National Enquirer

====John Edwards story====
After the ''National Enquirer'', led by editor-in-chief David Perel, investigated John Edwards for 18 months it proved that he was having an affair with Rielle Hunter. The ''Enquirer'' followed with exclusive after exclusive, including a photo of Hunter pregnant. In August 2008, in an interview with [[ABC News]], former presidential candidate [[John Edwards]] finally admitted [[John Edwards extramarital affair|to having an extramarital affair]] with [[Rielle Hunter]] but denied fathering her child.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5441195&page=1 |title=Edwards Admits Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate – ABC News |publisher=Abcnews.go.com |date=August 8, 2008 |access-date=October 16, 2010}}</ref> Edwards had earlier made false denials of the affair which was first reported by the ''National Enquirer''.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Kate Pickert |title=Enquirer Editor: I Feel Vindicated|date=August 12, 2008| url=https://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1831842,00.html | access-date=10 March 2023 |magazine=Time}}</ref> In October 2007, the publication ran a story about the 2006 affair with Hunter, a filmmaker hired by the Edwards political team, although Edwards dismissed the story as "completely untrue, ridiculous" and "false."<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080808/ap_on_el_pr/edwards_affair_15]{{dead link|date=October 2010}}</ref> In July 2008, the publication ran an article claiming to have caught the former [[North Carolina]] Senator visiting Hunter, and their alleged illegitimate child at a hotel in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalenquirer.com/sen_john_edwards_caught_with_mistress_and_love_child_in_la_hotel/celebrity/65193|title=SEN. JOHN EDWARDS CAUGHT WITH MISTRESS AND LOVE CHILD!|date=July 22, 2008}}</ref> [[Fox News]] interviewed an unnamed security guard who claimed to have witnessed a confrontation between Edwards and the tabloid's members of staff.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391426,00.html|title=Guard Confirms Late-Night Hotel Encounter Between Ex-Sen. John Edwards, Tabloid Reporters|website=[[Fox News]]|date=July 25, 2008|access-date=December 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215000122/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391426,00.html|archive-date=February 15, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Edwards later finally admitted that he was the father of Hunter's child, after the ''Enquirer'' ran a photo of Edwards with the baby.

In 2010 there was some speculation that the ''Enquirer'' might receive a [[Pulitzer Prize]] for its investigation of Edwards.<ref name="TimesPulitzer">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/business/media/19pulitzer.html|title=National Enquirer Is Said to Be Eligible for Pulitzers|last=Pérez-Peña|first=Richard|date=February 18, 2010|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 19, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[Donald Trump]] said that the paper should be "respected" for its investigation, and questioned why it was not given the award.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Borchers|first1=Callum|title=Donald Trump wonders why the National Enquirer didn't win a Pulitzer Prize. Here's why.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/22/donald-trump-wonders-why-the-national-enquirer-didnt-win-a-pulitzer-prize-heres-why/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 22, 2016}}</ref> The ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' wrote, "It galls most mainstream newspaper editors that a tawdry tabloid could be considered for their most vaunted prize. It's like nominating a porn flick for an Oscar."<ref>Editors (February 21, 2010) "National Enquirer could get Pulitzer Prize for breaking John Edwards affair story." ''San Francisco Examiner.''</ref>