The term “Thirty Mile Zone” originated in the 1960s, when due to the growth of location shoots, studios established a “thirty mile zone” to monitor rules for filming in Hollywood. The center of the zone was the offices of The Association of Motion Pictures and Television Producers, formerly at Beverly and La Cienega Boulevards in Los Angeles. TMZ reinvented the thirty mile zone and now serves as the Internet’s premiere address for entertainment news.
TMZ is a joint venture of Telepictures Productions and AOL. TMZ’s meteoric rise followed its exclusive on two of the biggest stories in entertainment: Mel Gibson's DUI arrest and subsequent encounter with law enforcement, and Michael Richards' ill-fated trip to the Laugh Factory. TMZ also broke the news of the breakup of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's marriage.
TMZ altered the entertainment news landscape by changing the way the public gets its news. Frequently referenced by various media, TMZ is one of the most-cited entertainment news sources, utilized by national network and local newsgathering organizations across the country.
In 2006, Time magazine named TMZ one of the coolest websites. Newsweek named TMZ the “Breakout Blog of 2007.”
Criticism
TMZ.com is frequently criticized for its usage of photographs and videos from paparazzi. With circumstances such as those surrounding the death of Princess Diana in mind, some have questioned the effect that aggressive and obtrusive photographers have on the stars they cover. Many videos on the site simply depict stars getting chased by paparazzi, a practice that has been called dangerous and "creepy". Paparazzi who sell to sites like TMZ.com can make thousands of dollars a week. Over the years, some have called for a boycott of TMZ.com and the accompanying show.
According to Ken Sunshine, publicist for Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio, "I hate that they have anything to do with trying to put celebrities into the worst light possible and that they play the 'gotcha' game".
Others have harshly criticized TMZ.com's personality cult of figures such as Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton: celebrities who are known more as targets for paparazzi than for any actual work they do.
After TMZ posted the audio of his voice mail message to his 11-year-old daughter, Alec Baldwin said, “You find out that everybody who works in tabloid media are people who are filled with self-hatred and shame, and the way they manage those feelings is they destroy the lives of other people.”
The Time Warner-owned TMZ has been criticized for paying for information, and Harvey Levin has acknowledged “paying for tips” only when TMZ's reporters can “independently verify” the story.
TMZ was criticized for using stolen items pertaining to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. On October 2, 2007, IESB reported that a number of production photos and sensitive documents pertaining to the production budget were stolen from Steven Spielberg’s production office.[15] According to IESB, TMZ obtained some of the stolen property and were on the verge of running the story on its TV division until Paramount lawyers stepped in. After IESB broke this story, TMZ TV did indeed broadcast details about the Indiana Jones production budget on the October 3, 2007 program.