The National Enquirer

The National Enquirer (also commonly known as The Enquirer) is a national American supermarket tabloid. It is often regarded, not always accurately, as being sensationalist. Articles usually center around reports about celebrities. The Enquirer is descended from a former New York tabloid, the New York Enquirer. Since 1971 it has been based in Lantana, Florida.

Related Topics:
America - Supermarket tabloid - Celebrities - New York - 1971 - Lantana, Florida

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Despite the sensationalistic perception, the Enquirer is also well-regarded for its very thorough research; their stories are often proven correct in many of their facts. The stories the Enquirer publishes about celebrities carry the risk that the celebrity will sue them for libel. In 1981, Carol Burnett won a libel judgement against the Enquirer for falsely claiming that she had been seen drunk in public, purportedly with Henry Kissinger; the fact that both of her parents suffered from alcoholism made this a particularly sensitive issue to Burnett (in order to be guilty of libel, a publication must be shown to have disseminated facts that were false and knowingly done so, or with reckless reporting).

Related Topics:
Libel - 1981 - Carol Burnett - Henry Kissinger - Alcoholism

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This loss led to a considerable tightening of reporting standards with regard to stories about actual people and events. Subsequent celebrity stories broken in the Enquirer have generally been proven true; for example, it was the Enquirer that uncovered in 2001 that the Rev. Jesse Jackson had an illegitimate child. Details of the Monica Lewinsky affair would normally have been untouched by the mainstream press, had the details not been already made public knowledge by the Enquirer.

Related Topics:
2001 - Jesse Jackson - Illegitimate - Monica Lewinsky

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The former longtime chief editor Iain Calder has written a book explaining the claim that the Enquirer was forced by this reality to work very hard to check their facts and their sources well. The Enquirer and its parent company, American Media, were among the subjects of the 2001 anthrax attacks.

Related Topics:
Editor - American Media - 2001 anthrax attacks

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