There are people who think that in the good old days, journalism was responsible and gossip rags were rare. Are they kidding themselves? Here’s a semi-salacious Confidential Magazine cover from the 1950’s. It was actually a pretty accurate publication as scandal sheets go. I particularly like the Orson Welles blurb:
There are two books about Confidential, both very worthwhile:Shocking True Story: The Rise and Fall of Confidential, andMr. Confidential. I particularly recommend the first one — the backstories are even more interesting than the magazine itself.