The Weekly World News is a tabloid formerly published in a newspaper format reporting mostly fictional "news" stories in the United States from 1979 to 2007. The paper was renowned for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatural or paranormal themes and an approach to news that verged on the satirical. Its characteristic black-and-white covers have become pop-culture images widely used in the arts. It ceased print publication in August 2007. The company has a library of 110,000+ articles and 300+ original characters.
In 2009, the Weekly World News was relaunched as an online and social media publication. In July 2021, the Weekly World News announced the formation of Weekly World News Studios, to develop and produce entertainment projects based on its brand and characters.
History Generoso Pope Jr. launched the Weekly World News in 1979Lori Becker, "Weekly World News tabloid to close up shop", Palm Beach Post, July 24, 2007 to continue using the black-and-white press that sister tabloid The National Enquirer had been printed on before it switched to color printing. The WWN was published in Lantana, Florida, until it moved to Boca Raton in the late 1990s. It was unique as a tabloid because it was printed entirely in black and white. Eddie Clontz was its long-time editor, a 10th-grade dropout from North Carolina, and a former copy editor at small newspapers. In the 2000s, the circulation of WWN peaked at 1.2 million per issue. WWN went on to thrive online from 2009 to 2015 and was relaunched in 2019 by senior editor Greg D'Alessandro, along with investor David Collins.
The editor-in-chief from 2009 to 2018 was Neil McGinness. The editor-in-chief since August 2019 has been D'Alessandro.
General approach to stories The WWN traditionally claimed that it always printed the truth, but many stories appeared to have comedic intent – more so as time went by. As recalled by Joe Berger, a former White House correspondent who served as a WWN editor from 1981 to 2001, "About 80 percent of the stories were clipped from newspapers. We had three or four clippers who were surrounded by mountains of newspapers. We spent the day looking at newspapers throughout the world, clipping weird stories. About 50 percent were about people narrowly escaping death; someone falling off a cliff, or hanging off a tree branch for four days until they were rescued." The introduction to Batboy Lives! states that one person would read the tabloid for real news, whereas another would read it for the humor. The tabloid's main rival Sun carried a fine print disclaimer, whereas the WWN never publicly contradicted the accuracy of its own stories until 2004, when it began stating that "the reader should suspend disbelief for the sake of enjoyment." In the 2000s, Sun moved more toward articles on health and miracle cures, leaving WWN alone in its niche of supernatural news stories, such as sightings of Elvis Presley and the Loch Ness monster.
Thus, for a significant percentage of its content, the WWN ran strange-but-true stories, such as "DEVOUT CHRISTIAN ATTACKED – AND HE'S THE ONE FINED!"DEVOUT CHRISTIAN ATTACKED – AND HE'S THE ONE FINED! referring to British street evangelist Harry Hammond. Other verifiable stories included those of a giant mutant hog monster attacking GeorgiaHOG-ZILLA! MUTANT 12-FT. PIG KILLED IN GEORGIA and the arrest of a Tallahassee, Florida, man whose pants were on fire at the time.Weekly World News, April 2, 2005, p. 25 It reported on the discovery of an infant dragon preserved in formaldehyde proving the existence of dragons,BABY DRAGON IN JAR ROCKS SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY! although this was later proven to be a hoax. It also quoted Vatican exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth on Pope John Paul II's battles with SatanPOPE BEATS THE DEVIL—THREE TIMES! and ran a story on the trademark dispute between O, The Oprah Magazine and a German erotic periodical also named O. Whether partially fictional or wholly true, the writing style remained as fact-based as possible. As writer Bob Lind recalled for Mental Floss, "We wrote these things straight, for people who wanted to believe these things. We wrote it like a news story. We wrote a lede with a dash in it, filled it in, and then had a money quote."
In February 1989, WWN published real, graphic photos on its front page of the post-autopsied body of executed serial killer Ted Bundy. Managing editor Eddie Clontz defended his decision to run the photos, claiming that he hoped that such images would deter other murderers. Angry and surprised officials in Florida vowed to catch the person responsible, eventually arresting a low-level employee of the Alachua County, Florida Medical Examiner's office and charging him with taking the photographs and selling them to the WWN.
As other supermarket tabloids switched to celebrity gossip, the Weekly World News remained devoted to its original content, refusing to fact-check its way out of a sensational story, or, as Iain Calder, WWN co-founder and Enquirer editor-in-chief from 1973 to 1997, told Mental Floss: "We'd say Elvis was still alive and run a picture of what Elvis would have looked like at that time. We'd get dozens of phone calls. If someone calls and says, 'I saw Elvis,' you didn't try to disprove the headline." Derrik Lang, a stringer for the paper, said that "everything in my stories was fake – you know, depending on how you define fake." Alt URL Common WWN stories involved alien abductions, the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot, time travel, predictions of an oncoming depression or apocalypse, and other newly found lost prophecies or religious relics. There were also characters who, in later years, became stock fixtures in WWN news stories, most famously Bat Boy, a half-bat half-boy discovered in West Virginia caverns, and P'lod, an extraterrestrial who became involved in Earth politics and had an affair with Hillary Clinton.
