Tabloid Shocker! No More Weekly World News

Supermarket Staple Will Fold At End Of August; Publisher Gives No Reason

(CBS/AP)  An angel of death has visited Earth! Aliens have pulled off an abduction! A mystery ailment has claimed a victim!

Weekly World News, the tabloid that for 28 years has chronicled sightings of Elvis, extraterrestrial activity and the exploits of Bat Boy, is no more. Its publisher said Tuesday it would put out its last issue next month, maintaining only a Web presence.

What does it mean for a black-and-white staple that has delivered news of such historical proportions as Bigfoot's capture of a lumberjack he kept as his love slave and the merman found in the South Pacific? Stay tuned. One thing's for sure: Americans' waits in supermarket checkouts will forever be changed.

The tabloid's publisher, American Media Inc., issued a brief statement that announced the Aug. 27 issue would be Weekly World News' last. It called the closure necessary "due to the challenges in the retail and wholesale magazine marketplace that have impacted the newsstand."

For all the headlines WWN has penned, it has also made headlines of its own. In 2001's deadly anthrax mailings, AMI's office in Boca Raton was targeted and a photo editor was killed. Since then, it has tended to lighter fare, including recent headlines "Mother Nature Endorses Gore for President" and "Why Moses Wandered in the Desert for 40 Years: He Lost the Map!"

AMI, which is based in Boca Raton and New York, did not immediately respond to questions seeking specifics on layoffs, circulation and business woes or plans for a final issue. The company only said WWN was the smallest of its publications, which include Star, National Enquirer and Men's Fitness.

There was no mention of the shutdown on WWN's Web site, not even in its "Headlines From Tomorrow" section.

Like nearly every media company, AMI has felt financial strain in recent years. It laid off about 50 workers last year, and last month announced it would explore the sale of five of its publications. In its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, for the fourth quarter of 2006, it posted a loss of about $310 million in operating income, in part blamed on trademark issues and office moving expenses.

One of WWN's writers, Bob Greenberger, did not return a telephone call seeking comment, but he wrote on his blog that the paper's staff was alerted of the closure Friday.

"The reasons given make no sense," he wrote. "We're stunned and shell-shocked."

He also cited the final episode of the television show "Sports Night:"

"Anybody who can't make money off "Sports Night" should get out of the money-making business," one of the characters says.

To that, Greenberger chorused, "Amen."

[rushman71]

I can't remember if it was WWN or National Enquiror, but I recall, while in line at a grocery store, seeing one with Bill Clinton pushing a wheel chair occupied by JFK. Can't recall the title but it had to do with JFK giving top secret info to Clinton. Every time I go shopping, I glance at these tabloids wondering what kind of bullshiit are they going to mention this week.

[mennowoman]

My favorites were "baby born with angel wings" and "mother-in-law attends her own funeral!" The cover showed an image of a woman superimposed on the image of the same woman in a casket. You were supposed to believe the superimposed image was her ghost. :-D

[randalds]

My far and away favorite one was the cover that showed a picture of George H.W. Bush walking alone on the beach in Maine, but the caption said he was really walking with his invisible secret service agent. Of course you couldn't see the secret service agent in the photo, because he was invisible!

Classic!

[rushlimpdrug]

"In 2001's deadly anthrax mailings, AMI's office in Boca Raton was targeted and a photo editor was killed. Since then, it has tended to lighter fare"