Abstract
This study set out to understand the role of tabloid news content in establishing public news trust in Zambia. The study compared tabloid news stories (usually frowned upon as unprofessional by most African journalists and scholars) to professional news writing styles, which are rooted in Western journalism education. Drawing from studies that critique tabloid journalism as consumed by people lacking critical abilities to analyze professional news content, the study predicted that: (1) the consumption of tabloid news was not positively correlated to the lack of education/ability to critically analyze ‘professional’ news content; (2) individuals exposed to only professional news content in form of hard news will indicate lower levels of trust for the media if compared to those exposed to tabloid news content; (3) tabloid news will serve as a moderating factor between media trust and mistrust. This theoretical model was tested with quasi-experiments and surveys using data collected from over 319 participants from online media platforms belonging to selected media outlets in Zambia. The results supported the proposed model on the role of tabloid news content and public trust. Additional analyses suggested that there was no positive correlation between the consumption of tabloid news and education; therefore, debunking the idea that critical analysis of news content in Zambia resided among the educated individuals. Key words: Tabloid, sensational news, professional journalism, newsworthiness, media trust, zambia daily mail, Mwebantu Media, Zambia Watchdog, Zambia Media Landscape.
Highlights
The quest for a normative definition for news and what should characterize news content, especially in tabloids has been a recurring theme in African scholastic discourse (Kerunga et al, 2020; Chama, 2017; Wasserman, 2010; Mfumbusa, 2010)
This study set out to understand the relationship between the consumption of tabloid news content, media trust, and whether there was a connection between the type of news consumption and education
The study asked whether individuals exposed to only professional journalism as defined by western scholarship indicated lower levels of trust as opposed to those exposed to „tabloid‟ journalism; and whether tabloid news moderated the relationship between media trust and distrust
Summary
The quest for a normative definition for news and what should characterize news content, especially in tabloids has been a recurring theme in African scholastic discourse (Kerunga et al, 2020; Chama, 2017; Wasserman, 2010; Mfumbusa, 2010). Most of these debates are situated within the broad paradigm of professionalism – a largely contested notion in journalism. The traditional approaches referred to hear are especially rooted in the western conceptualization of journalistic values
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