Tabloids make the world go round. You know it, I know it, it`s fairly common knowledge. The book “Operacija Direkt” (Operation: Direkt) which deals with a journalist switching from “serious” newspaper to a sleazy tabloid, supposedly for the money, only reaffirms this fact.

Her four-month period as a journalist (if you can call her that) ended with her resignation. In the book, she tells the story.

The book is well-written and is easy to read. Most of the text is composed out of dialogues and text messages that travelled back and forth between the editor, Bojan Požar and his staff. It does contain a fair amount of information about how the Direkt newspaper works and operates, which makes it an interesting read since there`s not many books (especially in the slovene media space) which deal with a similar topic.

Chapters are divided by stories that Ana Jud wrote for the Direct and the effect these stories had on the people involved and on her. How the chief editor almost always “fixed” her stories and how stories were based on pure lies and speculations. The book also contains a reference manual about “How to defend yourself against Direkt” and other information in how to deal with tabloids in general.

However, the tabloids are the mirror of society and they do carry our reflection. If people are willing to buy it and read it, so be it. Pure and simple. And no matter how much the media experts will protest, no matter how much Ana Jud will critise and rant about the bad effect tabloids have on the society, there will always be tomorrow. And there will always be a new issue of liespaper.