Tabloid television, also known as teletabloid, is a form of

tabloid journalism Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as a half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, an ...

. Tabloid television

news broadcasting News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either video production, produced local programming ...

usually incorporate flashy graphics and sensationalized stories. Often, there is a heavy emphasis on crime and

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

news.

Global perspective

The United States is not the only

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

with this

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

of broadcasting. Among English-speaking countries, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom all have tabloid

television shows A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platfo ...

that reflect this same down-market, sensationalist style of

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

and entertainment, as do other countries such as France and Spain. Media moguls such as

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

can be seen as having transferred subject matter previously seen in print journalism to this television genre. In his book ''Tabloid Television'', John Langer argues that this type of "other news" is as equally important as the "hard news".

Examples of tabloid television

Popular shows of this type include ''

Hard Copy In information handling, the U.S. Federal Standard 1037C (Glossary of Telecommunication Terms) defines a hard copy as a permanent reproduction, or copy, in the form of a physical object, of any media suitable for direct use by a person (in par ...

'' and ''

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

''. A commonly cited example of tabloid television run amok is a series of reports in 2001 collectively dubbed the

Summer of the Shark Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

, focusing on a supposed epidemic of shark attacks after one highly publicized attack on an 8-year-old boy. In reality, there were fewer than average shark attacks that year. Other examples include the coverage of '

missing white woman syndrome Missing white woman syndrome is a term used by some social scientists and media commentators to denote perceived disproportionate media coverage, especially on television, of missing-person cases toward white females as compared to males, or fe ...

' stories like those of

Chandra Levy Chandra Ann Levy (April 14, 1977 – May 1, 2001) was an American intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C., who disappeared in May 2001. She was presumed murdered after her skeletal remains were found in Rock Creek Park ...

Elizabeth Smart Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (née Smart; born November 3, 1987) is an American child safety activist and commentator for ABC News. She gained national attention at age 14 when she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell. ...

, and

Laci Peterson Laci Denise Peterson (née Rocha; May 4, 1975 — ) was an American woman murdered by her husband, Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972), while eight months pregnant with their first child. The case has remained a subject of public interest ...

. Critics claim that news executives are boosting ratings with these stories, which only affect a select few people, instead of broadcasting national issues.

Global perspective

Examples of tabloid television

See also

References

Further reading