[Ads-l] catch and kill (n., v.)

[Barretts Mail]

To pay for a story and then not run it.

This expression has been in the news due to a story that the "National Enquirer” did such a thing with a story about Donald Trump.

noun

1.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/catch-and-kill-at-national-enquirer-gives-media-one-last-black-eye-before-election/2016/11/05/2534d43e-a36c-11e6-8832-23a007c77bb4_story.html?utm_term=.99cb2bfba931 <https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/catch-and-kill-at-national-enquirer-gives-media-one-last-black-eye-before-election/2016/11/05/2534d43e-a36c-11e6-8832-23a007c77bb4_story.html?utm_term=.99cb2bfba931>

‘Catch and kill’ at National Enquirer gives media

2. http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/16/media/trump-catch-and-kill/index.html <http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/16/media/trump-catch-and-kill/index.html>

The Enquirer's alleged "catch and kill" technique has been exposed by other news outlets in the past.

3. https://www.wnyc.org/story/womsn-pushes-back-against-trump-friend-catch-and-kill-strategy/ <https://www.wnyc.org/story/womsn-pushes-back-against-trump-friend-catch-and-kill-strategy/>

Woman Pushes Back Against Trump Friend's "Catch and Kill” Strategy

4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/legalentertainment/2018/03/20/trump-affair-accuser-karen-mcdougal-sues-national-enquirer-parent-in-order-to-speak/#4d9e1f481cf9 <https://www.forbes.com/sites/legalentertainment/2018/03/20/trump-affair-accuser-karen-mcdougal-sues-national-enquirer-parent-in-order-to-speak/#4d9e1f481cf9>

This contractual technique, called “catch and kill,” has been used by tabloids in the past to silence otherwise potentially damaging stories.

5. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/national-enquirer-paid-to-kill-trump-affair-story-report.html <http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/national-enquirer-paid-to-kill-trump-affair-story-report.html>

In August, the Enquirer reportedly pulled what’s known as a “catch and kill” on the story.

6. http://people.com/politics/donald-trump-karen-mcdougal-affair-national-enquirer/ <http://people.com/politics/donald-trump-karen-mcdougal-affair-national-enquirer/>

But the Enquirer pulled what is known in the industry as a “catch and kill” on the story – buying the rights to the McDougal’s story forever without obliging to publish it, according to the Journal.

verb
1. http://www.euronews.com/2018/03/22/three-women-legal-actions-against-trump-who-poses-greatest-danger-n858881 <http://www.euronews.com/2018/03/22/three-women-legal-actions-against-trump-who-poses-greatest-danger-n858881>

a practice known as "caught and killed" — the story of her alleged liaison with Trump

2. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-new-yorker-donald-trump-affair-story.html <http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-new-yorker-donald-trump-affair-story.html>

despite selling the details to a gossip media group that “caught and killed” her story


Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org