4-1 Man Bites Dog

Ever wonder how tabloids like The National Enquirer can stay viable over the years as top selling newspapers? These icons of popular culture may be found at any supermarket as the most prominent of the impulse items found at checkout lines. A leading ad writer claims it’s the compelling nature of the headlines (Lok, 2004). He writes,

The writers for The Enquirer are among the best anywhere in the world. Their headlines and articles are clean, concise, interesting and most importantly, easy to understand! That's what sells the magazines week after week. And that's why more people read ANY single issue of The Enquirer than have read the Bible since it was first printed! (No joke. It's true.) (Lok, 2004, p. 1.)

Some of the most popular headlines from these tabloids that might appeal to UFO fans include:

01 “Attack by Space Robots”
02 “Eisenhower met Space Aliens”
03 “Skeleton Found on Beach May Be Space Alien Child”
04 “Russians say they found live Alien Baby”
05 “Damaged Alien Spacecraft Orbits Earth”
06 “Housewife says she visited Alien Planets”
07 “Aliens Beamed To Earth”
08 “Brazilian Says He’s Father of Alien’s Baby”
09 “Vampires From Space“
10 “Did Space Aliens Teach the Chinese Acupuncture?”
11 “Vietnam Vet Meets Invisible Alien” (Koi, 2008, p. 1

In recent years, however, tabloids have become more and more reliable sources, indeed as reliable as the phone book due to an army of fact-checkers and a focus turned to reporting mostly on celebrities(Shafer, 2004) claims a leading editor of a popular online news magazine. He states, as a result of recent false stories reported by several leading news agencies that,

... say whatever ugly things you will about the modern National
Enquirer, it hasn't staged the filming of an exploding pickup truck
like NBC News; it hasn't been taken by a serial liar, as was the New York Times; and it's avoided running preposterous stories about the U.S. government using nerve gas in Vietnam, as CNN did. (Shafer, 2004, p. 1.)

As long as there are celebrities to report on, these pop culture tabloids will continue to attract avid readers looking for entertainment and escape.

References
Koi, I.- WitnessFromAfar. (2008). Best cases - National Enquirer panel: WitnessFromAfar [Electronic version]. AboveTopSecret.com, Aliens & UFOs section, 1. Retrieved January 31, 2009, from http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread345955/pg1/#pid4185356

Lok, D. (2004). The lazy writer’s way to creating killer headlines! [Electronic version]. 4hb, Communicate 1. Retrieved January 31, 2009, http://www.4hb.com/20040616064255.html

Shafer, J. (2004). I believe the National Enquirer [Electronic version]. Slate, Press box: Media criticism, 1. Retrieved January 31, 2009, http://www.slate.com/id/2102303/

Image
http://wizbangblue.com/images/2008/09/National%20Enquirer.jpg