Preview

Tabloid Content

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1414 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Tabloid Content
“The success of News Ltd is based on tabloid content”
1. Introduction
News has always been a matter of commerce, and it has always entertained as well as informed (Barkin 2003, p.64). News Ltd, undeniably, has focused on tabloid content in order to derive an enormous benefit from it. To rise fame, broadly speaking, News Ltd has exploited the interest of the target audiences, crucially by appealing to their human side. This is to say that the success of New Corporations is mainly contributed by tabloid contents.

2. What is tabloid?
Traditionally, as Barkin (2003, p.61) defined, tabloid referred to the size of a page in a newspaper, its papers had smaller pages and often contained sensational contents. However, there is another aspect that worth mentioning when we use this term. Tabloid primarily covers “soft news” which arouses the curiosity and appeal to human sides (Turner 2006, p.10). Frequently, they are amusing or enjoyable stories, like gossips or personal stories. There is no denying that news will be more appealing if it contains stories or events that concern hot issues or famous figures. According to Caldwell (1995, p.224), the term “tabloid” describes two tendencies. The first is about stories with vivid and impressive images attached to them. Secondly, sensational topics are the foci of attention.

3. Audiences’ tendencies
Bernstein (cited in Grabe et al 2003, p.387) stated that the media trend is towards the creation of a “sleazoid info-tainment culture”. There is no doubt about this remark. As a matter of fact, the audiences of the media require not only serious news; take politics, education, economics for examples, but also arousing contents. It has been observed by Bird (1997, p. 116) that everyone likes scandalous stories. They have the power of keeping people in front of the televisions and enabling the readers to buy newspaper. Tabloid content opens up discussions and exists in the public relatively long time because it gets readers involved



Bibliography: Archard, David 1998, “Privacy, the public interest and a prurient public”, in Kieran, Matthew (ed.), Media Ethics, J & L Composition Ltd, Great Britain, pp. 82 – 96. Barkin, M. Steve. 2003, “Seismic Shifts in Television News – Tabloid Television and a World of Talk”, American Television News – The Media and The Public Interest, M.E. Sharpe Inc., New York, pp. 61- 78. Bird, S. Elizabeth 1997, ‘What a story! Understanding the Audience for Scandal’, in Lull, James & Hinerman, Stephen (ed.), Media Scandal, Columbia University Press, Great Britain, pp. 99- 121. Caldwell, John Thornton 1995, ‘ The Aesthetic Economy of Televisuality: Tabloid TV”, Televisuality, Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, pp. 223 – 248. Chenoweth, Neil 2001, Virtual Murdoch, Random Houes, London. Grabe, Maria Elizabeth & Lang, Annie and Zao, Xiaoquan. 2003, “News content and form: Implications for memory and audience evaluations”, Communication Research, Beverly Hills, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 387-413, viewed 16 November 2006, <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=373810321&sid=6&Fmt=2&clientId=20928&RQT=309&VName=PQD> Lyall, Sarah. 2004, “London pappers go tabloid, and circulation is going up”, The New York Times, March 2, pg. C.9, viewed 16 November 2006, <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=592000101&sid=23&Fmt=3&clientId=20928&RQT=309&VName=PQD> Turner, Graeme 2003, ‘ Ethics, Entertainment and the Tabloid: The Case of Talkback Radio in Australia’, in Lumby, Catharine and Probyn, Elspeth (ed.), Remote Control – New Media, New Ethics, The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, pp. 87 – 100. Turner, Rosalind, 2006, Media Analysis 1, UTS: INSEARCH, Sydney, p. 10. “With Page 3 the Sun may rise again”, Sunday Business, 19. January 2003, p.1, viewed 17 November 2006 <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=283714071&sid=4&Fmt=3&clientId=20928&RQT=309&VName=PQD>

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Summary "How to"

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Audience analysis: The target audience for this summary is an ENGL101 student at the University of Maryland who is studying Mass Communications. This student has not previously read this article. This summary should inform the student about the article written by Brooke Gladstone and show his/her perspective on media bias.…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    2. Croteau, D & Hoynes, W (2003). Media Society: Industries, Images and Audiences ((third edition) ed.). Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. pp. 305–307.…

