Alert the Aliens: Weekly World News Dead at 28

New owner plans to resurrect tab online

(NEWSER) - The Weekly World News—you know, of Bat Boy and "Hillary Clinton Adopts Alien Baby" fame—is, like Elvis, back from the dead. The supermarket tab folded last year, but now it has a new owner and a new life online. "We really think this audience lives online," says Neil McGinness, who may start printing it again, too. "We are a welcome antidote to mainstream media." More»

Starsuckers exposes tabloids' habit of publishing fabricated gossip

(NEWSER) - The upcoming British documentary Starsuckers proves what we’ve always suspected: Tabloids—at least, UK tabloids—will print just about anything, including “complete and utter babble,” the director tells the Guardian. Among the fake stories he got published—and, often, reprinted around the world: Avril Lavigne passed out at a nightclub, Amy Winehouse’s hair caught on fire, and Guy Ritchie got a black eye from juggling cutlery. More»

To grab headlines, commit or fall victim to murder at Harvard or Yale

(NEWSER) - The killing of Yale grad student Annie Le dominated headlines around the world, "but every murder is uniquely dramatic," Jack Shafer writes for Slate. Why this one? It involves a magic word. "Three murders at a Midwestern college equal one murder at Harvard or Yale," Shafer calculates. "If you kill somebody and want the press to go all Nancy Grace on your ass, make sure your victim attends or works at Harvard or Yale." More»

Handout would violate journos' watchdog role

(NEWSER) - With the industry in dire straits, some in the journalism business want government help—but they’re not looking for a financial bailout, Reuters reports. “That is so clearly contrary to what our role is as a watchdog that it’s just not acceptable,” said a former newspaper editor. What publishers want are legal concessions: changes to antitrust laws, tax breaks, perhaps the ability to become non-profits. More»

(NEWSER) - The White House is watching the old media paradigm disintegrate with just a touch of opportunistic glee, reports Jon Ward of the Washington Times. “There are so many places that are driving the news that, in the end, nothing gets driven,” says press secretary Robert Gibbs. That makes it harder for Obama to form a “central narrative,” but easy for the White House to contain damaging stories. More»