A
tabloid is an industry term for a smaller newspaper format per spread; to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories and entertainment, often distributed free of charge (often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format); or to a newspaper that tends to sensationalize and emphasize or exaggerate or
sensationalSensationalism is a manner of being extremely controversial, loud, or attention grabbing. It is especially applied to the emphasis of the unusual or atypical. It is also a form of theatre.-In mass media:...
crime stories, gossip columns repeating scandalous and innuendos about the deeply personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and other so-called "
junk food newsJunk food news is a sardonic term for news stories that deliver "sensationalized, personalized, and homogenized inconsequential trivia",especially when such stories appear at the expense of serious investigative journalism...
" or
junk mailJunk mail may refer to:* Advertising mail received through the post.* Spam * The Norwegian film Budbringeren * The Seinfeld episode, "The Junk Mail"...
(often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format). As the term "tabloid" has become synonymous with down-market newspapers in some areas, some small-format papers which claim a higher standard of journalism refer to themselves as "
compactA compact newspaper is a broadsheet-quality newspaper printed in a tabloid format, especially one in the United Kingdom. The term came into use in its current use when The Independent began producing a smaller format edition for London's commuters, designed to be easier to read on the...
" newspapers instead.
The tabloid newspaper format is particularly popular in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
where its page dimensions are roughly 430 mm × 280 mm (17 by 11
inchAn inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
es). Larger newspapers, traditionally associated with 'higher-quality' journalism, are called
broadsheetBroadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of matter, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
s though several British 'quality' papers have recently adopted the tabloid format. Another UK newspaper format is the
BerlinerBerliner, or "midi", is a newspaper format with pages normally measuring about 470 mm × 315 mm . The Berliner format is slightly taller and marginally wider than the tabloid/compact format; and is both narrower and shorter than the broadsheet format.-European newspapers:The Berliner...
, which is sized between the tabloid and the broadsheet and has been adopted by
The GuardianThe Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
and its sister paper
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In about the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a left-liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-History:The...
.
History
The word "Tabloid" comes from the name given by the London based pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome & Co. to the compressed tablets they marketed as "Tabloid" pills in the late 1880s . Prior to compressed tablets, medicine was usually taken in bulkier powder form. While Burroughs Wellcome & Co. were not the first to derive the technology to make compressed tablets, they were the most successful at marketing them, hence the popularity of the term 'tabloid' in popular culture. The connotation of
tabloid was soon applied to other small items and to the "compressed" journalism that condensed stories into a simplified, not easily-absorbed format. The label of "tabloid journalism" (1901) preceded the smaller sheet newspapers that contained it (1918).
An early pioneer of tabloid journalism was Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922), who amassed a large publishing empire of halfpenny papers by rescuing failing stolid papers and transforming them to reflect the popular taste, which yielded him enormous profits. Harmsworth used his tabloids to influence public opinion, for example, by bringing down the
wartimeWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
government of
Prime MinisterA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and...
Herbert Henry Asquith in the
Shell Crisis of 1915The Shell Crisis of 1915 largely contributed to weakening public appreciation of government of the United Kingdom during World War I because it was widely perceived that the production of artillery shells for use by the British Army was inadequate...
.
Scarlet is a slag
As a weekly alternative newspaper
The more recent usage of the term 'tabloid' refers to weekly or semi-weekly newspapers in tabloid format. Many of these are essentially straightforward newspapers, publishing in tabloid format, because subway and bus commuters prefer to read smaller-size newspapers due to lack of space.
These newspapers are distinguished from the major daily newspapers, in that they purport to offer an "alternative" viewpoint, either in the sense that the paper's editors are more locally-oriented, or that the paper is editorially independent from major media conglomerates.
Other factors that distinguish "alternative" weekly tabloids from the major daily newspapers are their less-frequent publication, and that they are usually free to the user, since they rely on ad revenue. As well, alternative weekly tabloids tend to concentrate on local- or even neighbourhood-level issues, and on local entertainment in the bars and local theatres.
