ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on political sex scandals, which are typically revelations of extra-marital affairs and unwanted intrusions into areas of personal domain that politicians want to remain private. It argues that such scandals, although justified in the name of the public interest, have the effect of softening the professional boundaries between different types of media outlets and creating greater coherence in the field. The chapter shows that sex scandals have the tendency to nourish a tacit symbiosis between different media. The tabloid media, with a focus on celebrities’ personal lives, are more likely to intrude into politicians’ private lives than other types of media and thus intimization is more of a feature in countries where there is a strong celebrity tabloid media. An interesting question is what the implications of the intimization of political journalism and the shifting of boundaries between different media are for journalism as a profession.
