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Eddie Clontz

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The Resume

    (1948-January 26, 2004)
    Born in Charlotte, North Carolina
    Real name was Harold Clontz
    Editor of tabloid paper ‘The Weekly World News’ (1981-2001)
    Ghostwriter of the ‘Ed Anger’ column (1990-2001)

Why he might be annoying:

    He dropped out of high school at age 16.
    He used a water pistol on unruly reporters.
    He discouraged staff from fact checking, saying, ‘Never question yourself out of a good story.’
    Many of his readers were far right fundamentalists (the rest were amused college kids).
    The creator of Ed Anger sued him when he took over the column.
    His most famous headline ‘Elvis Is Alive’ may have started the urban myth that Elvis Presley faked his death.
    He was a proud Confederate who thought the South should leave the US.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He revived the ‘Weekly World News,’ originally a celebrity tabloid, by focusing on the supernatural and bizarre.
    He raised circulation to over one million readers by the late 1980s.
    One of his paper's biggest 'scoops,' Bat Boy, became part of modern folklore.
    He hired both beginners and veteran journalists.
    He paid reporters twice as much as reputable papers. (‘We have to …we are, in effect, asking them to end their careers’).
    He claimed ‘The Weekly World News’ satisfied the public’s need for myths and miracles.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 19 Votes: 73.68% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 18 Votes: 38.89% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 27 Votes: 37.04% Annoying