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Atabloid is anewspaper format characterized by its compact size, smaller than abroadsheet. The term originates from the 19th century, when theLondon-based pharmaceutical companyBurroughs Wellcome & Co. used the term to describecompressed pills, later adopted by newspapers to denote condensed content. There are two main types of tabloid newspaper:red tops andcompact, distinguished by editorial style.
Red top tabloids are distinct frombroadsheet newspapers, which traditionally cater to more affluent, educated audiences with in-depth reporting and analysis. However, the line between tabloids and broadsheets has blurred in recent decades, as many broadsheet newspapers have adopted tabloid or compact formats to reduce costs and attract readers.
Globally, the tabloid format has been adapted to suit regional preferences and media landscapes. In countries likeGermany andAustralia, tabloids such asBild andThe Daily Telegraph have significant readerships and political clout.
The wordtabloid comes from the name given by theLondon-based pharmaceutical companyBurroughs Wellcome & Co. to the compressedtablets they marketed as "Tabloid" pills in the late 1880s.[1] The wordtabloid was soon applied to other small compressed items. A 1902 item in London'sWestminster Gazette noted, "The proprietor intends to give in tabloid form all the news printed by other journals." Thus, by 1901,tabloid journalism originally meant condensed stories in a simplified, easily absorbed format. Later, by 1918,tabloid was also being used to refer to smaller sheet newspapers that contained the condensed stories.[2]
Tabloid newspapers, especially in theUnited Kingdom, vary widely in their target market, political alignment, editorial style, and circulation. Thus, various terms have been coined to describe the subtypes of this versatile paper format. There are, broadly, two main types of tabloid newspaper:red top andcompact. The distinction is largely of editorial style; both red top and compact tabloids span the width of the political spectrum fromsocialism tocapitalistconservatism, although red-top tabloids, on account of their historically working-class target market, generally embracepopulism to some degree. Red top tabloids are so named due to their tendency, in British and Commonwealth usage, to have theirmastheads printed in red ink; the termcompact was coined to avoid the connotation of the wordtabloid, which implies a red top tabloid, and has lent its name totabloid journalism, which is journalism after the fashion of red top reporters.
Red top tabloids, named after their distinguishing redmastheads, employ a form of writing known astabloid journalism; this style emphasizes features such assensational crime stories, astrology,gossip columns about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, andjunk food news. Celebrity gossip columns which appear in red top tabloids and focus on theirsexual practices,misuse of narcotics, and theprivate aspects of their lives often border on, and sometimes cross the line ofdefamation.
Red tops tend to be written with a simplistic, straightforward vocabulary and grammar; their layout usually gives greater prominence to the picture than to the word. The writing style of red top tabloids is often accused ofsensationalism and extreme political bias; red tops have been accused of deliberately ignitingcontroversy and selectively reporting on attention-grabbing stories, or those withshock value. In the extreme case, tabloids have been accused of lying or misrepresenting the truth to increase circulation.[3][4]
Examples of British red top newspapers includeThe Sun, theDaily Star and theDaily Mirror. Although not using red mastheads, theDaily Mail andDaily Express also use the 'tabloid journalism' model.
In contrast to red-top tabloids, compacts use an editorial style more closely associated withbroadsheet newspapers. In fact, most compact tabloids formerly used the broadsheet paper size, but changed to accommodate reading in tight spaces, such as on a crowdedcommuter bus ortrain. The termcompact was coined in the 1970s by theDaily Mail, one of the earlier newspapers to make the change, although it now once again calls itself a tabloid.[citation needed] The purpose behind this was to avoid the association of the wordtabloid with the flamboyant, salacious editorial style of the red top newspaper.
The early converts from broadsheet format made the change in the 1970s; two British papers that took this step at the time were theDaily Mail and theDaily Express. In 2003,The Independent also made the change for the same reasons, quickly followed byThe Scotsman andThe Times. On the other hand,The Morning Star had always used the tabloid size, but stands in contrast to both the red top papers and the former broadsheets; althoughThe Morning Star emphasizeshard news, it embracessocialism and is circulated mostly amongblue-collarlabourers.
Compact tabloids, just likebroadsheet- andBerliner-format newspapers, span the political spectrum fromprogressive toconservative and fromcapitalist tosocialist.
