NEWS: End of an Era: "Weekly World News" Shuts Down

CULTURE: End of an Era: "Weekly World News" Shuts Down

While many of you read about the Iraq war in The Washington Post, or learn about the juiciest celebrity gossip in the latest issue of Us Weekly, some of us prefer to spend our time reading headlines like "WOMAN MARRIES BIGFOOT!" and "ELVIS ALIVE AND LIVING IN UTAH!" Sadly, those days are coming to a close.



Weekly World News, the self-billed "World's Only Reliable Newspaper" is stopping publication after almost 30 years, effective next month.

Weekly World News is most famous for breaking the story of the enigmatic Bat Boy. The paper published many of his "exploits," including his daring escape from the scientists who captured him in 1992 and his recruitment by the US government to find Osama Bin Laden. His story even became an off-Broadway musical.



American Media, who also publishes the National Enquirer (who reads that crap?), cited dropping sales and "a strategy to focus on celebrity weeklies and lifestyle magazines."



I call bullshit. Why read about which B-list celebrities are fucking who and Lindsay Lohan's latest relapse (surprise, surprise) when I can read about Mother Nature endorsing Al Gore in 2008?



WWN editor Bob Greenberger also broke the news on his July 21 blog:

All we can do now is cherish the memories we have of the Weekly World News, instead of mourning its passing. Bat Boy would want it that way.

I heard about this. It makes me sad. With all of the bias in news these days (and the straddling of the line between news and opinion), this was in fact one of the only reliable news sources out there. You knew that what you were reading was totally made up. 100 percent. Consistency is the name of the game, and WWN always delivered. Now I have to go online to get my Romanian Vampire Tuna fix. It's a sad, sad moment in time folks.

at least there will still be the online version.

we eall need a bit of weird in our lives everynow and then...

I used to read these thing with my dad when i was little ^_^ I always enjoyed them so much. How sad that it is no more

My dad introduced me to the WWN around the same time that he clued me into Ed Wood's movies and the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. I always wanted to write for them...I thought it would be the only publication I would have fun writing for.

I have two issues in my living room...what am I supposed to read now?

Bat Boy the Motherfuckin MUSICAL?!?

sweet ass-raping Jesus YES!!

oh, and i still maintain that the Astro Train filled with alien soldiers sent to conquer Earth was, in fact, only the Astro SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLL TRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNN making a stop at Earth, featuring the one, the only Don Cornelius as a special Guest Host.

now there is no reason to go to the supermarket.

Only tabloid worth the paper it was printed on.

That's shocking. I've read WWN forever. I spend my work break reading the store's copy everyday. My dad use to bring them home to me when I was little all the time. That hurts.

i have bits of Weekly World in my artwork dating back from 15 years ago ......i used to get smirked at by cashiers when buying it....
...it feels like a little magick is disappearing from the world.



...hopefully someone picks up the torch...well, a badly photo shopped torch with a nifty weird story.


:sad:

I heard about this the other day, and it's pretty sad. Weekly World News wasn't just another tabloid about celebrities and other crap. It was creative and original. Now all we're left with is the horrible celebrity gossip rags.

This also spells the end of one of my long-time dreams: writing a regular column for Weekly World News.

what!

bollox

it was always hit and miss if you whoudl find it in the UK, when i got hold of a copy i treasured it,

My grandparents kept an enormous stack of these in the bathroom.

Therefore, I spent hours in the bathroom.

Ah, memories...

shit...now I'm going to have to take a better interest in the lives of soap opera characters and movie star when waiting in the supermarket checkout line? WWN was my only escape from that and now it's gone? I mean, sure, maybe I should have bought it more often than I did, but I can only read so many articles about which alien the first lady is boinking this week.

Where would we be without reports on beavers with OCD? I know I won't sleep well tonight....

I was sorta wondering who the alien would endorse for president next year....

Man.

It's because they leaked the Batboy/bin Laden story.

And the truth dies.

This sucks. How else are we supposed to amuse ourselves at the check stands?

Ed Anger needs work!!