Weekly News 6

Star Rita: I was abused at 14 by man, 26 

Rita, aged 14 when the relationship took place

This is a story in the Sun Newspaper, written by Jane Atkinson.

Firstly, the headline of the story has paraphrased what Rita said in the interview (for the full interview click here ) Rita says that although today it would be considered child abuse, she wasn't forced into anything, that she 'wanted it',she felt like she was more mature than perhaps she should have been at that age.

The image of Rita, as a young girl makes the reader empathise more with her as you can clearly see that she is young and therefore -despite Rita insisting it was consensual- the reader questions her boyfriend's intentions as she is clearly a child.
 
I think the purpose of this article is promote the new biography about Rita. The audience of the article will be people interested in her, and the shocking aspect of this story is so that readers will be more intrigued to find out more about her life and therefore be more inclined to buy the biography.

"The shock revelations come in a new biography that charts the rise of Rita from Kosovan refugee to international star.

The Sun on Sunday is today publishing exclusive extracts from the book."

This is also an advert for the X Factor, as she is repeatedly referred to as the 'X Factor Judge' and was released on the day that the X Factor was being shown on television. Furthermore the comments about the story also mention the X factor, and also the new book.

If this story was focused on Rita's sexual abuse then there would not be nearly as many references to her appearances on the TV and her singles. This story has taken a serious case of sexual manipulation and spun it into good publicity for Rita. -All publicity is good publicity.