    • 2124 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is no doubt that the mass media is omnipresent, mediating every aspect of our lives. How one relates to and interprets the world is largely colored by how the media informs us. In the world today, media has become as necessary as food and clothing. It is considered as the “mirror” of the modern society. It informs people about current affairs and entertains through the latest gossip and fashion. The role of media has become one way of trading and marketing of products and prejudice. Communities and individuals are bombarded constantly with messages from a multitude of sources including TV, billboard and magazines, to name a few. These messages promote not only products but moods, attitudes and a sense of what is and is not important. Mass media makes possible the concept of celebrity: without the ability of movies, magazines, music and news media to reach across thousands of miles, people could not become famous. (Chandler 2000) emphasizes the role of mass media in the reproduction of status quo.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The escalation of media coverage surrounding devastating events, created another form of television for society: unscripted, reality television. As images of devastating events occurred, the media coverage shaped society’s opinion, invoking fear from urban area to suburbia. Celebrity reputations were quickly altered by allegations of heinous events, whereas, terrorists and teens were escalating to infamy. Was the news the culprit for inciting fear and chaos in an already insecure environment? Did the structure of the media outlets so closely mimic that of the entertainment industry that society could no longer distinguish between celebrity news and news that created celebrities?…

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ranney, Austin. Channels of Power: The Impact of Television on American Politics. New York: Basic Books, 1983. Print.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ah, the media. We love it; we hate it. We curse it, but we can’t stop following it. Any conversation about media causes controversy. Although most would agree that the media exists to serve the people, we still need to draw the line somewhere between fact and reality. But where to draw that line? Didn’t we hurdle over it long ago?…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Competition among newspapers, Magazines, cinema, and television pushes the media to develop new ways’ to catch people’s attention. The fascination of knowing the speed at which news travels around the world has changed the way in which we view everything around us. We turn to television to find out how the weather is going to be and choose the cloth to wear. If we want to know how the Prime Minister elections went or the opinion of the prime minister about an issue of concern to us, the newspaper becomes a good communicator. Often we comment with our friends about something that came in the newspaper or that we saw on television, but news is not the only reason why we read or turn on the television for. We also do it because we want some entertainment.…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Diagnosing Chnage

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages

    McGraw III, H. (2005). Media and the Magazine Industry. Vital Speeches Of The Day, 71(18), pp. 554-558.…

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In an era of global technology, instant news, infomercials, electronic town meetings, and “Made for TV Documentaries,” the borderlines between news and analysis, news and entertainment, news and fiction are constantly shifting.…

    • 2333 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Author Peter Gibbon goes into detail on how the media has been linked with constant negative effects in society. He shows this by explaining that our society has become a “Wired World”(Gibbon 249). He informs the reader that the media has the ability to misinform people on current issues which results in turning people into a, cynical, suspicious, and fearful person. “It can lead us to lose faith in our nation, repudiate our past, question our leaders, and cease to believe in progress”(Gibbon 249) The media as well posses an empire of information.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Media and Moral Panic

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Media is the main revenue of mass communication. The media plays a variety of roles in society; its main responsibility is that of providing information. As constant consumers and users of this information the relevance to the majority of members in the wider community inclusive of teachers and students is critical. The media positions us as the audience to take a particular viewpoint of a topic, issue or problem that is evident in our society. To what extent though does this role as information provider influence moral panic? Moral panic refers to the exaggerated social response to media coverage of a sporadic episode that consequently turns it into a widespread issue and causes colossal concern in society (Cohen, 1987). The media has a tendency to manipulate people by amplifying the facts and truths and using multiple camera techniques to surround a group/individual and outcast them in society, thus labeling them the ‘other’.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, the major media outlets of yesterday have lost much of the influence they once enjoyed, because of the reduced audience that they now reach(Patterson,p.260). In the busy world we live in today we have multiple media outlets that constantly bombard the airwaves with information about social events or events occurring in our neighborhoods, state and from around the world. These additional outlets can be found on cable,satellite and internet twenty-hours a day,seven days a week and three hundred sixty-five days a year. This access has allowed many to avoid the major television networks news cast and the audience an ability to find a news source that they agree with politically. Unfortunately even with all the…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Media can be used to inform people of world news, to advocate for what people believe in, and even to change the way things are seen and interpreted by viewers; the media can be a platform for people to spread their ideas, a place for many to learn new things about themselves and others, and most importantly, it can have the power to influence people and their thoughts. However, as the media evolves, so does the material that is produced. Staying in-the-know of current events no longer holds importance, because many people would rather read about irrelevant, if not false, stories and tabloids (Gibbon 248). The new generation of media tosses important matters and admirable people aside, and instead focuses on provoking their audiences through…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Adversting

    • 2763 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Ryan J: Media and Society: The Production of Culture in the Mass Media; Pearson (1998)…

    • 2763 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays