The National Enquirer
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The National Enquirer (also commonly known as The Enquirer) is a national American supermarket tabloid published by American Media Inc (AMI). The paper is known for its articles focusing on celebrities. It makes no secret of the fact that it will pay sources for information, a practice officially frowned upon by the mainstream press. It has now dropped its famous catchphrase, "Enquiring minds want to know."
[edit] Early History: The Pope Years
Founded in 1926 as The New York Enquirer, it was bought in 1952 by Generoso Pope Jr., allegedly with funds provided by Frank Costello. It has also been alleged that Costello provided the monies in exchange for the Enquirer's promise to list lottery numbers and to refrain from all mention of Mafia activities.[1]
In 1954, Pope revamped the format from a broadsheet to a tabloid, and changed the name to The National Enquirer. Pope worked tirelessly in the 1950s and 1960s to increase the circulation and broaden the tabloid's appeal. His greatest achievement was pioneering the idea of selling magazines at supermarket checkouts. In 1971, Pope moved the headquarters from New York to Lantana, Florida. It later relocated south again; but this time only 15 miles to Boca Raton, Florida.
During most of the 1970s and 1980s, the National Enquirer sponsored the placement of the largest Christmas Tree in the world at its Lantana headquarters in what became an annual tradition. A tree was shipped in mid-autumn from the Pacific Northwest by rail and off-loaded by crane onto the adjacent National Enquirer property. Every night during the Christmas season, thousands of visitors would come to see the tree. This would grow into one of south Florida's most celebrated and spectacular events. Although tremendously expensive, this was Pope's "Pet Project" and his "Christmas present" to the local community. The tradition passed into history with his death in 1988.
By the time of Pope's death, the National Enquirer empire included Weekly World News, and Distribution Services, Inc. The surviving business interests, including Pope's widow, Lois, sold the company to a partnership of MacFadden Publishing and Boston Ventures for $412 million. Soon after, the company bought the Enquirer's main competition, The Star from Rupert Murdoch. The combined interests were controlled by a newly named company American Media Inc (AMI).
[edit] Recent History: Evolution and Maturation
The Enquirer has been recognized for thorough research and scoops. In 2001, the Enquirer uncovered that the Rev. Jesse Jackson had an illegitimate child. Salacious details of the Monica Lewinsky affair probably would have been left untouched by the mainstream press had the details not first been made public by the Enquirer
This change in the Enquirer's reporting style was attributed to its involvement in a major legal entanglement In 1981, actress Carol Burnett won a judgment against the Enquirer after it claimed she had been seen drunk in public with Henry Kissinger. The fact that both of her parents suffered from alcoholism made this a particularly sensitive issue to Burnett. (Under U.S. law, in order to be guilty of libel, a publication must be shown to have disseminated facts that were false and knowingly done so or with reckless reporting.)
This legal loss in the Burnett case led to a considerable tightening of reporting standards.[citation needed] The former longtime chief editor Iain Calder in his book The Untold Story asserted that afterwards, the Enquirer worked hard to check the reliability of its facts and its sources.
The Enquirer was regarded as having — by a significant measure — the best media coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial, even by academics and news pundits. For example, when a distinctive footprint from a Bruno Magli shoe was found at the crime scene, Simpson vehemently denied owning such a shoe. The Enquirer, however, dug up a photograph of him with just such a pair.
Controversy arose again for the Enquirer in 2003 when a 2002 article alleged that male members of the family of kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart were involved in a gay sex ring. Subsequently, two reporters from the Salt Lake Tribune were fired, after it was learned that they had been paid $20,000 for the story[1]. The Enquirer printed a retraction, and then threatened to sue the Salt Lake Tribune for making false and defamatory statements about the publication. [2]
The management of AMI has widely been seen as a disaster since 1999 when it was bought by a group fronted by publishing executive David Pecker. The Enquirer, the heart and soul of the company, has been starved of funds and allowed to wither while AMI has attempted to boost Star at its expense. Editor Steve Coz, who guided the paper through the Simpson case, resigned after Pecker appointed Us Weekly editor Bonnie Fuller as group editorial director. He was replaced by his deputy David Perel.
AMI was among the victims of the 2001 anthrax attacks; a photo editor of one of the Enquirer's sister publications died after opening an envelope containing anthrax spores. The entire AMI office complex in Boca Raton was closed and remains fenced off and quarantined to this day. AMI moved its headquarters to another building in the town.
The Enquirer's circulation for a time fell below 1 million (from 6 million at its height), but AMI came up with only short-term solutions, including bringing in some 20 British journalists in early 2005, headed by editor, Paul Field, a former executive at the London tabloid The Sun. AMI relocated the editorial offices back to New York for an April 2005 relaunch. The move failed and Field, along with virtually all the British contingent, was replaced after just a year, when the company reappointed Perel, and announced the Enquirer offices would return to Florida in May 2006.
In early March 2007 they blocked access to their website to British and Irish readers because of a story about Cameron Diaz that they had published in 2005 and for which she received an apology.
The apology concerned a story it had run in 2005 entitled “Cameron Caught Cheating” which turned out to be false – an accompanying picture was just an innocent goodbye hug to a friend, not evidence of an affair.
Despite the fact that only 279 web address had looked at the story in the UK it was deemed to have therefore been published in the UK because of the website
UK libel laws are more plaintiff friendly and do not need Actual malice for the plaintiff to win.[[3]]
