One Direction: Why Do Little Jokes Get Reported As Major Drama?

Sometimes one has to hope that One Direction doesn’t read the newspapers. Day after day, the gossip columns are filled with stories about One Direction. All too often, the headlines about One Direction bear absolutely no relationship with real life. At the beginning of their career, One Direction were slammed as a probable “one-hit-wonder,” as many critics blasted their “manufactured” brand of pop music.

In those early days, it is true that most of One Direction’s songs were written for them by others. However, the scale of success that One Direction has achieved is truly remarkable. You do not have to be a fan of the style of music One Direction plays to recognize that they have grown as songwriters and matured as artists. With five smash hit albums and a host of music industry awards under their belt, the scale of One Direction’s success is both remarkable and undeniable.

It is undeniably fair to say that bad news sells. Take a look at your daily newspaper or the latest TV news bulletin. You won’t find much in the way of good news stories. It is a rare day, indeed, when the news is full of positivity.

As every One Direction fan is well aware, the group is heading off for a well-earned rest once they complete the promotional round for their latest album, Made In The A.M., and since they announced their hiatus, it has been open season on One Direction. At the end of October, the Sun reported that One Direction had been torn apart by infighting, drug use, and personal animosity. One Direction is splitting primarily because Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles cannot abide each other was the Sun’s claim.

I promise to stay forever and always! #ThisIsNotTheEndOfOneDirection #MTVStars One Direction pic.twitter.com/LtWTvu4FsI

— STAY STRONG? (@britishirisheh) December 13, 2015

Since that report, it seems that every media outlet is looking for a scoop that proves that the boys in One Direction hate each other.

One Direction appeared on the last episode of Alan Carr’s Chatty Man show, and as previews of the show were released, a host of stories have emerged. Almost all of the stories follow a central theme. They focus on the slightest nuance in an attempt to encourage the reader to believe that there is tension within One Direction.

THIS IS NOT THE END, THIS IS NOT THE END.
WE CAN MAKE IT YOU KNOW IT, YOU KNOW.#MTVStars One Direction pic.twitter.com/3S1uVYlefb

— Niall Horan Philippines (@NiallOfficialPH) December 13, 2015

Scout focused on a tweet between Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson. As can be seen by the tone of the message and the emoji’s included, Payne was joking with his One Direction bandmate. The headline claims that Payne is “fed up” with Tomlinson. Of course a headline that read “One Direction stars share a joke” wouldn’t get a lot of attention.

Sugarscape took a pop at Tomlinson for calling Niall Horan “a little s**t.” The context being that Payne changed some song lyrics, because although Louis liked the lyrics, no one else did. Louis made a wisecrack with a smile on his face. The headline? “One Direction star calls bandmate a ‘little s**t’.”

The Mirror claims that Tomlinson and Payne “got a dog p****d” on champagne during One Direction’s recent tour. Admittedly, had the One Direction boys deliberately set out to feed alcohol to an animal, their actions would have been both irresponsible and reprehensible. Of course, the truth is somewhat different, as the Mirror states in the article. The One Direction boys were engaged in their usual hijinks, trashing each other’s dressing rooms. A bottle of champagne was sprayed around, and the dog helped itself.

On November 22, the Mirror reported that Louis Tomlinson was a single man. By December 11, the same outlet is claiming that One Direction star Louis Tomlinson has “dumped” his pregnant girlfriend, Briana Jungwirth.

Tomlinson has featured in more than his fair share of One Direction negativity over the past couple of weeks. The Daily Mail reported that Louis got “stroppy” and threw his phone across the studio when it continually rang during the Chatty Man interview. Tomlinson’s behavior was described as “the mother of all hissy fits,” whilst Louis says that the phone was already broken and a member of the One Direction crew was playing a joke by continually phoning him during the interview.

Like so many before them, One Direction is finding that the media likes nothing better than to build people up so that they can knock them down.

[Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP]