Commentary

TV Networks May Be More Reliable Ad Choice Than 'National Enquirer'

If you are an advertiser, are you happy the National Enquirer keeps compelling stories in a safe and far from loyal readers? Journalists at the publication are scratching their heads about this.

Wondering if some TV news networks do the same? Are there iron safes at Fox News Channel, CNN or MSNBC?

It has been revealed the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper had an actual “safe” for so called dangerous stories against President Trump, according to reports. Planned stories were shelved, part of an overall plan to pay participants — a porn star and a former Playboy model — to keep their tales of affairs with Donald Trump quiet.

TV news networks may, in fact, “sit” on stories. They might not truly believe they have all the facts. No problem there. NBC News took that calculation -- and some critical heat -- for not running Ronan Farrow’s breaking stories about the sexual harassment escapades and worse of Harvey Weinstein.

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NBC did cover the story eventually — after it came out in The New Yorker.

But the American Media Inc’s National Enquirer is a different case. It stopped stories about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump — apparently lots of them. First-person accounts. Has it run those stories yet? Maybe in one of the Enquirer’s sister fitness publications.

Unlike those media organizations that hold back stories, reports say Enquirer stories weren’t shelved for lack of credibility.

Now as a media company, AMI can run any story it wants. It has First Amendment rights. Still, what do advertisers think? Maybe this controversy will drive more readers -- and thus more advertisers -- to the tabloid publication. The same might be true for similar controversial stories on TV news networks.

By the way, alien abductions, political conspiracies and alleged drug-laden, weight-gaining politician stories will continue to people  the front page. 

Read into that what you want.

2 comments about "TV Networks May Be More Reliable Ad Choice Than 'National Enquirer'".
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  1. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, August 28, 2018 at 10:58 a.m.

    Wayne, surely you jest with this headline----don't you?

  2. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, August 28, 2018 at 11:14 a.m.

    A story for the Department of Short Memories, for sure. The Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky story was first made public in the National Enquirer. I wonder if ABC, NBC, CBS would have sat on that one.  One clue is the way that NBC sat on the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Networks that live in glass houses...

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