National Enquirer expected to be sold imminently as parent company faces pressure over tabloid's efforts to help Trump win in 2016
The National Enquirer is photographed at a convenience store on February 8, 2019 in New York City. By Sarah Ellison and Sarah Ellison Reporter covering media and its intersection with politics and technology Email Bio Follow Marc Fisher Marc Fisher Senior editor reporting on a wide range of topics Email Bio Follow April 10 at 6:12 PM American Media Inc.
The company was also facing financial difficulty as it sought to refinance more than $400 million in debt earlier this year and as the Enquirer’s circulation continued to decline, along with broader newsstand trends. The paper sold an average of 516,000 copies per issue in 2014, but that number fell to 218,000 in December, according to data compiled by the Alliance for Audited Media.
“It doesn’t shock me that Pecker would unload the paper after he drove it into the ground,” said Paul Pope, son of the Enquirer’s longtime owner, Generoso Pope Jr., who bought the New York Enquirer in 1952, changed its name, focused on celebrity gossip and started selling the paper in convenience stores. “When my father was at the helm in the heyday, the Enquirer was selling up to 6 million copies a week.
The imminent sale removes the Enquirer from Pecker’s control and puts some separation between the tabloid and recent scandals stemming, in part, from Pecker’s close relationship with Trump. Then, in January, Pecker and the Enquirer devoted the cover and 12 pages of its Jan. 28 edition to an exposé of Bezos’s affair with Lauren Sanchez, former host of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.”
“Our board has been keenly focused on leveraging the popularity of our celebrity glossy, teen and active lifestyle brands while developing new and robust platforms . . . that now deliver significant revenue streams,” Pecker said , in a draft release of AMI’s announcement, reviewed by The Post. “Because of this focus, we feel the future opportunities with the tabloids can be best exploited by a different ownership.
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