Tabloid Prodigy
Dishing the Dirt, Getting the Gossip, and Selling My Soul in the Cutthroat World of Hollywood Reporting.
C 2007 Marlise Elizabeth Kast
Running Press Book Publishers - Philadelphia
Pages 68-69 hardback
The magnitude of willingness I displayed on the Jodie Foster stories labeled me a reporter of compliance. The editors milked my optimism, pushing me on to other assignments that seemed virtually impossible to complete. Inwardly, I thanked them. I thanked them for setting the bar so high. I thanked them for assigning unreachable goals. I thanked them for the adrenaline that kept me going.
With time, I longed to become indispensable to the tabloids. I wanted the editors to feel that the magazine could not survive without me. I was notorious for pushing people away and for giving the impression that I needed no one. But now, I need Globe and Globe needed me.
Ironically, this warped desire was birthed out of my religious background. I come from a "yes" family, one of service that habitually over-commits until there is nothing left. We give more than one hundred percent. We demonstrate the martyr syndrome, willingly suffering for the sake of others' survival.
Now I was willing to suffer for the Globe. This job was the ultimate lure for an adrenaline junkie. I thrived on deadlines and bylines. I liked the idea of being in Hollywood but not of it. No other profession could provide this combination of thrills for someone my age. For Globe, I was prepared to jeopardize my morals, abandon the voice of ethics, embrace perilous risks, and somehow justify it all through the use of my pen."
- Marlise Elizabeth Kast
