Always seen, never bought. The weekly publication of all things celebrity, spiritual, and sometimes pararnormal has been a fixture in supermarkets for almost a century. How? How does a tabloid that makes such absurd and often obscure claims stay in business? What is keeping their readers, well, reading?
They keep the news interesting, albiet they are, "blurring the line" of real journalism and gossip, and they aren't always wrong. Chequebook journalism, money for news; buying stories on the off chance that they are true. At the cost of their credibility they publish stories that could be (lets face it, probably aren't) true. They are appealing to the consumer's natural inquisitive nature. They have a need to know, something, anything about any story that interests them, and it does not really matter if it's true or not. With an opinion poll showing that 61 percent of Americans would not believe anything written within its cover, it's hard to refute that claim.
The enquirer sells itself as a pop culture story book. It takes advantage of the average person's interest in the "what if?" What if John Edwards is having an affair? What if there is some secret we don't know about? Who did Charlie Sheen beat up this time? It's interesting to read and think about the stories behind those brightly colored covers. Who knows, it might be true, but you'll never know unless you read. As they say, "Enquiring minds need to know!" and boy does The National Enquirer have some stories to tell.
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