There is no rational reason for disrespecting the National Enquirer. They enjoy the same legal standard as all media with regard to libel laws. It is a matter of elitism with what Thomas Sowell calls "the educated class," which thinks itself better than the rest of us.
When R.W. Apple received an award at the Harvard School of Government from the Neiman Foundation, he spoke on this issue. I said to him, the so-called irresponsible press often publishes a story earlier than the responsible press. And on occasion the responsible press gets it wrong. Instead of responding to the question he asked me to give an example.
I said the previous year Bob Woodward got an award in the same room. I asked Woodward why he denied that he was a briefer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff before he was a journalist. That was never reported by the responsible press. Instead of responding to the example, Apple said to me, "You keep coming here and asking the same question?"
* * *
News
Apple Blasts Media in Speech
Veteran Reporter Warns of Irresponsible Journalism
April 9, 1993 12:00:00 AM
Harvard Crimson
By JOHN A. CLOUD
New York Times reporter R.W. Apple Jr. railed against the current state of American journalism in a speech at the Kennedy School of Government.
[. . .]
Brandishing a copy of the National Enquirer along with a recent Newsweek article, Apple said the "standards and practices and mores" of irresponsible journalism are increasingly seeping into mainstream news outlets.
[. . .]
Apple said the Flowers' allegations of martial infidelity against Bill Clinton appeared first in The Star, the tabloid sold widely in supermarkets. He said reporters who had investigated Clinton in 1990 and 1991 had heard her story but rejected it because she lacked concrete proof and corroboration.
[. . .]
"We had all allowed our agenda to be set by a supermarket tabloid...that we would not give shopping cart room to," Apple said.
[. . .]
Apple said "vigilance on the part of journalists," a "multiplicity of [news] outlets" and public pressure for ethical standards might help reduce irresponsibility.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=220857
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"It is more difficult for the Enquirer's editorial staff to win the respect that they feel is their due.
[. . .]
"There's still this stigma that the content is not true until proven correct by the rest of the media. They have a very uphill battle to fight."
[. . .]
Emily Miller, a columnist for politicsdaily.com, recently wrote an impassioned essay asking whether the Enquirer deserves a Pulitzer Prize for its political reporting: "The time has come for the media elite to admit that it has an excellent investigative reporting team, which broke the biggest political scandal of 2009, the John Edwards affair."
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/enquiring_minds_Wea3zhhuzN1c4s8qNJdVKP
Enquiring minds get news first
Tabloid's hoping a string of scoops rocks circ, ad sales
Last Updated: 11:14 AM, January 22, 2010
Posted: 1:02 AM, January 17, 2010
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