The Picture Of Health

Recently some unauthorized photos started circulating around the tabloids of Barry Manilow. He looked particularly gaunt and thin in these particular photos. The tabloids got hold of them and began running a story that Barry was in poor health and had lost so much weight that he was allegedly down to a hundred pounds. That's not the worst part of this story. The worst part is that this tabloid nonsense began spreading to more mainstream news websites and newspapers. In fact, one website had the story prominently displayed over and above any world events that were happening. The bigger story here is not that Barry Manilow may or may not be well. He's always been very skinny, but to those who aren't fans, he may look like he's been sick. That's not even the point of this post though. The point is, when did tabloid stories become more important that real news?