The National Enquirer: Paper of Record. Really.

I’ve seen once or twice some surprise expressed that the National Enquirer was the outlet to get the goods on John Edwards’affair. There seems to be a general idea out there that the National Enquirer is not a reliable source.

Perhaps not reputable, because of its subject matter, but certainly reliable. Kathy Shaidle, a journalist, points out that, quite to the contrary, they tend to hire the best and the brightest of the Fleet Street breed. As an editor, I can also point out that the National Enquirer probably has the best fact-checking in all the media. They have to; in their business, they are way too vulnerable to lawsuits otherwise. Exactly contrary to the conventional wisdom (as usual), if you read it in the National Enquirer, you can probably take it to the bank.

Just don’t believe what you get from Reuters, AP, the New York Times, CNN, NBC, or any given academic book.

They rarely check their facts at all.