Archive for January, 2010
Give the National Enquirer aPulitzer
January 25, 2010
As an alumni of the then-Lantana-based tabloid, I was tickled to see that the editor of the National Enquirer, Barry Levine, had nominated the mag (rag) for a Pulitzer for its role in outing John Edward&;s infidelities and lies. As we noted back in 2008, any journalist could learn how to do a story from the Enquirer.
Although Edwards has been exposed as a truly empty suit and his wife as a shrew, the real scandal here is how the so-called &;mainstream media&; held its nose and studious avoided the story, which we were on top of a year and a half ago, for months and months.
The Enquirer nominated themselves for &;distinguished investigative reporting by a team, presented in a series of articles, and for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs. &; As Emily Miller puts it, &;The story has led to a grand jury investigation of Edwards&; use of campaign funds and the political downfall of a two-time Democratic presidential candidate. &; She says editor Levine told her, &;Our Enquirer reporters do deserve to be nominated for a Pulitzer, but you know the mainstream media would rather see the Earth explode first!&;
Sadly, if not surprisingly, the Pulitzer committee found technical reasons to disqualify the Enquirer&;s bid before it ever really got started. It&;s ironic, too, because the Pulitzers were founded by a founder of yellow journalism, Joseph Pulitzer.
Now the beleaguered priests of the press are too good to dirty their hands with the muck-raking Enquirer. As Gawker&;s Ravi Somalya adds:
If the Washington Post, or the New Orleans Times-Picayune or any paper really, had broken a story of this magnitude their Pulitzer nod would barely be in doubt. Edwards called the Enquirer, while trying to disparage its claims he was cheating and had fathered a child &;tabloid trash.&; That stigma is the only reason its investigative reporters will not be considered.
Tags:death-of-journalism, John-Edwards, National-Enquirer, The-National-Enquirer Posted in National-Enquirer, Politics, tabloid-journalism | 2 Comments &;