Columns and features Regular columns included Ed Anger (opinion), first Dear Babs and later Dear Dotti (outspoken advice columnists), Hi Dolly (relationship advice), Horse Sense (medical advice), Monkey Business (financial and business-related advice and information) and Madame Malisa (psychic). The most famous of these was Ed Anger, a character created in 1979 by staffer Rafe Klinger; Anger was a perpetually angry conservative (a typical column began "I'm pig-biting mad!"), who railed against illegal immigrants, women, speed limits and rainforests, among many other perceived ills.
Beginning on May 9, 2005, the Weekly World News went "All New" along with other tabloid papers such as the National Enquirer, which had become "Bigger • Bolder • Better." In the new Weekly World News, Serena and Sonya Sabak's psychic column was replaced by the horoscopes of Madame Malisa, and Dotti Primrose's "Dear Dotti" was supplanted by an advice column called "Hi Dolly" written by a middle-aged Southern blonde woman. The new WWN included a weekly "Weird Picture Search" by Mad cartoonist Sergio Aragonés. Other features included Trivia, Test Yourself, Jokes, and "Miss Adventure", a.k.a. "The Gayest American Hero", who has penetrated the mob, gone to Hollywood, and fought DRAG-U-LA traveling from the depths of the Earth's center to outer space.
Two pages of comic strips were spun off from feature stories. For two years, in 2004 and 2005, Peter Bagge created a Bat Boy comic "using celebrities and current events and creating totally absurd and implausible stories and situations for them." In 2011, IDW Publishing released a hardcover collection of Bagge's strips. "SpyCat", created by Dick Siegel, was drawn by Ernie Colón. SpyCat spoke nine different languages ranging from Persian to "dog" and was armed with "Adamwestium" claws and deadly cat-of-nine-tails. He wrote free-form poetry when not waging war on America's enemies—at home and abroad. "Matthew Daemon", also created by Dick Siegel, was written and illustrated by Mike Collins and was a spinoff from the "SOS Matthew Daemon (Seeker of Obscure Supernaturals)" feature. Daemon's lair was located beneath Grant's Tomb. Daemon specialized in B-List Monster hunting. "Alien Baby" by Craig Boldman chronicled the adventures of Moogera the deadbeat alien dad, alien baby Ethan, and Stacy, his Earth-born mother.
Though it mainly featured offbeat stories, it also featured legitimate games and quizzes such as crossword puzzles, a segment called "Bedside Manner" where readers choose which celebrity is best suited for the featured celebrity and "Mystery Eyes" which featured photographs of five pairs of eyes which belonged to celebrities and readers have to guess who they are.
Recurring subjects
Bat Boy
Bat Boy was first featured in a 1992 issue after being found in a cave in West Virginia (Lost World Caverns). He has since led police on a high-speed chase, fought in the war on terror, led the troops to capture Saddam Hussein, bitten Santa Claus, and traveled into outer space. In 2000, he gave his endorsement to Al Gore. It was foretold that Bat Boy would become president in 2028.
The story of Bat Boy was the basis for an acclaimed off-Broadway musical, Bat Boy: The Musical, in which Bat Boy meets a tragic end. In addition to articles, Bat Boy has been featured in a comic strip since 2004, though it is said that only the articles are the "true" story of Bat Boy.
Page 5 Honey Each week a different model was featured on page 5 and on the back page. She was usually wearing a bikini and a description of her was printed. This feature ended after the Halloween issue of 2006.
"ALIVE!"
One of the many other recurring subjects was the occasional "ALIVE!" cover story. Most often the story pertained to some sort of creature such as a mummy, prehistoric creature, or, occasionally, a human who had been frozen in a block of ice (e.g. Santa Claus).
Another subject often tackled by WWN is the reemergence of many prominent figures believed to be deceased, including Hank Williams, Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy, Adolf Hitler, and Michael Jackson. Survivors of the Titanic and Hindenburg were also occasionally featured. Among the most frequently printed reports were those asserting that "Elvis is alive."
The WWN frequently reported Elvis sightings with a series of articles claiming that Elvis Presley had faked his death and had recently emerged from years of seclusion to prepare for a comeback. Obviously altered photos purported to show a gray-haired, balding Elvis sneaking into a movie theater and coming out of a Burger King restaurant. When the U.S. Postal Service conducted a poll to determine the design of the Elvis commemorative postage stamp, the WWN conducted its own poll pitting the USPS's 1950s Elvis and 1970s Elvis versus its own, 1990s Elvis; the elderly Elvis won.
In 1994, the newspaper ran a front cover with the headline "Elvis Presley Dead!", stating that Presley was now "really dead" from heart failure after slipping into a diabetic coma. In a 2004 Washington Post article on Clontz's death, humorist Gene Weingarten claimed that he and Dave Barry were the sources of the story.Gene Weingarten, "Aliens Beam Editor To Tabloid Heaven", Washington Post, January 24, 2004 According to Weingarten, the WWN later reported that claims of Presley's (belated) death had been a hoax. In an earlier telling of his story, Weingarten varied some details.Gene Weingarten (host), "Funny? You Should Ask", Washington Post, September 10, 2002
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