Tabloid Newspapers Research Articles

The Austrian Political Advertisement Scandal: Patterns of “Journalism for Sale”

Mounting concern surrounds the influence of political actors on journalism, especially as media outlets face increasing financial pressures. These circumstances can give rise to instances of media capture, a mutually corrupting relationship between political actors and media organizations. However, empirical evidence substantiating such mechanisms and their consequences remains limited, particularly in the context of Western democracies. This chapter investigates a recent case in which a former Austrian chancellor allegedly colluded with a tabloid newspaper to receive better news coverage in exchange for increased ad placements by government institutions. We employ automated content analysis to investigate political news articles from seventeen prominent Austrian news outlets spanning 2012–2021 ( n = 222,659). Adopting a difference-in-differences approach, we find a substantial increase in media visibility of the former Austrian chancellor within the news outlet that is alleged to have received bribes, as well as a decrease in favorability for challenger candidates. Although this study does not aim to prove or disprove the involvement of specific political actors or media organizations in unethical or illegal activities, it introduces an innovative method for detecting unusual patterns in media reporting. Findings are discussed in the context of current threats to media independence and underscore the crucial need to protect journalistic integrity and ensure unbiased information for the public.

Tabloid Dailiesas the Market Leader of the Slovak Daily Press

The paper deals with the question of when Slovak tabloids became the market leader of Slovak daily newspapers. It analyses the results of the audit of the sold circulation of the Slovak daily newspapers Nový čas and Plus JEDEN DEŇ in the period from December 2006 to December 2023 and compares them with the sold circulation of other Slovak daily newspapers involved in the audit during that period. In total, this article monitored the development of the sold circulation of seven Slovak daily newspapers, namely two tabloid newspapers Nový čas and Plus JEDEN DEŇ and five non-tabloids, namely Hospodárske noviny, Korzár, Pravda, SME and Új Szó. The comparison presented in this post is based on data from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which is publicly available online. The aim of this study is to find out when the tabloid Plus JEDEN DEŇ ranked second as the best-selling Slovak periodical with daily periodicity, the tabloid daily Nový čas, and how this trend developed. The question of the position of the daily newspaper Plus JEDEN DEŇ as the second best-selling Slovak newspaper with daily periodicity was analyzed on two levels. In the first case, the paper focuses on the question of in which year the daily Plus JEDEN DEŇ became the second best-selling daily in terms of average monthly circulation sold. In the latter case, this article finds out in which month in which year the second highest position in the daily newspaper Plus JEDEN DEŇ sold circulation within its actual monthly circulation settled. The development of the trend of the leading position of Slovak tabloids on the Slovak daily press market is also monitored in this study on two levels, i.e. how the Plus JEDEN DEŇ ranked on the market of Slovak daily newspapers during the years 2007-2023 within the average monthly circulation sold and also how the Plus JEDEN DEŇ ranked on the market of Slovak daily newspapers during individual months in the period 2006-2023 in terms of actual monthly circulation sold. Keywords: Plus JEDEN DEŇ, print circulation, Nový čas, tabloid dailies.

Beyond redemption: A critical analysis of The Sun’s construction of prisons and prisoners through the lens of social representations theory

Whilst there is some research into the media’s coverage of the British penal system, little is conducted through the lens of social psychology. This study employs social representations theory in order to examine British tabloid newspaper The Sun’s contribution to the public understanding of prisons and prisoners from a psychological perspective. The data consists of 34 articles published within the month of March 2017 which were analysed using a modified version of Foucauldian discourse analysis. It was found that The Sun’s coverage of the penal system contributed to a construction of prisons as both out of control and as providing prisoners with an easy life, and a construction of prisoners as both inherently dangerous and undeserving. These constructions contribute to a social representation of prisoners as ‘beyond redemption’. The implications of these findings are considered in light of the subject positions offered and the opportunities for action provided.

Media Framing of Government Crisis Communication During Covid-19

During the early phase of the Covid-19 crisis, televised speeches and press conferences were one of the preferred means of government communication. They emphasized the urgency and severity of the situation and allowed actors to lead news coverage. While in the immediate phase of the crisis these press conferences were also directed at the general public, their original function was, of course, to inform and influence media coverage. The article investigates how government press conferences were received in newspapers in the first phase of Covid-19, answering two research questions: Did a rally-around-the-flag effect occur among journalists during Covid-19? And how did government press conferences influence salience and sentiment in newspaper opinion pieces? To answer these questions, I draw on a unique dataset, including transcripts of all Covid-19 press conferences in five European countries between January and July 2020, as well as opinion pieces from tabloid and broadsheet newspapers. Based on a mix of automated and manual content analysis, the results reveal how factors such as country context, newspaper type, and the progress of a pandemic can influence how the government agenda is reflected in the media in times of crisis.