Alternative tabloids can be positioned as
upmarketUpmarket commodities are products, services or real estate targeted at high-income consumers. Examples of products would include items from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Hammacher-Schlemmer, and Chanel....
(quality) newspapers, to appeal to the better-educated, higher-income sector of the market; as
middle-marketA middle-market newspaper is one that attempts to cater to readers who want some entertainment value from their newspaper as well as sufficient coverage of significant news events. Middle-market status is the halfway point of a three-level continuum of journalistic seriousness; upmarket newspapers...
(popular); or as
downmarketDownmarket products are consumer goods that are mainly sold to low-income people.Some downmarket newspapers, such as The Sun, are tabloids....
(sensational) newspapers, which emphasize sensational crime stories and celebrity gossip. In each case, the newspapers will draw their advertising revenue from different types of businesses or services. An upmarket weekly's advertisers are often organic-grocers, boutiques, and theatre-companies while a downmarket's may have those of trade-schools, super-markets, and adult-services, both usually contain ads from local bars, auto-dealers, movie theaters, and a classified-ads section.
As a sensational, gossip-filled newspaper
The term "tabloid" can also refer to a newspaper that tends to emphasize topics such as
sensationalSensationalism is a manner of being extremely controversial, loud, or attention grabbing. It is especially applied to the emphasis of the unusual or atypical. It is also a form of theatre.-In mass media:...
crime stories, astrology, gossip columns about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and
junk food newsJunk food news is a sardonic term for news stories that deliver "sensationalized, personalized, and homogenized inconsequential trivia",especially when such stories appear at the expense of serious investigative journalism...
. Often, tabloid newspaper allegations about the sexual practices, drug use, or private conduct of celebrities is borderline defamatory; in many cases, celebrities have successfully sued for libel, demonstrating that tabloid stories have defamed them. It is this sense of the word that led to some entertainment news programs to be called
tabloid televisionTabloid television is similar to tabloid newspapers. Tabloid television newscasts usually incorporate flashy graphics and sensationalized stories, some with little or no local relevance. Often, there is a heavy emphasis on crime, stories with good video, and celebrity news. It is a form of...
. Tabloid newspapers are sometimes pejoratively called the
gutter press.
Supermarket tabloids are large, national versions of these tabloids, usually published weekly. They are named for their prominent placement along the checkout lines of supermarkets. Supermarket tabloids are particularly notorious for the over-the-top sensationalizing of stories, the facts of which can often be called into question. These tabloids - such as
The GlobeGlobe is a supermarket tabloid published in North America. It was founded in 1954 in Montreal, Canada as Midnight by Joe Azaria and John Vader and became the chief competitor to the National Enquirer during the 1960s. In 1978 it changed its name to the Midnight Globe after its publisher, Globe...
and
The National EnquirerThe National Enquirer is an American supermarket tabloid now published by American Media Inc...
- often use aggressive and usually mean-spirited tactics to sell their issues. Unlike regular tabloid-format newspapers, supermarket tabloids are distributed through the magazine distribution channel, similarly to other weekly magazines and mass-market paperback books. Leading examples include
The National Enquirer,
StarStar is a magazine specializing in celebrity gossip and scandals.-History:Star was founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1974 as competition to the tabloid National Enquirer with its headquarters in New York City. In the late 1980s it moved its offices to Tarrytown, NY and in 1990 Murdoch sold the magazine...
,
Weekly World NewsThe Weekly World News was a supermarket tabloid published in the United States from 1979 to 2007, renowned for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatural or paranormal themes and an approach to news that verged on the satirical...
(now defunct), and
SunSun is a supermarket tabloid owned by American Media Inc.Its contents have often come under question and has been widely regarded as "sensationalistic writing." Since a , a small-print disclaimer printed beneath the masthead has warned readers to "suspend belief for the sake of enjoyment."The paper...
