Tabloid Tales - (Critical Media Studies: Institutions, Politics, and Culture) by Colin Sparks & John Tulloch (Paperback)

About the Book

The increasing interest in private lives and the falling off of coverage of serious news is often described as 'tabloidization.' The essays in this book are the first serious scholarly studies of what is going on and what its implications are. Reality, it turns out, is much mo...

Book Synopsis

The increasing interest in private lives and the falling off of coverage of serious news is often described as 'tabloidization.' The essays in this book are the first serious scholarly studies of what is going on and what its implications are. Reality, it turns out, is much more complex than some of the laments suggest. As the contributors show, this is not just a U.S. problem but is repeated in country after country, and it is not certain that the media anywhere are getting more tabloid. What is more, there is no consensus about whether tabloidization is just 'dumbing down' or whether it is a necessary tactic for the mass media to engage with new audiences who do not have the news habit.

Review Quotes

Most rewarding.

The book is an excellent source of theoretical discussion and well-supported research on tabloidization.

The scope and range of these chapters are impressive.

This book is worth reading and the ideas in it worth exploring.

This book-and its willingness to deal with implications-enables the reader to draw better conclusions than would be possible without it.

About the Author

Colin Sparks is professor of media studies in the Centre for Communication and Information Studies at the University of Westminster.

John Tulloch is chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Westminster.