The First U.S.-Based Soviet Nuclear Spy: The Saga of Clarence Hiskey and Arthur Adams

Abstract Years before anything was publicly disclosed about the nuclear espionage of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Klaus Fuchs, and Theodore Hall, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Army Intelligence identified Clarence Hiskey, a Manhattan Project scientist, as a Soviet spy helping to provide highly sensitive nuclear weapons information. The two agencies kept watch on a Soviet intelligence officer, Arthur Adams, who was living illegally in the United States and serving as Hiskey's control officer. Despite an extensive investigation, neither Hiskey nor Adams was ever arrested. Although Adams was named in a sensational tabloid newspaper article shortly after the end of World War II and closely shadowed by the FBI, he was able to flee to the Soviet Union. Hiskey was never indicted for espionage. Based on material released from declassified Russian archives and FBI files made available under the Freedom of Information Act, the article tells the story of the first U.S.-based nuclear spy and how he got away with it.

‘The tabloid test’: a qualitative interview study on the function and purpose of termination of pregnancy review committees in Victoria, Australia

BackgroundTermination of pregnancy (TOP) is not an uncommon procedure. Availability varies greatly between jurisdictions; however, additional institutional processes beyond legislation can also impact care and service delivery. This study serves to examine the role institutional processes can play in the delivery of TOP services, in a jurisdiction where TOP is lawful at all gestations (Victoria, Australia). As per the Abortion Law Reform Act 2008, TOPs post-24 weeks require the approval of two medical practitioners. However, in Victoria, hospitals that offer post-24 week TOPs generally require these cases to additionally go before a termination review committee for assessment prior to the service being provided. These committees are not stipulated in legislation. Information about these committees and how they operate is scarce and there is minimal information available to the public.MethodsTo trace the history, function, and decision-making processes of these committees, we conducted a qualitative interview study. We interviewed 27 healthcare professionals involved with these committees. We used purposive sampling to gain perspectives from a range of professions across 10 hospitals. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, identifying details removed and inductive thematic analysis was performed.ResultsHere, we report the three main functions of the committees as described by participants. The functions were to protect: (1) outward appearances; (2) inward functionality; and/or, (3) service users. Function (1) could mean protecting the hospital’s reputation, with the “Herald Sun test”—whether the TOP would be acceptable to readers of the Herald Sun, a tabloid newspaper—used as a heuristic. Function (2) related to logistics within the hospital and protecting the psychological wellbeing and personal reputation of healthcare professionals. The final function (3) related to ensuring patients received a high standard of care.ConclusionsThe primary functions of these committees appear to be about protecting hospitals and clinicians within a context where these procedures are controversial and stigmatized. The results of this study provide further clarity on the processes involved in the provision of TOPs at later gestations from the perspectives of the healthcare professionals involved. Institutional processes beyond those required by legislation are put in place by hospitals. These findings highlight the additional challenges faced by patients and their providers when seeking TOP at later gestations.

Killer, Thief or Companion? A Corpus-Based Study of Dementia Metaphors in UK Tabloids

ABSTRACT This article examines the metaphors that are used to represent dementia in British tabloid newspapers over a ten-year period (2010–2019). The analysis takes a corpus-based approach to metaphor identification and analysis, utilizing in particular the corpus linguistic technique of collocation analysis. Metaphors are considered in terms of the ‘targets’ they frame, which include the following aspects of dementia: (i.) prevalence; (ii.) causes; (iii.) symptoms and prognosis; (iv.) lived experience; and (v.) responses. A range of metaphors are identified, with the tabloids exhibiting a particular preference for metaphors which construct dementia as an agentive and violent entity and people with dementia as passive victims, and which foreground preventative responses to dementia such as pharmacological intervention and individual behavior change. It is argued that such metaphors have the potential to contribute to dementia stigma and place focus on preventing or eliminating dementia while backgrounding responses which may help people to “live well” with the syndrome in the here-and-now. Metaphors which frame dementia as a companion or which the experience of dementia as a journey are put forward as potentially less stigmatizing alternatives which might better reflect the particularities of this complex public health issue.

The Future Is Furby

The Future Is Furby

Child Abusing News: Episodic and Thematic Media Framing Adapting the Children Act and UNICEF’s Principles in Bangladesh

Media is the principal channel of communication that structures people’s consciousness. Such influence of media is often constructed through particular framing which reaches powerful organizations and encourages them to work on different social issues like child abuse. The present study is designed to assess the trend of episodic and thematic media framing on child-abusing news and its relation with the adaptation of The Children Act along with UNICEF’s reporting principles. With media framing theory this paper executed a quantitative study through content analysis. A total of 1091 news articles were studied from two broadsheets and one tabloid newspaper within a timeline of one year. Results revealed that episodic news has a higher tendency of violating reporting principles than thematic. Incidents of sexual abuse received most of the coverage in Bangladeshi newspapers where girls were found most likely to be the victims of misrepresentation. Finally, the tabloid newspaper was found guiltier of unethical reporting than the broadsheets which established a significant connection between the tendency of principles violation and newspaper type. The paper recommended policymakers, child welfare institutes, and mass media promote children’s rights to decrease the rate of abuse cases in Bangladesh. Keywords: child abuse, media framing, children act, UNICEF, Bangladesh

