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'National Enquirer' Era May Be Over

  • Newsweek, Tuesday, September 23, 2008 9:15 AM

The National Enquirer, "one of the most dangerous creatures in American media," has one clear advantage over the mainstream media: Its editorial judgment has never been clouded by a sense of civic duty. "Big news organizations tell people what they think they should be interested in, whereas we give them stories they are interested in," says an insider.

The simple explanation is that most of its revenues are derived not from advertisers, but from single copies bought at newsstands. The Enquirer has always been driven solely by the need to move copies, serving as an unwavering barometer of the nation's appetites and obsessions.

But the Internet, the ideal medium for unconfirmed gossip, has been eating away at the tabloid's circulation. The week in August that John Edwards admitted his affair, the tabloid peaked at 738,000 copies, a far cry from its average circulation of 1.4 million five years ago. If CEO David Pecker fails to refinance parent company American Media this year, the famous scandal sheet could end up in bankruptcy court.

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