Best known for its dramatically suggestive headlines, outlandish stories, and aggressive reporters, the National Enquirer is eagerly and secretly read in supermarket checkout lines by many more people than the 2.1 million who buy it each week. Although most readers claim they do not believe most of what the tabloid newspaper prints, they are drawn to its promise of insider knowledge and hot scoops about celebrities, politicians, and aliens from outer space.

The National Enquirer got its start as a crime-focused tabloid called the New York Enquirer in 1926. (A tabloid is a half-size newspaper that usually contains many photographs and focuses on dramatic and lurid stories.) The New York Enquirer was bought in 1952 by Generoso Pope Jr. (1927–1988). Pope recognized that people were drawn to the blood and shock of an accident. Soon he added gory photos and articles to the crime stories in his paper. In the...