The Globe (tabloid)

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Globe is a supermarket tabloid published in North America. It was founded in 1954 in Montreal, Canada as Midnight by Joe Azaria and John Vader and became the chief competitor to the National Enquirer during the 1960s. In 1978 it changed its name to the Midnight Globe after its publisher, Globe Communications, and eventually changed its name to Globe. The newspaper, as well as most of its rivals, is now owned by American Media Inc. and is published out of American Media's headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida.

In 1995, Globe stirred up considerable controversy by publishing Tejano superstar Selena's autopsy photos. South Texas retailers quickly yanked copies of Globe from store shelves after discovering the tabloid had printed the photos. Six color pictures snapped by a police photographer from the autopsy of 23-year-old Selena Quintanilla-Perez were in the Nov. 14 issue delivered to local stores. The article was headlined: "Shot in the Back!" and "Exclusive! Dramatic autopsy photos reveal innocent beauty was gunned down by lying coward." Selena was fatally shot March 31 at a Corpus Christi motel by former fan club president Yolanda Saldivar.

In 1997, it stirred up similar controversy when it published the autopsy pictures of JonBenét Ramsey. Because of this, it was taken off stands in a number of stores in Boulder, Colorado, where the child beauty queen was found strangled and beaten in her family's basement in December 1996. However, one Boulder merchant claimed people had the right to read what they pleased, and gave away the twenty copies he had in stock. The family of JonBenet was outraged and stated "we will never lay an eye on that copy of the paper."

In 2003, Globe stirred up more considerable controversy by publishing the name of Kobe Bryant's accuser and putting her picture on its cover. Traditionally, media in the United States have refrained from revealing the names of alleged victims of sex crimes. Globe Executive Editor Jeffrey Rodack defended the magazine's decision to publish her name in an article for the Poynter Journalism Institute. [1]

Earlier, Globe had named the accuser in the William Kennedy Smith rape case, achieving notoriety for that move. The paper also printed the transcripted tapes of Frank Gifford's affair at a New York City hotel, cheating on his wife, Kathie Lee Gifford.

Globe has a tendency to focus on more news and political-oriented content than its sister papers, although a fair share of celebrity content is present.

[edit] Anthrax

In 2001, the offices of American Media in Boca Raton, Florida, were attacked with anthrax. A photo editor with The Sun, a sister publication to Globe, died from exposure to it, and the building was sealed for three years. (See 2001 anthrax attacks.)