Intelligencer

Just Asking . . .

A random survey of 100 pedestrians in Union Square on news, celebrities, and (allegedly) crooked gossip columnists.

Published Apr 16, 2006

Which news source do you trust the most?
The Times. . . 73
The Post. . . . 10
Us Weekly . . . 7
The Daily News . . . 6
Blogs . . . 2
Other . . . 2

Where do you go to get your gossip?
“Page Six” . . . 29
Blogs . . . 22
“Boldface Names” . . . 8
“Rush and Molloy” . . . 7
People . . . 4
Us Weekly . . . 4
I don’t ever read gossip. . . 19
Other . . . 7
“Friends.” “Gay friends.” “My girlfriend. She’s like, ‘Blah, blah, blah.’ ”

Who’s your favorite recurring gossip character?
Paris Hilton . . . 24
Lindsay Lohan . . . 20
Donald Trump . . . 11
Angelina/Brangelina . . . 6
Harvey Weinstein . . . 3
Ron Burkle . . . 0
No opinion . . . 25
Other . . . 11
"Wendy Williams.” “Tom Cruise.” “Dick Cheney.”

Have you heard of the “Page Six” scandal?
Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Does it surprise you?
Yes . . . . . . 7
No . . . . . . 75
Somewhat . . . . . . 13

Do you know who Richard Johnson is?
Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
No . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 67

Do you know who Jared Paul Stern is?
Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Can you trust a man in a fedora?
Yes . . . . . . . 35
No . . . . . . . 22
Unsure . . . . . . . 43
“If he’s Humphrey Bogart.” “If he’s black.”

Would you want to be a gossip reporter?
Yes . . . . . . . 10
No . . . . . . . 89
Unsure . . . 1

What would be the best part of the job?
Potential celebrity sex . . . 22
Potential celebrity friendship . . . 20
Seeing your work read on the subway . . . 18
Free drinks . . . 17
Extortion opportunities . . . 12

How much of “Page Six” is true?
Every word . . . 1
Most of it . . . 14
Some of it . . . 53
Almost none of it . . . 21
None of it at all . . . 1

Would you like to be in “Page Six”?
Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

What’s the one thing you’ve done that you’d least like to see in a gossip column?
“Puking on the subway.” “Underage men.” “Getting busted for pot on the Chinatown bus.” “Public sex.” “Eating food I dropped on the street.” “I tried to run away from the Vietnam War.” “I stole a bread truck.” “Slave-girl pictures on the Internet.” “Appearing on The Grind.” “Hookers.”