A strain of heroes

<jats:p>The concept of scandal is a central trope of today’s journalism, ranging from political coverage of the affairs of state down to the state of affairs in the celebrity press and media. Not only is there an apparently inexhaustible public appetite for rumours, speculations and provable dark deeds and saucy goings-on fed by scandals but also a considerable section of professional journalists and photojournalists earn their crust from it. In this introductory commentary some of the key concepts defining celebrity and scandal are introduced and some observations on the current state of public culture in New Zealand are examined.</jats:p>