Hello Folks:

Not a question; just a recent observation.

Picked up the Weekly World News (the American tabloid responsible for "Bat Boy") this week because the cover seemed to be speaking directly to the Y2K issue and ready to incite panic among its readers... it warned of a great depression starting this October. Upon examining the article, there is absolutely no mention of the cause of the depression though. It talks about how 'rich people are stockpiling food... even water!' and how the 'government doesn't want you to know'... but just talks about the crisis as an inevitable, global economic problem (apparently without cause).

Fascinating, Mary.

-- Mary Chen (maryc@magnet.com), August 03, 1998

Answers

Most people I know think the Weekly World News is the funniest publication around. The articles are so outrageous (purposely?) that they can't fool anyone. Can they?

-- Buddy Y. (buddy@bellatlantic.net), August 03, 1998.

Yes, it's definitely a hideously laughable publication (hence the bat boy reference), but it's one with a circulation that probably comes close to that of TIME Magazine. Not to mention, a considerable portion of its readership in America takes it relatively seriously. They might not believe everything they read it in (though some no doubt do), but anything that has lots of quotes from "famous economists" would be pretty largely believed by its audience.

So, it having had an alarmist cover story about y2k would have been a pretty remarkable event. Your average americans would have taken notice if they had real-seeming facts to wrap their minds around, especially facts that were echoed with far less enthusiasm by the main stream press. Basically, it would have been the next best thing to a Presidential Address, as far as 'getting the word out.' So I was disappointed that there was no mention of y2k.

-- Mary Chen (maryc@magnet.com), August 03, 1998.

My favorite Weekly World News story took place in India. A Hindu holy man was levitating over a hut when another man mistook him for a duck and killed him with a shotgun! I kid you not!- They even had a picture of the hut and a dotted line to show trajectory from ground to point of impact! My favorite headline is "Man blows head off smoking trick explosive cigar, militant anti-smoking group to blame!" With stories like these I've been tempted more than once to get a subscription. Or at least settle for a bat boy t-shirt.

-- Connie L. (Cofkee@aol.com), August 04, 1998.