InMorocco,Maroc Soir, launched in November 2005, is published in tabloid format.[5]
InSouth Africa, the Bloemfontein-based daily newspaperVolksblad became the first serious broadsheet newspaper to switch to tabloid, but only on Saturdays. Despite the format being popular with its readers, the newspaper remains broadsheet on weekdays. This is also true of Pietermaritzburg's daily,The Witness in the province ofKwaZulu-Natal. TheDaily Sun, published byNaspers, has since become South Africa's biggest-selling daily newspaper and is aimed primarily at the black working class.[citation needed] It sells over 500,000 copies per day, reaching approximately 3,000,000 readers.[citation needed] Besides offering a sometimes satirical view of the seriousness of mainstream news, theDaily Sun also covers fringe theories and paranormal claims such astikoloshes, ancestral visions and all things supernatural. It is also published as theSunday Sun.
InMauritius, the popular afternoon newspaperLe Mauricien shifted from tabloid (1908–2008) to theBerliner format (2008–2013) and now adopts a compact format with 32 pages during the week and 48 pages on Saturday.
InBangladesh, the DailyManab Zamin became the first and is now the largest circulated Bengali language tabloid in the world.[6]
InGeorgia, the weeklyEnglish-language newspaperThe Financial switched to a compact format in 2005 and doubled the number of pages in each issue. Other Georgian-language newspapers have tested compact formats in the early 1990s.
Tabloid journalism is still an evolving concept in India's print media. The first tabloid,Blitz was started byRussi Karanjia on February 1, 1941, with the words "Our Blitz, India's Blitz againstHitler!".Blitz was first published in English and then branched out withHindi,Marathi andUrdu versions. In 1974, Russi's daughter Rita founded theCine Blitz magazine. In 2005,Times of India brought out a dedicated Mumbai tabloid newspaper,Mumbai Mirror, which gives prominence to Mumbai-related stories and issues.Tehelka started as a news portal in 2000. It broke the story about match-fixing in Indian and International Cricket and the sting operation on defence deals in the Indian Army. In 2007, it closed shop and reappeared in tabloid form, and has been appreciated for its brand of investigative journalism. Other popular tabloid newspapers in English media areMid-Day, an afternoon newspaper published out of and dedicated to Mumbai and business newspapers likeMINT. There are numerous tabloids in most of India's official languages. There is an all youth tabloid by the name of TILT – The ILIKE Times.
In Indonesia, tabloids include Bola,GO (Gema Olahraga, defunct),Soccer (defunct),Fantasy (defunct),Buletin Sinetron (defunct),Pro TV (defunct),Citra (defunct),Genie,Bintang Indonesia (Indonesian Stars),Nyata,Wanita Indonesia (Women of Indonesia),Cek and Ricek, andNova.
In Oman,TheWeek is a free, 48-page, all-colour, independent weekly published from Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. Oman's first free newspaper was launched in March 2003 and has now gone on to gather what is believed to be the largest readership for any publication in Oman. Ms Mohana Prabhakar is the managing editor of the publication.TheWeek is audited by BPA Worldwide, which has certified its circulation as being a weekly average of 50,300.
In Pakistan,Khabrain is a tabloid newspaper popular within the lower middle class. This news group introduced a new paper,Naya Akhbar which is comparably more sensational. At the local level, many sensational tabloids can be seen but, unlikeKhabrain or other big national newspapers, they are distributed only on local levels in districts.
Tabloids in the Philippines are usually written in local languages, likeTagalog orBisaya, one of the listed top Tagalog tabloids isBulgar, but some are written in English, like thePeople's Journal andTempo. Like their common journalistic connotations, Philippine tabloids usually report sensationalist crime stories and celebrity gossip, and some tabloids feature topless photos of girls. Several tabloids are vernacular counterparts of English broadsheet newspapers by the same publisher, likePilipino Star Ngayon (The Philippine Star),Bandera (Philippine Daily Inquirer), andBalita (Manila Bulletin). In theSouthern Philippines, a new weekly tabloid,The Mindanao Examiner, now includes media services, such as photography and video production, into its line as a source to finance the high cost of printing and other expenses. It is also into independent film making.
TheBerliner format, used by many prominentEuropean newspapers, is sized between the tabloid and the broadsheet. In a newspaper context, the termBerliner is generally used only to describe size, not to refer to other qualities of the publication. The biggest tabloid (and newspaper in general) in Europe, by circulation, is Germany'sBild, with around 2.5 million copies (down from above 5 million in the 1980s). Although its paper size is bigger, its style was copied from the British tabloids.
InDenmark, tabloids in the British sense are known as 'formiddagsblade' (before-noon newspapers), the two biggest beingBT andEkstra Bladet. The old more serious newspaperBerlingske Tidende shifted from broadsheet to tabloid format in 2006, while keeping the news profile intact.
