As was already the case with artists, actors and television stars, nowadays the private lives of politicians appear in the news more frequently, too. Sometimes they openly show off their families in order to give their images a little boost. But other times the private lives of our politicians appear in the media against their will.
Gossip and revelations, whether politically relevant or not, can lead to a political crisis in the government, even to someone’s resignation. Divorces and relational problems are the most wanted scoops. And some media put all decency aside in order to get such a scoop. They don’t even hesitate to use pure blackmail to be able to publish loud headlines and juicy stories.
The most well-known example in 2006 was the relationship between Flemish liberal politician Rik Daems and Walloon socialist politician Sophie Pécriaux. In Zero Privacy Daems makes a reconstruction of the whole story of how his relationship made the front pages.
