One Direction Is Not Over: Tune In And Listen Up

Life as a fan of One Direction is rarely easy. It seems that on a daily basis, some sections of the media set out to earn some traffic with a sensational headline about One Direction or one of the band’s members. It is a rare day when Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, or Niall Horan are not subject of a gossip column headline. So much is written about One Direction that their fans sometimes have no idea where to turn for the truth or a bit of balanced reporting.

I seems that if media outlets are not reporting on a One Direction band member’s love life, then the latest break-up rumor is fair game. During the past week, many One Direction fans were upset when rumors began to circulate that One Direction’s forthcoming hiatus would become a permanent split.

As was previously reported in the Inquisitr, the rumors took hold after Us Weekly printed a story claiming One Direction was over. Just a few hours later, Billboard ran a story refuting the rumors that a permanent One Direction split was in the cards. The real problem with both of these stories is that both outlets quote the age-old “unnamed source close to One Direction.” Of course, there are occasions were a source might not want to be named. Sources sometimes need to be protected, and on occasion, a source may be betraying a confidence and do not want to be identified.

#OneDirection are NOT splitting and will renew their recording contracts –https://t.co/2Go4Wb95ak https://t.co/hzmlBcqP4Z #OneDBestFans2016

— i'mCruelLeaYours (@imCruelLeaYours) January 14, 2016

Sadly, all too often, the so-called “unnamed source” simply doesn’t exist, and unscrupulous journalists make up a quote for the sake of a headline. One Direction and their fans are subject of this kind of media manipulation all too often. It is rare to see a direct quote that actually comes from one of the boys or from a member of One Direction’s management team.

This, of course, means that One Direction and their fans are subjected to an avalanche of often baseless and almost always negative rumors. Just yesterday, some outlets were still reporting that One Direction were to split.

One Direction fans will therefore have been grateful to see Liam Payne re-emerge yesterday. As Liam traversed L.A’s LAX airport, a reporter from TMZ asked Payne about the break-up rumors, and One Direction fans will be delighted to know that he emphatically denied them.

The Mirror reports that Liam also spoke briefly about former One Direction member Zayn Malik. Liam showed that his bromance with Malik is still alive when he said “I love Zayn, he’s great.”

Liam is believed to have been in L.A. working on some music for a solo project, and yesterday he teased One Direction fans with a snippet of what that might sound like. NME reports that Payne used Instagram to share the snippet, which has a distinctly R&B feel to it.

In recent weeks, the Inquisitr has extensively reported on the great work done by One Direction fans to support charities favored by the band. The Inquisitr has also reported on the efforts of fan groups like One Direction NDA to tackle cyber-bullying. That particular fan group even won an Extra Smile award for their efforts to tackle bullying and provide a safe space on the internet for One Direction fans.

Sadly, it seems that the message still hasn’t reached some One Direction fans. The Mirror reports that Loose Women host Saira Khan has been forced to call in police after she received dozens of hateful and threatening messages from supposed One Direction fans. Saira sent an innocent tweet to One Direction’s Harry Styles after bumping into him at a TV studio.

It seems that some One Direction fans saw Saira’s message as a green light to send her hateful messages including calling her a “cancer,” claiming she had HIV, and she was the subject of racist comments. Saira said she was “really shaken up” by the flood of “vulgar” insults and reflected on the effects of cyber-bullying.

“Young people have committed suicide as a direct result of being trolled on social media – I am shocked to see what people write and say.”

It is so sad to see that some One Direction fans still think that attacking people on social media is acceptable. Not only do their actions reflect badly on One Direction, it undermines the incredible efforts that One Direction fan groups have made to combat cyber-bullying.

Thankfully, many One Direction fans spoke up to support Saira and condemn those One Direction fans that give the fandom a bad name.

[Photo by KGC-161/STAR MAX/IPx/AP]