Claremont Insider: Web Snares Tabloid Writers

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Web Snares Tabloid Writers

Scott Simon on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday a few days ago had a story about the Weekly World News ceasing publication. The WWN will keep on churning out great headlines like, "Jealous Husband Explodes on Couch," but you can now only find them on the WWN website.

No more grocery store checkout double takes. As Simon noted, the WWN had a campy, sordid splendor that at times came close to comic genius, as long as you got the joke.

Simon quoted one of his favorite WWN headlines:

"Saddam and Osama Found in Torrid Love Affair." The paper said that they danced slowly and tenderly to "Wind Beneath My Wings."
We suspect WWN may not make it on the Internet. Something about it seems to call for newsprint and a tabloid format. The bat child or the headline telling us "Mother Nature Endorses Gore for President" don't seem quite the same staring back at us from an LCD monitor.

The Internet seems a lower form of communication, more the domain of anonymous Insiders and such.