National Enquirer Officially In The Running For A Pulitzer

The National Enquirer, reveling in the fact that it had broken the stories about former Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards and a) his affair with Rielle Hunter (pictured), b) his "love child" Frances Quinn Hunter, earlier said it was going to submit an application for a Pulitzer Prize. For those who always discount the tabloid now comes the bad news: the application has been accepted.

Pulitzer Prize administrators have decided that The National Enquirer is indeed eligible to compete for the awards, widely considered the most coveted honor for American newspapers. The information came Thursday from a unnamed source who was briefed on the matter.

Much of the Enquirer Edwards reporting took place before 2009, and so cannot be considered for this year’s prizes.

According to Emily Miller, who has been campaigning for a Pulitzer for the National Enquirer,

Before The Enquirer submitted its nomination, the Pulitzer's long-time administrator Sig Gissler attempted to pre-empt this campaign by telling reporters that the tabloid is not eligible due to various technicalities. Gissler, however, showed great humility and fairness by reading The Enquirer's submission and admitting that the paper is eligible to compete. Gissler has given The National Enquirer the legitimacy it long deserved for breaking a political scandal of national significance.

This should add legitimacy to anything the Enquirer produces going forward, short of stories of alien autopsies, we suppose.