British Tabloid Press

A class of popular British newspapers, mainly established in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, aimed at mass readerships, and became notorious for their focus on scandal and sensationalized human interest stories. Although in long-term decline, they remain dominant in terms of circulation and the setting of the news agenda for other British media organizations and politicians.

Britain retains an extensive network of local and regional newspapers, but the British news agenda is still largely determined by 11 national morning daily and 11 Sunday newspapers, principally based in London. Of these, six daily and seven Sunday titles can be described as tabloid.

The term tabloid refers to three aspects of popular journalism:

• a style of journalism that is readeer-friendly and uses a stylized imitation of popular speech, a dramatic layout, and large visuals;
• a small format newspaper, generally half the size of a “broadsheet”;
• pejoratively, a journalistic content that is stigmatized as “down-market,” lacking in veracity, and malignly concerned with titillating its readers with the worst in human behavior.

In June 2008 tabloid newspapers accounted for 7.6 million of the 11.1 million total circulation of British national daily papers and 8.9 million of the 11.3  million Sunday circulation. In addition most local newspapers in Britain have shifted to a small size tabloid format and many cities now have free newspapers, in the same user-friendly shape, distributed to homes or handed out in city centers, so that size alone is no longer a clear indication of a tabloid news approach.

British tabloid newspapers are distinguished by a strident focus on crime, celebrity, scandal, gossip, sport, and human interest stories with relatively little space given to politics, foreign news, and social issues. They tend to have bold layouts and designs, with an emphasis on large headlines and visuals, typically within a small format page ranging in size from 11.8 by 15.6 inches to 11.4 by 14.2 inches, and the use of a striking front page, frequently as a poster promoting the contents within. They deploy a variety of devices to involve readers, including campaigns concerning high-profile issues such as child-abuse, gifts, competitions, gambling (Bingo, Lotto, football, horse-racing), stunts (infiltrating airports with fake bombs, gate-crashing celebrity birthday [Page 219]parties), and horoscopes, and they carry prominently a range of feature material devoted to lifestyle issues such as health, personal finance, and relationship problems.