Tabloid television

Tabloid television, also known as Teletabloid, is a form of tabloid journalism. Tabloid television newscasts usually incorporate flashy graphics and sensationalized stories.^{[citation needed]}Often, there is a heavy emphasis on crime, stories with good video, and celebrity news. It is a form of infotainment.

The United States is not the only television market with this television genre of broadcasting - Australia, New Zealand, England and France, to name a few, all have tabloid television programing that reflects this same down-market, sensationalist style of journalism and entertainment.

Examples of tabloid television

The basic tabloid television format developed on nationally syndicated programs such as Hard Copy, Inside Edition, and A Current Affair, which all incorporate flashy graphics with sensational stories. Tabloid talk shows were extremely popular during the end of the 20th century.

WSVN in Miami, Florida was one of the first stations to popularize the tabloid format in local television news.^{[citation needed]} Today, the format is prevalent among FOX affiliates such as WNYW and WTTG.^{[citation needed]} FOX's parent company, News Corporation, owns The New York Post, a notorious daily tabloid newspaper.^{[citation needed]}

A commonly cited example of tabloid television run amok is a series of reports in 2001 collectively dubbed the Summer of the Shark, focusing on a supposed epidemic of shark attacks after one highly-publicized attack on an 8-year-old boy. In reality, there were a below-average number of shark attacks that year.^{[citation needed]}

Parodies of news and entertainment

Drop the Dead Donkey (Channel 4, UK)
Frontline (ABC, Australia)

Further reading

• Potter, Deborah (October/November 2003). A Story for All Seasons. American Journalism Review. Found at NewsLab.org (July 16, 2005).
• John Langer (1998). Tabloid television: popular journalism and the "other news". Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-06636-5. 
• Joshua Gamson (1999). Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows and Sexual Nonconformity. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-28065-3. 

External links

• Tabloid Television at the Museum of Broadcast Communications