In her barbed and immensely engaging debut novel, The Scoop, Erin Van Der Meer skewers the business of tabloid journalism through the struggles of a young editor trying to make her mark. Laid off from her dream job at Marie Claire and mourning a breakup with the boyfriend she thought she would marry, Francesca "Frankie" Miller is desperate for a stable income. Against her better judgment, she takes a job as a night editor at the Scoop, a trashy online tabloid (think the National Enquirer) owned by media conglomerate Johnson News. David, the editor-in-chief, offers Frankie a large salary and promises he will see to it that she's transferred to the respectable Business Day (think the Wall Street Journal), also owned by Johnson, so Frankie tells herself she won't be there long. At first, Frankie is able to keep herself above the fray, offering pointed observations of a business where "paparazzi photos were often treated with the hysterical sense of urgency other news outlets reserved for the most serious of events," but it doesn't take long before she is swept up in the frenzy. She abandons her integrity by digging up dirt on Amanda Myles, a 1990s rock star trying to live quietly out of the spotlight. Frankie's relentless invasion into Amanda's past leads to devastating consequences for Amanda and a harsh reckoning for Frankie.
Van Der Meer, a former journalist, knows this terrain well. Her depiction of the well-meaning but naïve Frankie shows how easily morals and ethics can be swayed in the pursuit of success. Sharp and provocative, The Scoop is a smart and satisfying read. --Debra Ginsberg, author and freelance editor