Enquirer right again

Boy, it sure must be lonely working at a place where you break all kinds of stories, but seldom get any recognition. Well, positive recognition. So it is with the National Enquirer, which reported two years ago that John Edwards had fathered a "love child" with some nutty chick he was having an affair with. Today, Edwards finally fessed up. As you might recall, the Enquirer had the original scoop, but the story was either ignored attacked by the mainstream press. Thing is, the Enquirer is routinely ahead of the pack on stories - in large part because it pays some of its prime sources and scrupulously fact checks its pieces. But because of its methods and its news focus, it's the Rodney Dangerfield of journalism. Has been for years. Here's what Slate's Jack Shafer wrote in 2004:

One would think that the Enquirer's discovery of accurate journalism would have elevated its reputation. Instead, the tabloid is regarded slightly worse today than it was in 1985, according to a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. Respondents were asked to rate news organizations on a 1-to-4 scale, with 1 representing "I believe all or most" of what the news organization says and 4 representing "I believe almost nothing." Only 4 percent of the polled group believed all or most of what the Enquirer says, and a whopping 61 percent believed nothing. Back in June 1985, a similar Pew survey found that 4 percent believed all or most of what the Enquirer said, and 54 percent believed almost nothing.

Perhaps the Edwards story will change a few minds, but I kind of doubt it. The Enquirer had broken big stories well before those Pew results and credibility-wise, it didn't seem to gain many supporters.

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. Had Jack Kelley attempted to place his fictions in the Enquirer instead of USA Today, I'm sure the editors would have found him out.