Last week, the New York Daily News reported that Jared Paul Stern, a contributor to the New York Post's "Page Six," the city's preeminent gossip column, had been caught on tape by the FBI trying to extort money from California supermarket magnate Ron Burkle in exchange for favorable treatment in the column. Below, five gossip columnists discuss the future of "Page Six," and impart their advice on how to deal with sex scandals.

Lloyd Grove, age withheld

Lloyd Grove has written the "Lloyd Grove's Lowdown" gossip column for the New York Daily News since 2003. A former Washington insider, he was the first person to report Gwyneth Paltrow's pregnancy (based on her breast size) last year, and in December 2004, he famously banned Paris Hilton from his page, citing her "terrifying campaign for world domination."

I'm a prominent magazine editor and a gossip columnist has some dirt on me. He says he'll print it unless I sleep with him. I really don't want my laundry aired. Do I do what he wants?
Looks like this is your lucky day, because said gossip columnist — you don't mean me, do you? — has given you a whole dry-cleaning store of his own to air. No, don't yield to this creep's nefarious demands. Instead, leak the whole story to a rival gossip. Throw chum in the water and sit back and enjoy the feeding frenzy.

The Daily News' coverage of the "Page Six" fiasco is all in the hard news section, not the gossip pages. Is there an unwritten code that says gossip columnists don't write about other gossip columnists?
No code, unwritten or otherwise, prevents me from writing about my competitors, or they about me. In this case, I think the judgment was made that the Page Six scandal is an important and serious story and belongs in the news section.

Anything a person should never gossip about, no exceptions?
There is no line. Once you gossip, you're already on the dark side, if you believe numerous religious authorities. The rest is hairsplitting. Personally, I think gossip is the glue that holds us together as a society. It shows that we care about one another even if our empathy is not immediately apparent.

How about outing someone: legitimate gossip or off limits?
Call me old school, but I don't do that. Creeps me out. Unless there's a compelling reason to make it public — an amateur porn video, for instance — I think sexuality is a "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" kind of thing.

I'm a C-list celebrity and I want my sex life written about in the gossip columns. How can I get it noticed?
Get somebody else's publicist to call in with a lurid anecdote, then have your publicist confirm it off the record, followed by an official "We don't comment about our clients' private lives."

What's the best way to pick up a gossip columnist?
Be charming, smart, funny, nice and beautiful, and I'll try not to be rude and obnoxious.

Does being a gossip columnist hurt or help your sex life?
What sex life?