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Naomi Campbell scored a pyrrhic victory in March. She won damages from The Mirror, which had photographed her emerging from a narcotics anonymous centre.The award? £3500. And the downside was a vicious backlash by the rest of the media against Campbell, which made her years of drug abuse common knowledge. Even The Sun (grudgingly) gave its support to The Mirror, its bitter rival, before later reverting to type.

SWEDE NOTHINGS

The unlikely Swedish match of Sven-Goran Eriksson and Ulrika Jonsson, which The Mirror splashed on its front page in April, was a dream story for the media. To ensure eight pages of coverage in Sunday's News of the World, Ulrika Jonsson turned up at the same Chelsea football match the next day, sitting about ten metres from the England manager. Ulrika's reputation took a dive with fears that Eriksson would be 'distracted' from his World Cup plans. The media also drew parallels with the run-up to the 1998 tournament when Jonsson had a high-profile fight with footballer Stan Collymore in a French bar. As Eriksson became the centre of a 'love tug' between Jonsson and his Italian lawyer girlfriend Nancy Dell'Olio, some would argue his reputation was enhanced.

GOT NEWS FOR YOU

In May a dark side to the character of Angus Deayton emerged with tabloid revelations of an alleged relationship with a prostitute and "snorting cocaine in the nude". Ratings for Have I Got News For You received a short-term boost, but the BBC decided that his position had been "unacceptably compromised" and sacked him from the programme at the end of October.

PRICE OF DARKNESS

One of the great brand relaunches of our time. From veteran rocker best known for biting the heads of bats, Ozzy Osbourne was reborn as reality TV star. MTV's decision to film his life in Beverly Hills was a stroke of genius.The Osbournes became the broadcaster's highest rated series, pulling in millions in ad revenue.

A RIGHT ROYAL ... YEAR

When June's jubilee celebrations proved a huge success, Britain's republicans looked despondent. But November brought renewed cheer. The trial of Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell collapsed at a cost of £1.5m to the tax-payer after the Queen suddenly 'recollected' a crucial conversation with Burrell. The monarch's immunity from criminal court proceedings was heavily criticised. Burrell then signed an exclusive £300,000 'What the butler saw' expose with the Daily Mirror, unleashing a personal vendetta from its snubbed rivals. As if this wasn't enough, an aide to Prince Charles then talked of a culture of "homosexual harassment" within the royal palaces, and another trial against butler Harold Brown collapsed.

WHODUNNIT

When Ulrika Jonsson brought out her autobiography in October, it included allegations of date rape by a former GMTV colleague. Though John Leslie already had quite a reputation in media circles, it took Channel 5's Matthew Wright to blurt out Leslie's name before the tabloids 'named' him as Ulrika's alleged assailant. The News of the World then pictured him snorting cocaine at a party.

January
Boxing icon Mike Tyson loses it at a press conference, lashing out at
Lennox Lewis.
February
The Department of Transport bids adieu to communications chief Martin
Sixsmith.
March
MTV's The Osbournes, featuring rock star Ozzy, proves the docu-soap hit
of the year.
April
A fling between Sven-Goran Eriksson and Ulrika Jonsson is revealed.
May
Angus Deayton in the spotlight for an alleged relationship with a
prostitute and snorting coke.
June
Already controversial, London Mayor Ken Livingstone is accused of
fighting at a party.
July
Jade Goody becomes a national hate figure for her behaviour on Big
Brother 3.
August
Comic Paul Kaye in deep water after admitting he is "a c***" for doing
ads for Woolworths.
September
Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox signs a £1m deal despite her show losing the
same number of listeners.
October
John Leslie fired from This Morning following allegations of sexual
assault.
November
Monarchy under fire following collapse of trial involving Paul Burrell,
Princess Diana's butler.
December
Cherie Blair is embroiled in scandal over Aussie conman Peter Foster.