Some in the medium have argued thatThe National Enquirerdeserves Pulitzer Prize consideration for its investigative workplace into politician John Edwards ' affair with Rielle Hunter . Although it ’s easy to dismissThe Enquireras a tabloid compendium of fabricated write up that offer little more than a distraction in the grocery store business line , the weekly rag has actually broken some pretty big stories . for certain , headline like " Stars with Cellulite!“ and " Kirstie Alley : Only 4 age to Live!“ might not make anyone forget Woodward and Bernstein , but take a facial expression at theseEnquirerscoops :
1. Finding Ennis Cosby’s Killer
When Bill Cosby ’s boy Ennis was mindlessly polish off on the shoulder joint of a Los Angeles freeway in 1997,The Enquirertook an odd whole tone to aid solve the case : it put up a $ 100,000 wages for entropy that top to the pinch and sentence of Cosby ’s killer . Papers usually just announce rewards that other groups are tender , and to some this bounty seemed a lot likeThe Enquirer ’s practice of paying its source — a major taboo in mainstream news media .
The reward worked , though . Witness Chris So learned of the huge reinforcement and pass constabulary to the revolver used in the slaying by killer Mikhail Markhasev . The Enquireralso obtained copy of jailhouse letters that pointed to Markhasev ’s guiltiness . Thanks in part to this evidence , Markhasev received a sentence of life without word , plus 10 days .
2. Walking in O.J. Simpson’s Shoes
If you remember the O.J. Simpson murder trial , you surely can think the infamous bally footprint that was found at the crime scene . The print came from a Bruno Magli shoe , and the football game superstar adamantly denied owning such a couple of boot .
The Enquirerdid some excavation , though , and unearthed a pic of the Juice walking on the theatre at a 1993 Buffalo Bills game wearing a brace of Bruno Maglis . The paper then turn up a 2d pic of O.J. wearing the brake shoe . By the fourth dimension his civic tryout rolled around in 1996 , Simpson was forced to admit , " I have intercourse I ’ve had like shoes . “
3. Jesse Jackson’s Family Tree Grows
In 2001,The Enquirerbroke a narrative about Jesse Jackson fathering an illegitimate girl with staffer Karin Stanford in 1999 . OnceThe Enquirerscheduled its story on Jackson ’s dawdling , mainstream medium outlets around the land bug out picking up on the composition ’s pocket . By the timeThe Enquirer ’s issue made it onto newsstand , Jackson had already come forth a financial statement confirming the fact of the account .
4. Bob Dole Was Once Frisky
This story never really suffer any traction , but during the 1996 presidential effort , The Enquirerunearthed a pocket about Republican prospect , illeist , and next Viagra spokesman Bob Dole having once had a kept woman . According to Meredith Roberts , a Washington business deal publishing editor , she had been Dole ’s fancy woman from 1968 to 1970 during the candidate ’s first marriage .
Even though Dole was using a family value political program to fight Bill Clinton , most papers opt not to run with this story . ( There were allegation that Elizabeth Dole personally called theWashington Postand begged for the newspaper publisher to belt down the story.)The Enquirer , however , interview Roberts and finally published the story . In those pre - Lewinsky days , though , most editors seemed to believe a 30 - year - honest-to-goodness affair was n’t all that relevant , and the chronicle never take off .
5. Gary Hart’s Political Ship Sails
Murmurs of Hart having an amour had been pass around around Washington , and theMiami Heraldran a story associate the senator to a Miami woman . Nothing concrete emerged untilThe Enquirerpublished a photo of 29 - year - old model Donna Rice model in Hart ’s lick during a jaunt on Hart ’s yacht , Monkey Business . ( Look closely and you ’ll see " Monkey Business Crew" written on Hart ’s shirt . ) A week afterThe Enquirerpublished the picture of Hart and Rice , Hart dropped out of the 1988 presidential wash .
6. The Enquirer Catches O.J. Again
You probably remember the firestorm of argument that surrounded O.J. Simpson ’s " hypothetical confession" bookIf I Did Itin 2007.The Enquireractually broke the story of the Good Book ’s existence in October 2006 , complete with the correct title . Simpson ’s lawyer immediately denied that any such book task subsist . Less than a twelvemonth later , If I Did Ithit bookstore shelf .
7. Rush Limbaugh Comes Clean
In 2003,The Enquirerran a story in which buttoned-down talk radio server Rush Limbaugh ’s housekeeper provided Limbaugh with a unbendable current of OxyContin to feed his painkiller habituation . Although some media outlets turned up their nozzle at the Enquirer ’s scoop because the paper had paid housekeeper Wilma Cline for her story , law enforcement cursorily substantiate that Limbaugh had purchased some 30,000 tablet from Cline . Limbaugh then admitted on his show that he had a painkiller addiction and pledged to enter rehab .
They haven’t all been winners, though. Here are some storiesThe Enquirergot wrong:
" ¢ Carol Burnett was not drunk in public with Henry Kissinger in 1976 , and she won a $ 1.6 million judgment against the paper .
" ¢ The manly phratry member of kidnapping dupe Elizabeth Smart were in fact not part of a cheery sex activity ring .
" ¢ Cameron Diaz was not caught cheating on Justin Timberlake in 2005 .
" ¢ Representative Gary Condit ’s wife did not attack missing houseman Chandra Levy before Levy ’s 2001 disappearing .
" ¢ Similarly , in 2004 , Condit himself settle a $ 209 million libel suit against American Media , The Enquirer ’s publisher , for an undisclosed amount .
" ¢ Clint Eastwood won $ 150,000 fromThe Enquirerin 1997 when the paper referred to a syndicate interview with the worker as " an undivided . “
" ¢ Last June , actress Brooke Shields reached a colonization withThe Enquirerafter a reporter and a photographer from the paper curb her mother , who meet from dementia , out of a New Jersey nursing place to accumulate selective information for a story .
