Tabloid journalism

{{See also|Jazz journalism}}

Scandal sheets were the precursors to tabloid journalism. Around 1770, scandal sheets appeared in London, and in the United States as early as the 1840s.{{r|klatt}} Reverend Henry Bate Dudley was the editor of one of the earliest scandal sheets, The Morning Post, which specialized in printing malicious society gossip, selling positive mentions in its pages, and collecting suppression fees to keep stories unpublished.{{r|wilkes|p=11–14}} Other Georgian era scandal sheets were Theodore Hook's John Bull, Charles Molloy Westmacott's The Age, and Barnard Gregory's The Satirist.{{r|wilkes|p=53}} William d'Alton Mann, owner of the scandal sheet Town Topics, explained his purpose: "My ambition is to reform the Four Hundred by making them too deeply disgusted with themselves to continue their silly, empty way of life."{{r|wilkes|p=93}} Many scandal sheets in the U.S. were short-lived attempts at blackmail.{{r|wilkes|p=90}} One of the most popular in the U.S. was the National Police Gazette.{{cite book|last=Klatt|first=Wayne|title=Chicago journalism : a history|publisher=McFarland & Co|publication-place=Jefferson, N.C|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7864-4181-5|oclc=277136414|page=41}}

Scandal sheets in the early 20th century were usually 4- or 8-page cheap papers specializing in the lurid and profane, sometimes used to grind political, ideological, or personal axes, sometimes to make money (because "scandal sells"), and sometimes for extortion. A Duluth, Minnesota example was the Rip-saw, written by a fundamentalist journalist named John L. Morrison who was outraged by the vice and corruption he observed in that 1920s mining town. Rip-saw regularly published accusations of drunkenness, debauchery, and corruption against prominent citizens and public officials. Morrison was convicted of criminal libel in one instance, but his scandal sheet may have contributed to several politicians losing their elections. After Morrison published an issue claiming that State Senator Mike Boylan had threatened to kill him, Boylan responded by helping to pass the Public Nuisance Bill of 1925. It allowed a single judge, without jury, to stop a newspaper or magazine from publishing, forever. Morrison died before the new law could be used to shut down Rip-saw. The Saturday Press was another Minnesota scandal sheet. When the Public Nuisance Bill of 1925 was used to shut down The Saturday Press, the case made its way to the United States Supreme Court which found the gag law to be unconstitutional.{{cite book|last=Cohen|first=Daniel|url=https://archive.org/details/yellowjournalism00cohe|title=Yellow Journalism|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|year=2000|isbn=0761315020|pages=39–52|url-access=registration}}

{{see also|Gossip magazine}}

In the United States and Canada, "supermarket tabloids" are large, national versions of these tabloids, usually published weekly. They are named for their prominent placement along the supermarket checkout lines.

In the 1960s, the National Enquirer began selling magazines in supermarkets as an alternative to newsstands. To help with their rapport with supermarkets and continue their franchise within them, they had offered to buy back unsold issues so newer, more up to date ones could be displayed.

These tabloids—such as the Globe and the National Enquirer—often use aggressive tactics to sell their issues. Unlike regular tabloid-format newspapers, supermarket tabloids are distributed through the magazine distribution channel like other weekly magazines and mass-market paperback books. Leading examples include the National Enquirer, Star, Weekly World News (later reinvented as a parody of the style), and the Sun. Most major supermarket tabloids in the U.S. are published by American Media, Inc., including the National Enquirer, Star, Globe, and National Examiner.

