Tabloids

  • Founding Issues: The Sun’s day out

    In a usual news cycle, The Sun has a lot to say about things. In fact, it gets behind the biggest issues of the day and splashes them across its front pages.

    It’s the way of tabloid journalism in the UK, as it seeks to make a noise – and make it profitable. The sales of tabloids are startling in comparison to other styles.

    The Sun website

    Its takeover by Rupert Murdoch in 1969 turned it over from sluggish broadsheet reporting – and circulation – into a behemoth in the political world.

    Although its appeal is mass-market, its incursions into politics have been said to start and end political careers, as well as define the system itself.

  • Founding Issues: Reading The Daily Mail

    The Daily Mail is a staple of journalistic tradition. Its first outing, in 1896, set off a parallel journey for its journalists in the wider realm. They followed key events as they were to unfold, and played a role.

    The title’s sponsorship of an aviation first over the English Channel is indicative of its initial role in inspiring the public about current events. In times since it’s taken a different approach.

    Snippets of The Daily Mail website

    Today, its pages are filled with crimes, calamities, and calumny. The average reader is presented with dire statistics. There are ‘exclusives’ and tales to be told it sells to millions without hesitation.

    The outlook is bleak. It’s not a good thing to be ‘headlined’ by The Daily Mail, but others fair better. A number of significant political figures have written for it. It’s backed more than a few big books.

    The industry is flat in its landscape right now. The Daily Mail still looms large over it. The skyscraper of the industry is a scaled rebuke of our times. It argues month after month, and the years show its true.