`Tabloidization' of News

Abstract

`Tabloidization' is a new, frequently used term equally employed by journalists, media critics and academics to characterize a recent, dubious trend in the mass media. This article sets out to define this diffuse, multidimensional concept and discusses its usefulness for communication research. It emerges that `tabloidization' can only be analysed adequately with a long-term cross-national design that focuses on quality news media and employs a wide range of empirical measures. This approach is taken here by comparing the press of Britain, Germany and the US, whereas the focus remains on the first two countries. A three-step empirical analysis — based on a definition developed before — demonstrates that journalistic values, media cultures as well as economic and legal conditions are responsible for the degree of `tabloidization' in a given country.