A major event in the history of U.S. supermarket tabloids was the successful libel lawsuit by Carol Burnett against the National Enquirer (Carol Burnett v. National Enquirer, Inc.), arising out of a false 1976 report in the National Enquirer, implying she was drunk and boisterous in a public encounter with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Though its impact is widely debated, it is generally seen as a significant turning point in the relations between celebrities and tabloid journalism, increasing the willingness of celebrities to sue for libel in the U.S., and somewhat dampening the recklessness of U.S. tabloids.{{cite news|last=Scott|first=Vernon|date=March 22, 1981|title=Carol Burnett launches trial balloon|website=|publisher=United Press International|url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/03/22/Carol-Burnett-launches-trial-balloon/6032354085200/|access-date=January 1, 2017|archive-date=2 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102173231/http://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/03/22/Carol-Burnett-launches-trial-balloon/6032354085200/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Lindsey|first=Robert|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/27/us/carol-burnett-given-1.6-million-in-suit-against-national-enquirer.html|title=Carol Burnett given 1.6 million in suit against National Enquirer|date=March 27, 1981|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 1, 2017|archive-date=23 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323010442/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/27/us/carol-burnett-given-1.6-million-in-suit-against-national-enquirer.html|url-status=live}}[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/04/news/how-the-supermarket-tabloids-stay-out-of-court.html "How the Supermarket Tabloids Stay Out of Court"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107174814/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/04/news/how-the-supermarket-tabloids-stay-out-of-court.html|date=7 January 2017}}, January 4, 1991, The New York Times, retrieved January 1, 2017.{{cite news|last=Langberg|first=Barry|date=August 12, 1991|title=Tabloids' Lies Abuse the First Amendment|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-12-ca-468-story.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=January 1, 2017|archive-date=3 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103002443/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-08-12/entertainment/ca-468_1_tabloids|url-status=live}} (Opinion essay by libel attorney for Burnett and others){{cite news|last=Beam|first=Alex|date=August 1999|title=Tabloid Law|work=The Atlantic Monthly|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/08/tabloid-law/377722/|url-access=subscription|access-date=January 1, 2017|archive-date=12 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312050511/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/08/tabloid-law/377722/|url-status=live}} Other celebrities have attempted to sue tabloid magazines for libel and slander including Phil McGraw in 2016 and Richard Simmons in 2017.{{cite web|title=Richard Simmons v the National Enquirer|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/357656566/Richard-Simmons-v-the-National-Enquirer|url-access=subscription|access-date=November 1, 2017|via=Scribd|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807214520/https://www.scribd.com/document/357656566/Richard-Simmons-v-the-National-Enquirer|url-status=live}}

Tabloids may pay for stories. Besides scoops meant to be headline stories, this can be used to censor stories damaging to the paper's allies. Known as "catch and kill", tabloid newspapers may pay someone for the exclusive rights to a story, then choose not to run it.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/catch-and-kill-at-national-enquirer-gives-media-one-last-black-eye-before-election/2016/11/05/2534d43e-a36c-11e6-8832-23a007c77bb4_story.html|title='Catch and kill' at National Enquirer gives media one last black eye before election|last=Sullivan|first=Margaret|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=November 5, 2016|access-date=December 6, 2017|archive-date=7 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207140024/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/catch-and-kill-at-national-enquirer-gives-media-one-last-black-eye-before-election/2016/11/05/2534d43e-a36c-11e6-8832-23a007c77bb4_story.html|url-status=live}} Publisher American Media has been accused of burying stories embarrassing to Arnold Schwarzenegger,{{cite news|last1=Nicholas|first1=Peter|last2=Hall|first2=Carla|date=August 12, 2005|title=Tabloid's Deal With Woman Shielded Schwarzenegger|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-aug-12-me-arnold12-story.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=December 6, 2017|archive-date=6 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806171954/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/12/local/me-arnold12|url-status=live}} Donald Trump,{{cite news|last1=Palazzolo|first1=Joe|last2=Rothfield|first2=Michael|last3=Alpert|first3=Lukas|date=November 4, 2016|title=National Enquirer Shielded Donald Trump From Playboy Model's Affair Allegation|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/national-enquirer-shielded-donald-trump-from-playboy-models-affair-allegation-1478309380|url-access=subscription|access-date=December 6, 2017|archive-date=16 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216232035/https://www.wsj.com/articles/national-enquirer-shielded-donald-trump-from-playboy-models-affair-allegation-1478309380|url-status=live}} and Harvey Weinstein.{{cite news|last1=Twohey|first1=Megan|last2=Kantor|first2=Jodi|last3=Dominus|first3=Susan|last4=Rutenberg|first4=Jim|last5=Eder|first5=Steve|date=December 6, 2017|title=Weinstein's Complicity Machine|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/05/us/harvey-weinstein-complicity.html|url-access=subscription|access-date=December 6, 2017|archive-date=6 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206003245/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/05/us/harvey-weinstein-complicity.html|url-status=live}}

The term "red tops" refers to British tabloids with red mastheads, such as The Sun, the Daily Star, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Record.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/dec/06/pressandpublishing.abcs|title=Red-tops on the rise, survey shows|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=December 6, 2007|author=Stephen Brook|access-date=April 1, 2012|archive-date=4 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204090959/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/dec/06/pressandpublishing.abcs|url-status=live}} Red top publications may report on politics and international news, but tend to focus primarily on celebrity gossip and sensationalism. Red tops publish short stories with simple language and typically use more pictures than other newspapers.{{Cite web |title=Types of newspaper - Newspapers - GCSE Media Studies Revision |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zps4qty/revision/1 |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=BBC Bitesize |language=en-GB}}

