Tabloid Journalism

Tabloid Journalism

The tabloids play a larger role in popular culture and in the publishing industry .These are magazines focused on salacious celebrity gossip and sensational news.. Tabloid journalism has a long and enduring history as not only a form of entertainment but also a metric by which to evaluate our devotion to the freedom of speech. Tabloids are over-exaggerated, sensationalized, and often false, but we love them anyway. 

Origins

Print media has played a very important role in Western history, particularly in places like England and the United States. The  private print industry   has  the desire to sell more papers has encouraged a degree of sensationalism.

The beginnings of early tabloid journalism can be traced back to Alfred Harmsworth. A successful newspaper publisher in the United Kingdom, during the late 1800's and early 1900's, Harmsworth purchased a few newspapers, which were not financially successful and on the verge of failing. Transforming them into what we now classify as tabloids, the public's ever growing hunger for dirty laundry increased circulation, sales, and of course, advertising revenue. One of his best known publications still survives today, and is one of the most popular publications in the U.K.; this newspaper is known as "The Daily Mail."

The  tabloid journalism,  begins in the late 19th century. The first registered use of the word ''tabloid'' came in 1884 from an English pharmaceuticals company. The term tabloid had spread, referring to anything that was compressed. The condensed newspapers of England, which only presented compacted articles on popular topics, became known as tabloid papers.

The First Tabloids

While the term tabloid first described a small and condensed newspaper. Later it quickly grew to define a style of journalism based around graphic crime stories, gossip, and even astrology. This form of media  found a new home in the United States, where yellow journalism (journalism based on exaggeration or misrepresentation) was already a dominant trend.

British publishers also focused more on tabloids after 1900. The Daily Mirror in 1903. Harmsworth reduced the amount of text even further, relying on new technologies in printing photographs to create a newspaper that contained more images than words. This is often seen as the first modern tabloid.

Importance of Tabloid  journalism -Characteristics

1. Tabloid Journalism is a specific type of journalism .Tabloid journalism may be seen to only focus on topics such as those stories which are the most sensational ,celebrity gossip, outrageous crime, etc. 
2. One of the main characteristics of tabloid "newspapers," is that,  the tabloid style is to emphasize the sensational elements of a story.  A tabloid, however, will concentrate on anything which may be possibly scandalous surrounding the person's life. 
3. Additionally, the tabloid may not always confirm facts of a story. If there is just a hint of gossip about a situation, it may be published as truth, even enhanced. 
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5. The target audience is not likely to be highly educated, and may most enjoy reading something negative about a famous person.
6. The majority of tabloids report in a lurid or "slimy" style, concentrating on the darker side of the lives of celebrities. 
7. These publications are usually published on a weekly basis, and the attention grabbing headlines are almost always about a dysfunctional family, divorce, drinking problem, etc. 
8. Tabloids rarely report on anything which may be considered "positive." 
9. One other characteristic which distinguishes tabloids from other newspapers, is their appearance. Usually shorter, in a more condensed page format, their "headlines" are usually spilled against a photograph of the story's subject, almost always shown with a scowl or grimace. 
10. The news sources available (hundreds of television channels, magazines, internet, etc.), all screaming for consumers' attentions, you may wonder why tabloids are still so popular. The short answer, is that they are successful because on the whole, 
11.  Reputable newspapers will adhere to an unspoken code of agreed upon limits; however, tabloid publications are not bound to these limits and often may go beyond these boundaries to chase down a scandal. 
12. Tabloid reporters are known to use extreme investigative techniques to uncover such behavior.  Reporters for the more "reputable" newspapers respected boundaries, not delving into his private life.