MediaWorks staff appear in open revolt at their company's new gossip website, Scout, which launched this morning with a "scoop" about Mike Hosking hoovering his Ferrari with a hand-held dustbuster on Auckland's Remuera Road.

The website, edited by former New Zealand Herald gossip columnist Rachel Glucina, went online on Monday morning ahead of a launch party at Auckland restaurant/bar Wine Chambers on Monday night. But it seems some staff from within Glucina's own organisation won't be celebrating.



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Newsreader Hilary Barry was first into the fray, mocking the Hosking story with a photo of herself vacuuming her own car, with the hashtag #stalkingisnotok

TV3 reporter David Farrier retweeted Barry's tweet and another mocking one, from TV3's own late-night news show, Newsworthy (which he fronts with Samantha Hayes), which read: "Exclusive: David Farrier Sits at Desk: http://tinyurl.com/DaveAtDesk".

The tweet links to a story on Newsworthy's site which consists of three increasingly zoomed in photos of a dazed Farrier.

He then followed up with tweets saying he would not be working for Scout, and if they doorstopped him, he would set his parrot Keith on them.

Comedian Eli Mathewson and media commentator Russell Brown were among others to take an early crack at the site on Twitter.

Scout, said to be a local take on E! meets TMZ, has promised sex, scandal and gossip since its announcement. Beyond the Hosking car expose, it had stories on World Cup WAGS and reality TV stars.



There's also what looks to be a regular segment called Mile high diaries, in which unnamed writers share their stories about joining the "mile high club".



In some clear cross-promotion for other MediaWorks products, "New Zealand's most fearless broadcaster", Duncan Garner (from MediaWorks' Story) takes on a high-wire challenge despite being scared of heights; socialite – and one of Glucina's well-known besties – Gilda Kirkpatrick has written a children's book; MediaWorks' Sharyn Casey teaches you how to stalk people in the supermarket.



In a statement, Mediaworks said, "There is no revolt. In fact, we are very pleased with the social media chatter generated by our news team, all of which plays a key role in raising the public awareness of Scout at its launch".

#scoutscoops



The Hosking "exclusive" prompted derision on Twitter. Alternative scoops for the site - each dripping in sarcasm - proliferated via #scoutscoops on social media.

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