they read on the front page of The Star the lurid details of Sarah Marbeck’s alleged sex romps with David Beckham.

The day before, The Star had, through its correspondent in Australia, shone in full sympathy and sensitivity for Sarah’s family in Australia.

“The Beckham saga: Press hounds model’s family in Perth” contained a plea by the model’s father to respect his family’s privacy. It was worth several stars for decency.
The article was accompanied by the picture of The Sun, a tabloid in UK, with the caption: “MAKING THE HEADLINES: The front page of ‘The Sun’ yesterday, which focused on Marbeck’s claim that she had slept with Beckham.”

Alas, one would be a starry-eyed dreamer to expect The Star to show restraint and continued respect. And so, the following morning The Star “made the headlines” and followed The Sun (UK). It repeated the gossip which the News of the World had exclusive rights to.

It has been quite a while since Bolehland has outdone the world in records. A star-studded sex story would be a superb and sensational stimulant. There is no further need for star-gazing.

Never mind if model Sarah Marbeck (and what she has allegedly done) is not quite the right model to the young—what they should be proud of is that she is “Malaysian-born”.

Never mind about the “moral” of the story. Who cares about morals these days anyway? What is more important is a “Malaysian-born” managed to sleep with “the most famous father, family man and husband in the world…”

The Star has no doubt achieved a record of sorts too. For the first time a sex romp between a football superstar and a model took precedence and priority over all national and international news on its front page.

“The People’s Paper” was in fact telling the people that the most important news for the day was that Sarah Marbeck has claimed that she had sex with David Beckham over a two-year period.

The Star is sold and read in primary and secondary schools throughout the country. But that too did not matter to the paper. A sex romp by a Malaysian-born would be really something different to read about.

The Star does not really care about Beckham or Marbeck, what beckons it to serve such trash on its front page is profits—and it has the cheek of insinuating that Sarah revealed all because of the money. Having been at the beck and call of the powers that be the paper appears to have lost much sense, wisdom and priority!

The Star Boleh!