Tabloid Eaten By Aliens!! Fake Columnist Loses Job!! - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Cowperson · 07-30-2007, 09:19 AM

Pretty funny article on the demise of The Weekly World News, inventor of the famous "Bat Boy" which would later become a broadway play, and the primo 30 year career of its primo eccentric fake columnist Ed Anger.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/bu.../30weekly.html

Cowperson

ken0042 · 07-30-2007, 09:40 AM

Am I reading that correctly; that the Weekly World News is done? It seems they are more focused on Ed Anger than anything. The only point where they mention the paper is finished is when they say "Bloggers lamented the paper’s demise."

I can see it coming though. I used to read "the paper" regularly from the lat 80's to the mid 90's. By then all of the stories ended up being repeats; so I stopped buying it.

Ro · 07-30-2007, 10:09 AM

I occasionally buy a copy for our lunchroom at work, just so I can chuckle at people's comments while reading it when I'm in there. So many people just can't wrap their heads around the fact it's satire it amuses me.

And not only satire, but damn good satire. The quality of writing is at times brilliant, and the bar for "OK, that's just a little too much" seems to set higher and higher every time I read one.

Didn't realize that they were re-running ideas/stories though, and TBQH, I can see why they would be going out of business in today's celebrity-focused media-based cultural environment. They did kind of look out of place on those grocery store magazine racks by the tills. But I will miss them.

Ro · 07-30-2007, 10:16 AM

And yeah, Ken, you just missed it I think. It's there...

Quote:

Unlike his more successful real-life counterparts, however, Ed will no longer be able to complain in print. American Media Inc., which also publishes The National Enquirer, The Star and The Globe, announced that it was closing The News last week.

JiriHrdina · 07-30-2007, 10:21 AM

My favourite memory of of the World News was years ago when they published a two page spread covering a dinosaur that was terrorizing a city in Russia. The large photo they used was the T-Rex statue at the Calgary Zoo set against the Calgary skyline. Classic.

ken0042 · 07-30-2007, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ro

And yeah, Ken, you just missed it I think. It's there...

Aww crap!

I remember seeing the editor being interviewed on some legit news magazine. He was asked how they get away with some of the stuff that they print, and he replied that they don't bother wasting money on things like fact checking. He went on to say that he would mention things to his writers like "it would be neat if we had a story about aliens meeting with the president." And then a few hours later a story would be on his desk; complete with pictures.

Cowperson · 07-30-2007, 10:48 AM

I remember seeing the editor being interviewed on some legit news magazine. He was asked how they get away with some of the stuff that they print, and he replied that they don't bother wasting money on things like fact checking. He went on to say that he would mention things to his writers like "it would be neat if we had a story about aliens meeting with the president." And then a few hours later a story would be on his desk; complete with pictures.

People don't necessarily appreciate the talent required to write satire like you see in The Onion and perhaps these trashy tabloids.

When the facts are real, its easy, just a matter of arranging them in some logical order.

When you have to make the whole thing up, that takes imagination.

Cowperson