InFinland, the biggest newspaper and biggest daily subscription newspaper in the Nordic countriesHelsingin Sanomat changed its size from broadsheet to tabloid on 8 January 2013.
InFrance, theNice Matin (orLe Dauphiné), a popular Southern France newspaper changed from Broadsheet to Tabloid on 8 April 2006. They changed the printing format in one day after test results showed that 74% liked the Tabloid format compared to Broadsheet. But the most famous tabloid dealing with crime stories isLe Nouveau Détective, created in the early 20th century. This weekly tabloid has a national circulation.
In theNetherlands, several newspapers have started publishing tabloid versions of their newspapers, including one of the major 'quality' newspapers,NRC Handelsblad, withnrc•next (ceased 2021) in 2006. Two free tabloid newspapers were also introduced in the early 2000s, 'Metro andSp!ts (ceased 2014), mostly for distribution in public transportation. In 2007, a third and fourth free tabloid appeared, 'De Pers' (ceased 2012) and 'DAG' (ceased 2008).De Telegraaf, came in broadsheet but changed to tabloid in 2014.[7]
InNorway, close to all newspapers have switched from the broadsheet to the tabloid format, which measures 280 x 400 mm. The three biggest newspapers areDagbladet,VG, andAftenposten.
InPoland, the newspaperFakt, sometimesSuper Express is considered as tabloid.[8]
In the United Kingdom, three previously broadsheet daily newspapers—The Times,The Scotsman andThe Guardian—have switched to tabloid size in recent years, and two—Daily Express andDaily Mail—in former years, althoughThe Times andThe Scotsman call the format "compact" to avoid the down-market connotation of the wordtabloid. Similarly, when referring to the down-market tabloid newspapers the alternative term "red-top" (referring to their traditionally red-coloured mastheads) is increasingly used, to distinguish them from the up- and middle-market compact newspapers.The Morning Star also comes in tabloid format; however, it avoids celebrity stories, and instead favours issues relating tolabour unions.
InCanada many newspapers ofPostmedia'sSun brand are in tabloid format includingThe Province, a newspaper for theBritish Columbia market. The Canadian publisherBlack Press publishes newspapers in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta in both tabloid (10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) wide by14+1⁄2 in (368 mm) deep) and what it calls "tall tab" format, where the latter is10+1⁄4 in (260 mm) wide by16+1⁄4 in (413 mm) deep, larger than tabloid but smaller than the broadsheets it also publishes.[9]
In theUnited States, daily tabloids date back to the founding of theNew York Daily News in 1919, followed by theNew York Daily Mirror, and theNew York Evening Graphic in the 1920s. Competition among those three for crime, sex and celebrity news was considered a scandal to the mainstream press of the day. The tabloid format is used by a number of respected and indeed prize-winning American papers. Prominent U.S. tabloids include theNew York Post, theDaily News andNewsday in New York, theSan Francisco Examiner,The Bakersfield Californian andLa Opinión inCalifornia,The Jersey Journal andThe Trentonian in New Jersey, thePhiladelphia Daily News, theDelaware County Daily Times andThe Citizens' Voice,The Burlington Free Press, theChicago Sun-Times, and theBoston Herald. US tabloids that ceased publication include Denver'sRocky Mountain News.
InAustralia, tabloids includeThe Advertiser, theHerald Sun,The Sun-Herald,The Daily Telegraph,The Courier Mail,The West Australian,The Mercury,the Hamilton Spectator,The Portland Observer,The Casterton News andThe Melbourne Observer.
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InArgentina, one of the country's two main newspapers,Clarín, is a tabloid.
InBrazil, many newspapers are tabloids, including sports dailyLance! (which circulates in cities such asRio de Janeiro andSão Paulo), most publications currently and formerly owned byGrupo RBS (especially thePorto Alegre dailyZero Hora), and, in March 2009, Rio de Janeiro-basedO Dia switched to tabloid from broadsheet, though, several years later, it reverted to being a broadsheet. Its sister publication,Meia Hora has always been a tabloid, but in slightly smaller format thanO Dia andLance!.
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. Alternative weekly tabloids may concentrate on local and neighbourhood-level issues, and on entertainment in bars, theatres, or other such venues.
Alternative tabloids can be positioned asupmarket (quality) newspapers, to appeal to the better-educated, higher-income sector of the market; asmiddle-market (popular); or asdownmarket (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, supermarkets, and the sex industry. Both usually contain ads from local bars, auto dealers, movie theaters, and a classified ads section.
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