. The oldest supermarket tabloid known to date was the American "Daily News" in 1919; if it didn't have news to publish, it would simply make up a story, have the newspaper staff stage a photograph, then use an editing technique called the
composographComposograph refers to a forerunner method of photo manipulation and is a retouched photographic collage popularized by publisher and physical culture advocate Bernarr Macfadden in his New York Graphic in 1924....
to combine the fake image with a real one.
Most major
supermarket tabloidSupermarket tabloids are national weekly magazines printed on newsprint in tabloid format, specializing in celebrity news, gossip, astrology, and bizarre stories about ordinary people. Supermarket tabloids are particularly notorious for the over-the-top sensationalizing of stories, the facts of...
s in the U.S. are published by American Media, Inc., including
The National EnquirerThe National Enquirer is an American supermarket tabloid now published by American Media Inc...
,
StarStar is a magazine specializing in celebrity gossip and scandals.-History:Star was founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1974 as competition to the tabloid National Enquirer with its headquarters in New York City. In the late 1980s it moved its offices to Tarrytown, NY and in 1990 Murdoch sold the magazine...
,
The GlobeGlobe is a supermarket tabloid published in North America. It was founded in 1954 in Montreal, Canada as Midnight by Joe Azaria and John Vader and became the chief competitor to the National Enquirer during the 1960s. In 1978 it changed its name to the Midnight Globe after its publisher, Globe...
,
National ExaminerThe National Examiner is a supermarket tabloid owned by the American Media Corporation. Like other tabloids, its contents have often come under question, and it has been derided for its sensationalistic writing....
,
¡Mira!,
SunSun is a supermarket tabloid owned by American Media Inc.Its contents have often come under question and has been widely regarded as "sensationalistic writing." Since a , a small-print disclaimer printed beneath the masthead has warned readers to "suspend belief for the sake of enjoyment."The paper...
,
Weekly World NewsThe Weekly World News was a supermarket tabloid published in the United States from 1979 to 2007, renowned for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatural or paranormal themes and an approach to news that verged on the satirical...
and
RadarRadar is a system using radio waves to detect objects.Radar may also refer to:In organizations:* Research on Adverse Drug events And Reports, a pharmacological organization* The Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation...
.
Collectively called the "tabloid press", tabloid newspapers in Britain tend to be simply and sensationally written, and to give more prominence than broadsheets to celebrities, sports, crime stories and even
hoaxA hoax is a deliberate attempt to deceive or trick an audience into believing, or accepting, that something is real, when the hoaxer knows it is not; or that something is true, when it is false...
es; they also more readily take a political position (either left-wing or right-wing) on news stories, ridiculing politicians, demanding resignations and predicting election results. The term
red topIn the United Kingdom, the so-called Red Tops are a group of newspapers who have a red masthead, and who share an emphasis on entertainment news, Celebrities, sports and political scandals...
refers to tabloids with red
nameplateA nameplate identifies and displays a person or product's name. Name plates are usually shaped as rectangles but are also seen in other shapes, sometimes taking on the shape of someone’s name...
s, such as
The SunThe Sun is a daily tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland with the second highest circulation of any daily English-language newspaper in the world and the biggest circulation within the UK, standing at an average of 2,986,000 copies a day between January and June 2008 and...
, the Daily Star, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Sport, and distinguishes them from the
black top Daily ExpressThe Daily Express is a conservative, British tabloid newspaper. It is a middle-market title, the flagship title of Express Newspapers and is currently owned by Richard Desmond...
and
Daily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily tabloid newspaper. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper, The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982. Scottish and Irish editions of the paper were launched in...
. Red top newspapers are usually simpler in writing style, dominated by pictures, and directed at the more sensational end of the market.
To refer to sensationalist journalistic practices
The word
Tabloid is sometimes used as an adjective to describe journalists or articles that are associated with sensational news articles not published in what one would normally consider a tabloid newspaper .