The Untold Story: My 20 Years Running the National Enquirer

by Iain Calder and Lain Calder

Book Overview

The former editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer tells all--exposing the entertaining, edgy stories behind the most famous headlines and cover photos--in this no-holds-barred account of the most... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786869410
• ISBN13: 9780786869411
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Hyperion Books
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 1.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

More enjoyable than the Enquirer itself

The title caught my eye, and although there are no sensational exposes revealed (as other critics have also noted), it was eye-opening for someone like me who hadn't read the Enquirer and assumed it was still publishing articles about 3-breasted women with screaming headlines like "Headless body found in topless bar". So it was a shock to learn how seriously the Enquirer pursues real (not fabricated or fanciful) stories and how frequently it lands scoops that have been the envy of mainstream publications like the NYTimes. As editor, Calder frequently threw enormous resources at stories sending vast teams of reporters and photographers to cover notable events and outstripping in quantity and quality the journalistic talent of big city daily competitors. While building his case for a ranking atop the ranks of professional journalism, it is amusing and disappointing to find Calder listing among his "great" gets the 'news' (!) that Lisa Marie Presley was all of two months pregnant at one her weddings. But this is a mere quibble. Calder is immensely entertaining in his account of learning the trade as a youngster in the bruisingly competitive Scottish newspaper wars, and then, having crossed the pond, his ascent through the ranks to the leadership of the Enquirer, as well as the rise of investigative journalism applied to celebrities.

Stories that influenced the Enquirer's infamous reputation

The National Enquirer has a bad reputation that can never be overcome, and the magazine is proud of it. No one working for the Enquirer will ever win the Pulitzer Prize, whether he or she deserves it or not. The rag's rep is based on gore and gossip and ever more shall be. That's from the horse's mouth. Iain Calder, a Scotsman who left school at 16 and was a millionaire by the time he got his pink slip from the Enquirer, spent twenty years in the traces, sniffing out some of the best stories the paper handled. His breeze-easy journalistic style makes this book a fun read, and the stories he turns over like moss-covered rocks will keep you giggling, even if you don't approve of the Enquirer's tactics. Largely the brainchild of Generoso Pope, Jr., who was rumored to be seriously mobbed up, the Enquirer's flame burned brightest during his regime. Pope lived up to his name by his love of hard-luck stories and his personal generosity to many of the causes the paper championed. In those days the Enquirer was purple but personal, with small features including rags-to-riches sagas as well as tales of those who had made it big and were getting away from the rat race. Sick kids needing medical treatment was another favorite theme. All had perennial appeal to the housewives of America, and getting the paper on the racks at supermarkets was one of the biggest strategic breaks of Pope's dynamic career. The Enquirer, while noted for its nasty photos of beheaded animals, ghastly human follies and bloody death, scooped more than poop. It was often the first with an important story (Jesse Jackson's love-child, Clinton's pardon of an errant brother-in-law and subsequent $200,000 kick-back) and its rivals never seemed ready for the rag's rough-and-tumble determination to be fustest with the mostest. When Princess Grace died in a tragic car crash, the Enquirer staff "bought" the gardener in whose yard the wreckage landed and held him hostage in his own home to keep him from talking to other papers. After a week the poor man got so stir-crazy that he took a rifle and shot a hole through his cottage roof. To be fair, they had offered him what they often handed out to other sources --- a holiday. The man was just too dumb to take it. But then we have the seaman on board Aristotle Onassis's yacht who was easily bribed and blabbed about everything going on with Ari and Jackie. He even took photos and was sent back to Greece where his fiancée awaited, all on the Enquirer's tab. And the distant relative of Elvis who was paid surprisingly little money to take flash photos of the corpse as it lay in state at Graceland. There was an absolute ban on photos, but whatever the Enquirer wanted, it usually got. The book is chock full of such stories, but Calder manages to keep his sources safe from detection, even now. The one major exception is Tom Arnold, who actually ratted on his bride-to-be, the famously profane comedienne Roseanne Barr, who had threatened to sue the pape

Iain Calder fired me! Great book ; buy it NOW!

Hundreds of Tabloid pros were fired by America's Most Feared Editor, Iain Calder - I was one of them. No matter, one simply should not bugger off AWOL to Egypt and not tell the boss! Iain's fantastic romp down Tabloid Memory Lane took me back to many forgotten NATIONAL ENQUIRER escapades. Yes, we carried $ thousands in cash, yes, we hired helicopters by the dozen, yes; we got the story before the local press even knew we were in town. Small wonder the "legitimate press" dubbed us the Foreign Legion of journalism. Poor scribes, they simply could not compete. The ENQUIRER was also used in classrooms as an educational tool; we exposed Government waste, published happy pictures of our staff dog, Lucky, visiting big name stars; we published Rags to Riches stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. NE medical reporters were the best in the media - diets that really worked; we broke the World's First Test Tube Baby story, too. An editor on the NE during those swashbuckler days, even I was unaware of many of the UNTOLD STORIES so vividly described in this five-star adventure yarn - Can't wait for the movie. Kudos to Calder!

Homage to the Money God

Iain Calder tells a good story about an American news icon. One story tells about three employees making over $40,000 a year in the 1970s who risked their jobs and criminal prosecution to split a pie of $20,000 less expenses. Another tells tales of Jackie O, Ari and JFK,Jr. Then there comes a really big story about an Elvis coup that is not to be missed. Do you need to know all these juicy details of the lives of the rich, famous, infamous, and weird, like the ugliest man's plastic surgury after and before pictures? I kept turning page after page excitedly looking for more. I found that the "National Enquirer" was more than I thought it was after reading Calder's historical pictureless tome. Yes, it was a huge disappointment that there was not one picture in this 314 page book except for Iain Calder on the jacket.

easy, fun read

Iain Calders book is an easy,fun read.Never having read the National Enquirer,I was surprised to learn what a serious publication it was.Their entrepreneurial out of the box methods to get the story were fascinating.Our journalism schools could do well to take notice.After reading this book I have become a reader of the National Enquirer.I highly recommend this book....Bob Reiss,Boca Raton,Fl.