American Media has decided to suspend publication of Weekly World News, both the print publication and the web site. No reason was given at press time, although reliable sources do tell us that management turned down at least one offer to buy the publication.
The weekly supermarket tabloid—known as the home of "Bat Boy" and other less-than-probable stories—has long had staffing connections with the science fiction, fantasy, and horror fields.
It seems counterintuitive, bothering to source a claim that a sleazy publication is going out of business. The only thing reliable about WWN is the date on the front page, and knowing that a new issue would be staring out from the checkout line every week.Yet in some ways, the paper was a forerunner of the fake news genre favored today by millions. Before there was The Onion, or the Daily Show, or Fox News, there was WWN, with "Naked granny scares thieves!", or "Mars Observer Photographed Giant Fish in Space!". To be sure there was little redeeming quality about WWN's fakesness. It's hard to imagine forming a coherent opinion about anything when you read "Dead organ donor wakes up after surgeons remove his eyes, a kidney and his left lung!"
1 comment:
WWN had been going downhill for the last few years - the stories were more laboured and not as inventive - but this is still a sad bit of news.
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