{{See also|Leveson Inquiry}}

In the early 21st century, much of tabloid journalism and news production changed mediums to online formats. This change is to keep up with the era of digital media and allow for increased accessibility of readers. With a steady decline in paid newspapers, the gap has been filled by expected free daily articles, mostly in the tabloid format. Tabloid readers are often youths, and studies show that consumers of tabloids are on average less educated.{{Citation|last=Bastos|first=Marco T.|chapter=Digital Journalism And Tabloid Journalism|date=2016-11-18|title=The Routledge Companion to Digital Journalism Studies|pages=217–225|editor-last=Franklin|editor-first=Bob|edition=1|publisher=Routledge|language=en|doi=10.4324/9781315713793-22|isbn=978-1-315-71379-3|chapter-url=http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/15368/1/Bastos%20-%20Digital%20Journalism%20and%20Tabloid%20Journalism%20%28preprint%29.pdf|editor2-last=Eldridge|editor2-first=Scott A.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427141559/http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/15368/1/Bastos%20-%20Digital%20Journalism%20and%20Tabloid%20Journalism%20%28preprint%29.pdf|archive-date=27 April 2019|url-status=live}} It can often depict inaccurate news{{Cite journal|last1=Popović|first1=Virginia|last2=Popović|first2=Predrag|date=December 2014|title=The Twenty-First Century, the Reign of Tabloid Journalism|journal=Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences|language=en|volume=163|pages=12–18|doi=10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.12.280|doi-access=free}} and misrepresent individuals and situations.

{{Portal|Journalism}}

• Benji the Binman
• Disinformation
• Index of journalism articles
• Mediatization (media), for the social and political consequences of tabloidization
• Middle-market newspaper
• Misinformation

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite book|last=Wilkes|first=Roger|title=Scandal : a scurrilous history of gossip|publisher=Atlantic|publication-place=London|year=2002|isbn=1-903809-63-0|oclc=50434290|url=https://archive.org/details/scandalscurrilou00wilk}}

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{{Update section|date=March 2024|reason=per WP:Further reading}}

• Bastos, M. T. (2016). [https://web.archive.org/web/20190427141559/http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/15368/1/Bastos%20-%20Digital%20Journalism%20and%20Tabloid%20Journalism%20%28preprint%29.pdf Digital Journalism And Tabloid Journalism]. The Routledge Companion to Digital Journalism Studies, 217–225. {{doi|10.4324/9781315713793-22}}
• Popović, V., & Popović, P. (2014). [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814063812?via%3Dihub The Twenty-First Century, the Reign of Tabloid Journalism.] Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 163, 12–18. {{doi|10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.12.280}}
• Gekoski, Anna, Jacqueline M. Gray, and Joanna R. Adler. "What makes a homicide newsworthy? UK national tabloid newspaper journalists tell all." British Journal of Criminology 52.6 (2012): 1212–1232.
• Richardson, John E., and James Stanyer. "[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James_Stanyer/publication/239775322_Reader_opinion_in_the_digital_age_Tabloid_and_broadsheet_newspaper_websites_and_the_exercise_of_political_voice/links/55ae22c808aed9b7dcdb7327.pdf Reader opinion in the digital age: Tabloid and broadsheet newspaper websites and the exercise of political voice.]" Journalism 12.8 (2011): 983–1003. {{doi|10.1177/1464884911415974}}
• {{cite book|author=Wasserman, Herman|title=Tabloid Journalism in South Africa: True Story!|url=https://archive.org/details/tabloidjournalis0000wass|url-access=registration|year=2010|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-22211-4}}
• {{cite book|author=Morton, Paula E.|url=https://archive.org/details/tabloidvalleysup0000mort|title=Tabloid Valley: Supermarket News and American Culture|year=2009|publisher=University Press of Florida|isbn=978-0-8130-3364-8|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book|editor=Zelizer, Barbie|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/changingfacesofj0000unse|title=The Changing Faces of Journalism: Tabloidization, Technology and Truthiness|year=2009|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-77824-4}}
• Johansson, Sofia. "Gossip, sport and pretty girls: What does 'trivial' journalism mean to Tabloid Newspaper readers?." Journalism Practice 2.3 (2008): 402–413. {{doi|10.1080/17512780802281131}}
• {{cite book|author=Conboy, Martin|url=https://archive.org/details/tabloidbritainco0000conb|title=Tabloid Britain: Constructing a Community Through Language|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-35553-7|url-access=registration}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wiktionary|tabloid|red top}}

• {{Wikinews-inline|An interview with gossip columnist Michael Musto on the art of celebrity journalism}}

{{Media culture}}

{{Media manipulation}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:News media manipulation

Category:Media bias

Category:Types of journalism