Boyzone: No Matter What: This documentary made me ashamed to be a journalist

• Boyzone: No Matter What was released by Sky Documentaries on February 2.
• It follows the ups and downs of the Irish boy band’s career.
• The way the tabloids treated the popstars - especially Stephen Gately - made my skin crawl.

There are a few people who don’t come out of the new Boyzone documentary in the best light - not least of all Louis Walsh. But the British tabloids in particular get the ‘villain edit’.

Sky’s three part series Boyzone: No Matter What dropped over the weekend and it is a complete must watch. Tracing the iconic 1990s boyband from their inception through to the 2019 farewell tour - it begs to be binge watched.

Throughout the episodes you hear from the four remaining former members of Boyzone - Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy and Mike Graham, as well as long-time manager Louie Walsh.

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A major running thread - particularly in the second episode - is the British press’ treatment of the band, in particular when it came to the sexuality of Stephen Gately. Walsh talks about feeding fake stories to journalists, while one reporter from The Sun brags about how they had “everyone” on the pay to get scoops on the pop group.

The documentary lasers in on the way “Steo” - as he is referred to during the show - became fodder for the tabloids, including forcing his public outing in 1999.

As a journalist, it is a sickening feeling seeing the pride and almost glee on the face of the tabloid reporter as he recounts getting the scoop. And the blatant denial of the role they played in his outing - saying it was Stephen’s circle who told him to come out, not the looming threat of a front page - made me feel rotten.

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I’ve never worked for a national tabloid - having been in local news for pretty much all of my near-decade as a journalist - and yet watching the documentary I can’t help but feel some guilt-by-association.

To make it worse, the section that focuses on the headlines that followed Stephen’s tragic death made my blood boil. Sensational splashes on drug binges, when in fact it was totally natural - the result of an undetected heart defect.

From the lens of local news, I have seen first hand how tabloids can come trampling in when a major story breaks - leaning on sensationalism without having to worry about the repercussions afterwards. It leaves the community to pick-up the pieces afterwards - with the reputation of local press tarred with the same brush as tabloids.

The race to be first and gazump others taints this industry - and not just in the tabloids, we (journalists) have all been guilty of it at some point no doubt. That is a reputation we all have to bear - and when you look at the recent ‘coming out’ interview with former referee David Coote in The Sun, it echoes this documentary in a grimly timely fashion.

Boyzone: No Matter What is must watch TV and an incredible insight into one of the most iconic acts of the 1990s. But it did make me ashamed to be a journalist - and vow to do better.

Let me know what you thought of the Boyzone documentary if you’ve watched it. Email me at: [email protected].