TABLOID TALES
In pursuit for sensation
Tabloid Journalism
How the sensation and scandal were born?
fot. Michal Lachowicz
A historical analysis of tabloids should begin from bringing to discussion the name of Alfred Harmsworth, who is considered to be responsible for introducing this word to the public domain. ‘’He stole a term trademarked by a pill manufacturer (tabloid was a combination of the words tablet and alkaloid. Harmsworth wanted his new paper, The Daily Mail (established in 1896), to be like a small, concentrated, effective pill, containing all news needs within one handy package, half the size of a conventional broadsheet newspaper.’’ (Örnebring and Jönsson, 2004, p. 287)
Although the word tabloid emerged at the end of the 19th century, this new direction and idea of making news more sensational have its origins in the middle of that century. The sudden appearance of penny press in the US shook a bit the existing system of journalistic values cultivated by print media so far. It reflected in covering stories from their sensational angle and treating newspapers more courageously as the source of financial benefits, such as advertising. Publications have also begun to introduce human- interest stories in their agendas, which have attracted masses, but met with the criticism of the elite, which often considered them as news of worse category (Örnebring & Jönsson, 2004).
The revolution came together with the launch of The New York Sun in 1833. Its goal was to make newspapers more accessible for ordinary people of working classes. Suddenly, everyone could pick up a copy on the streets of New York just for one penny. However, as you can probably guess the price was adequate to the quality of the content. Political issues covered before such intensely, became overshadowed by less serious stories about private lives of the upper class. Masses of readers positively responded for this new offer. Its financial success immediately increased the level of criticism that The New York Sun and its creator Benjamin Day experienced. Many considered it as a threat for objective journalism. However, it was just the beginning and next papers such as The New York Herald or The New York Tribune emerged during following years. The Herald launched by James Gordon Bennett for instance not only continued vision of its predecessors, but also strengthened controversy of stories, making them more aggressive and saving the best ones for special editions.
The audience was also allowed to express their opinions in the form of comments and respond to issues that concerned them. However, again these new solutions brought a lot more criticism from newspapers known for their traditional way of reporting, such as New York Signal.
The New York Tribune established by Horace Greely in 1841 introduced something new and instead of chasing the most scandalous stories, decided to pay a bit more attention to campaigns associated with different issues, still having in mind that their readers are mainly ordinary people. At the end of the 19th century this idea has continued thanks to Joseph Pulitzer who became an owner of The New York World. Its promotion in contrary to other rivals was much more intense and aggressive. However, under Pulitzer’s guidance many issues have been covered, regarding for instance housing crisis or immigrants. He used sensational texts not only to satisfy readers’ need of leisure, but also as a power to make authorities aware of the fact that there is a need for action in many areas of social life. Of course again it was impossible to avoid criticisms as Pulitzer’s has continued sensational coverage initiated few decades ago by penny press.
The arena of the press market in New York was in an uproar even more when in 1895 The New York Journal has suddenly emerged, becoming the main rival of Pulitzer’s publication. This led to ‘’yellow journalism war’’ in which newcomer William Randolph Hearst began to push the boundaries of scandalous reporting much further than his competitor, using catchy and strong headlines. The fight was fierce and aggressive sometimes, when for example The Journal used to accuse its rival, which in their opinion talked a lot about issues instead of acting.
In this way tabloid style of reporting distinguished itself as a separate genre, treated by many as something other and opposite to good, proper and balanced journalism. We have to also remember that it was here, where the criticism towards elites and government was initiated with such a power and wide range, influencing people’s opinions.
In the United Kingdom, The Daily Mirror - first modern tabloid format newspaper emerged in public domain in 1903, thanks to its establisher Alfred Harmsworth. Right from the beginning the goal was to attract masses with articles about serious crimes, people’s daily struggles, rumours about famous people and sports. Topics were shallower, easier to read and photographs began to dominate text. The paper quickly became a huge commercial success and six years later more than a million people used to buy a copy each day.
Britain’s red top tabloids such as The Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, Sun, Daily Express or The Daily Star have become the leading titles at the press market in the UK. Similarly, to the counterparts from the US, their content is dominated by entertaining stories.
The 1970s brought some changes in the United States, especially in terms of many daily tabloids, which became weekly publications and started to appear in supermarkets. The most popular of them are for instance National Enquirer or The Globe. The substantial part of their coverage oscillates around aspects associated with the Hollywood scene.
Many of publications, which I mentioned, exist until the present day and their individual sensational style opened doors for other mediums such as television or Internet, which have been an object of tabloidization since the 1980s. We can observe it for example in number of reality shows, which have been produced during the last three decades or websites that focus on celebrity hunting, such as TMZ.
Tabloid journalism it’s a real phenomenon, which except of being criticised throughout the decades- still exists. Its boundaries have been pushed many times since the appearance of penny press in the streets of New York. The recent case of the hacking scandal in 2011, revealed many criminal practises of red top British newspaper News of The World, such as hacking the phones of famous people or murdered girl Milly Dowler. It has begun questioning the state of modern tabloid journalism and led to the closure of legendary publication, leaving a huge disgust reflected in the international debate.
Are the published stories going to be more controversial? What kinds of tactics are used in order to get the desired material? How this area of journalism is being perceived by practitioners? Is it a privilege or embarrassment to be a part of such a publication? I hope that you will find answers for these and other questions in interviews with three inspiring journalists: Marlise Kast, Dick Belsky and Jeffrey Scott Shapiro.
Michal Lachowicz
Bibliography:
Article based on study by:
Örnebring, H. and Jönsson, A. (2008). Tabloid Journalism and the public sphere: a historical perspective on tabloid journalism. In: A. Biressi and H. Nunn, ed., The Tabloid Culture Reader, 1st ed. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press.
By Michal Lachowicz