Reporter, National Enquirer

That doesn't surprise me at all. I'm guessing that policy dates to when they were hit with a $1.6 million libel verdict in the Carol Burnett case in 1981 (the amount was later reduced on appeal to $200,000). Since then, the Enquirer has been much more careful with its facts.

 

I'm a NE alum and make no bones about it; I worked as hard for them if not harder than I have for other, far more "legit" employers. Anyone who comes onto a journalism board and makes references about the NE and bigfoot or martians should be banned. They have nothing to do with each other. In fact, the current owner once proudly announced a $1 million reward for anyone who can find the words "Elvis is alive" in the paper.

Don Gentile, Steve Coz, Pablo Fenves, Judith Regan and the writer of Vanity Fair's recent Pellicano piece are all current or former NE reporters/editors.

Ask Bill Cosby about the NE -- he credits them for solving his son's murder. Ask Chandra Levy's family about the NE -- they credit the paper for discovering their daughter's body a year after she went missing. I can cite dozens of similiar situations.

Granted, the NE's final product does not necessarily reflect the same journalism standards of the New York Times the Associated Press, but the people who report the stories are every bit as much a true journalist as the people working at the New York Post, the Daily News, US Weekly, etc. etc. They pound the pavement, they suss out sources, the develop leads.

That said, I sure as hell wouldn't suggest anyone take the job being advertised until the ownership issue is straigtened out.

[/soapbox]

 

The National Enquirer indeed broke the Limbaugh Oxycontin story. The New York Daily News had it a day later.

I have been enlightened. I had no idea that the NE wasn't in the same class as the martian tabs. Much respect, enquiring minds.