How would the press treat Jade Goody if she appeared on our screens today?

The Channel 4 documentary series that marked 10 years since the reality TV star’s death prompted new questions about how celebrity status is created

I’m not sure whether Jade Goody, who died 10 years ago following a diagnosis of cervical cancer, was the first person in the country to be famous simply for being famous, but she was certainly a prime example of the phenomenon. And, indeed, she still is.

Writing about her at this distance, as I did when reviewing the first of three hour-long Channel 4 documentaries about her life, I concede that her significance is perfectly apparent, because her name is still so recognised today. She proves a certain point.

The most dispiriting aspect of the Goody story was what the media did to her, and I could not help but ponder if they might still do the same thing to her, or to someone like her, now. Headlines such as “Vote the pig out” would probably not run today, even in the remaining red-top newspapers. Then again, the early Big Brother shows were broadcast in a pre-social media age, and you cringe to imagine what Twitter would made of Goody’s early television appearances, had it been going in those days.