The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > The tabloid turn > Comments

The tabloid turn : Comments

By David Rowe, published 5/3/2013

This creeping process of tabloidisation has been criticised for infecting other media, such as the 'tabloid television' of commercial news and current affairs.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. All
"...involved as never before in these debates about what constitutes a quality press."

Will, sadly, be a short debate without viablilty ~ the need for which is the driver of these changes.

A gutter press is not a good news channel.

"Given that "we are all tabloid now", Australian print journalists and their readers are forced to confront the collapse of a familiar, value-laden distinction"

An unreasonable distinction as it has always been true that size does not matter as much as what you do with it...

Content and context is everything.

In any event as more people get theirs through Android Tabloid screens, the distinctions get even more blurred whilst the display resolutions don't.
Posted by WmTrevor, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 8:23:35 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
...How refreshing, here is evidence that pandering to the “hoi-oligoi”, is actually detrimental to the bottom line. I only wish for Politicians to quickly learn from this lesson!
Posted by diver dan, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 9:04:35 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Wouldn't it be nice, if someone would just take this bloke in hand & show him how to GET A LIFE.
Posted by Hasbeen, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 9:16:09 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Not sure what to make of the other posts..

But the author may be looking at two, connected trends.. both the shift to compact format and the shift in content are due to the fact that the traditional media is losing readers and ads, so they've had to shift to adapt. shifting to tabloid in itself does not mean the articles necessarily become less serious or more about lifestyle.. the SM Herald, for example, has long been running more lifestyle stories, and now its also gone tabloid.
Posted by Curmudgeon, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 9:38:44 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
After two days of the tabloid 'Age', I've got two observations: the content is even more rabidly, sensationally green and anti-Liberal than before; there's more 'lifestyle', 'wellbeing' and related rubbish than ever. Even the crossword, the only reason I've bought 'The Age' for the past decade or so is now harder to read, especially for those of us with ageing eyes.

A once fine paper continues its downward spiral.
Posted by Senior Victorian, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 9:46:30 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
...Unfortunately or not, it’s the “masses” that count in the bottom line. They represent the drunken and debauched, the faggots and dykes, the crooked and straight, rich and poor, and generally speaking the “voting” public with a voice to heed or to ignore at peril.

...There is no divide and rule about Murdoch; in true Capitalist style he simply plundered the masses by “Tabloid”!
Posted by diver dan, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 9:48:00 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
It is claimed that the tabloid form is easier to read on trains and buses. What drivel!

65 pages on the “New Age,” or so we are told. Sometimes the tabloid newspaper has over 100 pages. Try turning pages over sitting in a chair impossible without disturbing the paper. In my opinion it can only be achieved using a table to support the darned thing.

Then added to the mess are a number of unwanted extras; wrap around, insertion pages of all sorts, fly sheets, small advertising cards and god knows what else. All this is supposed to make easy reading on a train! What rubbish! What a source of litter!

As for quality, in the mid-20th century and earlier the “London Times” were known as the “mighty thunderer.” Why it was even said Governments quaked and trembled over an adverse editorial column. Alas no more!
Posted by anti-green, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 12:29:30 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
The debate about tabloid vs broadsheet is largely a phony one. Two things in particular stand out about modern newspapers. The first is that in this country at least they do not meet the information needs of an educated public. Hence the huge increase in Internet use to be able to keep reasonably well informed, being able to draw upon a diverse range of sources. Several sites such as information clearing house have grown precisely to meet this demand.

The second point is that the mainstream media, irrespective of size/format essentially serves the interests of a small class of powerful people and institutions. The gossip pages, crosswords, sport etc are essentially the equivalent of ancient bread and circuses to keep the masses from getting restless.

It is not just a question of lies, half truths and disinformation that are fed to us on a daily basis by print, radio and tv journalism. It is what we are not told that is arguably even more important. Google Project Censored to see an ongoing brilliant analysis of the stories the mainstream choose not to highlight or even tell us about at all.

This is far more important that whether the pap is served up in either broadsheet or tabloid format.
Posted by James O'Neill, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 12:50:02 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Oh I don't know James, I find size is quite important.

I used to buy the Saturday Courier Mail, but I found the pages were a bit large & wasteful, so I switched to the Gold Coast Bulletin.

It's pages are about the right size, & there are more of them, so it's more economic.

With the extra pages, I can even miss the odd Saturday, with out running out of rubbish wrapping paper, ever.
Posted by Hasbeen, Wednesday, 6 March 2013 10:01:54 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Once again those who think they are better are whining about drivel. Fairfax is nigh on broke and the move to a customer friendly format is treated much as the Devil quoting Scripture. I understand sales are up, you know money not extorted from citizens by coercion of the state to pay for it (unlike their ABC).

Maybe the Left's love affair with broadsheet was a social marker that they were in a such a cushy situation (Public teat), that practicality matters not?
Posted by McCackie, Monday, 11 March 2013 7:41:48 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy