Technically speaking, the term "tabloid" refers only to the half-broadsheet size of the papers. It is now almost invariably used to refer to the paper whose "stock in trade is the human-interest, graphically told story, heavy on pictures and short, pithy, highly stereotyped prose" (Bird 8).  The audience for tabloids is often "a mass, less-educated" one because "from the start the tabloid identified itself completely with the common people.  It concentrated upon their interests, dramatized their heroes and villains, responded with keen sensitivity to their needs and spoke their language" (Bessie 17). 

      Tabloids have flourished "in times of increased competition in the news industry as well in times of rapid social change, such as that experienced by the immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries" (Ehrlich 3). America's first successful daily tabloid, the New York Daily Graphic THIS IS INACCURATE; DAILY NEWS WAS FIRST TABLOID , LAUNCHED A COUPLE DAYS AFTER SIGNING OF TREATY OF VERSAILLES BROUGHT AN END TO WW1 was introduced in 1919 and immediately broke all records in newspaper circulation. 

     From as early as 1924, the objective of tabloid journalism has been to entertain rather than to inform. "We intend to interest you mightily," explained Bernarr MacFadden, publisher of the New York Daily Graphic.  "We intend to dramatize and sensationalize the news and some stories that are not news... If you read it from first to last and find anything therein that does not interest you, we want you to write and tell us about it" (Bird 7).  THIS IS HARD TO FOLLOW. HOW CAN A PAPER BE INTRODUCED WHEN IT'S ALREADY NINE-MONTHS-OLD. Closely following the introduction of the New York Daily Graphic was the popular production and distribution of "the nine-month-old paper, [the Mirror,] which, "[i]n March 1925 [...] crossed the 250,000 mark and by the summer of 1926 it had mounted to 370,000, a total exceeded by only one morning paper in New York -- the Daily News" (Bessie 143).  In the same year, the New York Evening Graphic is also created in an attempt to compete with the New York Daily Graphic. HUNH/ PAPERS HAVE THE SAME NAMES! With these two prominent publications the popularity and awareness of tabloids swept the nation and became a popular source for news regarding crime, sex and gossip of celebrities and not-so-average everyday people within society. 

     The introduction of the "supermarket tabloid" started a revolution within the entire tabloid journalism genre in the 1960s.  One of the first major transformations of the tabloids that motivated other huge publishers to do it as well was Extra's spur of the moment stray from their normal issue.  "With the deadline [of Friday morning] looming and ideas scarce [on Wednesday night,] it didn't help that there was also virtually no budget for Extra.  [The] 25,000 copies it sold in a typical week to lunatic-fringe readers and campy college kids didn't justify spending money on agency pictures or freelance articles.  The idea was to stuff Extra with file photos, bizarre in-house columns, a few knockoffs from other papers, and cover stories concocted out of desperation, alcoholic fantasy, and whole cloth" Sloan (12).  This new layout and attractive pictures and random articles influenced the owner of The Enquirer to change up their usual issue as well.  The owner also took note as to how successful Woman's Day magazine was in supermarkets and decided to revamp his own tabloid: "The suddenness of the Enquirer's transformation of 1967-68 caught [...] imitators completely by surprise.  The magnitude and totality of the change left other tabloid publishers blinking their eyes, scratching their collective heads, and wondering if [the owner] had taken leave of his senses.  By the time some of them figured out what was happening, Enquirer display racks were already being installed at score of supermarket checkouts, and its outflanked competitors were left to play a desperate game of catch-up.  At a casual glance, the 'new' Enquirer still looked pretty much like the old Enquirer.  It still had the same splashy photo layouts, blaring headlines, circus makeup, and breezy, rat-tat-tat writing.  But the different in tone and subject matter was like the difference between night and day.  Now, instead of 'MOM BOILED HER BABY AND ATE IT,' it was 'YOU CAN'T GET A DOCTOR WHEN YOU NEED ONE' and 'Outraged Public Authorities Demand... GET TOUGH WITH COLLEGE RIOTERS'" (Sloan 79).  This transformation shocked the public and started the major revolution of "supermarket tabloids" which, "[a]s any checkout-lane browswer knows, [...] serve up a mixture of celebrity gossip, human-interest features, usually with a 'sensational' twist, stories about occult and psychic phenomena, UFOs and so on, and large doses of advice, self-help tips, and medical news" (Bird 8).  Tabloidism has since extended itself onto television and into many separate magazines.  These entertaining news venues are often confused with real, genuine news and have become widespread within today's media sources.       

Works Cited

Bessie, Simon. Jazz Journalism. New York: Russell & Russell, 1938, rev. 1966.

This book recounts the rapid rate at which tabloids swept the nation and how the picture-packed newspapers came to be.  It contains reprints of front pages of The New York Graphic, the most flamboyant of the early tabloids.

Bird, S. Elizabeth. For Enquiring Minds : A Cultural Study of Supermarket Tabloids. New York: University of Tennessee, 1992.

This book explains monumental stepping stones throughout tabloid history with sample tabloid covers.  This book also explains the tabloid from the writer's and the reader's points of view.

Ehrlich, Matthew C. The Journalism of Outrageousness: Tabloid Television News vs. Investigative News. Columbia, SC: The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 1996.

This monograph explains why and how tabloid journalism became so popular and what topics tabloids thrive on. It also exposes the real thoughts behind tabloid journalists’ approaches to their scandalous stories.

Sloan, Bill. I Watched a Wild Hog Eat My Baby! : A Colorful History of Tabloids and Their Cultural Impact. New York: Prometheus Books, 2001.

This book describes how tabloids came to be sold at supermarkets and gives a brief chronology of tabloid journalism.  It also offers a synopsis of the process tabloid writers use to develop stories.

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