Media framing of immigrants in Central Europe in the period surrounding the refugee crisis: Security, negativity, and political sources

Abstract This article investigates how all the main quality and tabloid newspapers and the television newscasts of the main broadcasters in Czechia and Slovakia framed immigrants, what the tone of the employed frames was, and who the main framing actors were before and during the EU refugee crisis (2013–2016). Using quantitative content analysis (N = 7,910), we show that security and cultural frames are most commonly employed while the victimization frame is much less common. Whereas tabloids use the security and cultural frames more often, the victimization, economic and administrative frames are more often invoked in quality media. We also show that the framing of immigrants is predominantly negative, and that the security and cultural are the most negatively valenced frames. Finally, we document a dominance of political actors and the practical invisibility of immigrants and refugees in the media coverage.

(Un)believable: the perceived credibility of Covid-19 information in Austria

In our mediatized society, it is essential in times of crisis that the media provide credible information to serve their information function successfully. At least equally important is which information is perceived as credible by the recipients. After all, the media are responsible for shaping the discourse on the crisis. Using data from the "Covid-19 Crisis" study conducted by the Gallup Institute and Medienhaus Wien, this article examines the perceived credibility of media-mediated Corona information in Austria. People who consult the respective media for Corona information were asked about the credibility of the coverage. ORF and Servus TV seem to be regarded as particularly credible among their users in the overall population. However, there are differences, e.g., between age groups. Young people find ORF more credible than Servus TV. The tabloid press, with its vast reach typical of Austria, and social media do not seem to be viewed as credible sources of information on Covid-19. Young Austrians are even more sceptical of these two types of media. However, the tabloid newspaper Kronen Zeitung is perceived as the most credible tabloid newspaper compared to its competitors. Facebook is the most frequently used social media platform for Corona info but seems to be the least credible source compared to Instagram and YouTube. Respondents' attitudes toward conspiracy theories and allegations of corruption are also likely to influence the perceived credibility of Covid-19 information.

South African tabloid coverage of Covid19: The Daily Sun.

Around the world, tabloid newspapers are routinely surrounded by a moral and cultural panic. They are criticised for lowering standards of journalism and privileging sensation above substance, diverting readers from serious news to entertainment, or foregoing ethical principles. However, scholarship about tabloids have also highlighted the ways in which these papers are frequently better attuned to their readers' everyday lived experience. In South Africa, tabloid newspapers have also received much criticism in the past for their perceived superficial treatment of important news. This article examines South African tabloid newspapers' coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic, focussing specifically on a case study of the national newspaper the Daily Sun. The national Daily Sun newspaper boasts the country's largest circulation figures. Through a quantitative content analysis of 1050 online news stories in the Daily Sun, we found that unlike mainstream front-page news reporting which was largely episodic, negative and alarmist, the majority of Daily Sun coverage was thematic and neutral. Daily Sun news coverage countered Covid-19 related misinformation and provided contextual coverage, with a large focus on the social impacts of Covid-19. The analysis concludes that despite the popular discourse of the reporting, Daily Sun reporting on Covid-19 provided readers with access to information and a focus on the micro aspects of the pandemic versus broader political issues and the views of political or scientific elites.

Etički standardi i fotografija u štampanim medijima

Newspaper photography is a very common and important media content that initially attracts the readers' attention and thus influences their opinions about the depicted events. The study of visual content in the media is increasingly important in media theory. Visual content is becoming more dominant because it can efficiently convey a lot of information due to the absence of language barriers. Thus, adherence to professional standards in the publication of newspaper photographs is very important. In Serbia, the only document that regulates the ethical standards of newspaper photography is the Journalists' Code of Ethics, but it is not legally binding on the editorial policy of the media. The consequences of violating its provisions are public warnings issued by the Press Council, an independent self-regulatory body. The results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of newspaper photographs published in three daily newspapers (the serious broadsheet daily Politika, the semi-tabloid Blic, and the tabloid Kurir) have shown to what extent the ethical standards are respected in practice. The research was conducted in the first week of April 2023. The analysis included all photos published during this period, except advertising photos. The analysis of newspaper photos included the following criteria defined in the Journalists' Code of Ethics: whether there is a clear distinction between a documentary photograph and a photo-shopped image; whether the illustrative role of a photo is emphasized when it is not taken directly at the scene of the event; whether the source/authorship of the photo is indicated; whether the principle of presumption of innocence has been applied and whether the privacy and identity of the victim or the suspected offender have been respected (e.g. by not publishing photos) even if the offender has pleaded guilty, until the moment of rendering the final court judgment; whether the published photos were taken with hidden cameras; and whether the photos contain inappropriate, disturbing and pornographic content. The article is based on the hypotheses that ethical standards are not fully met in the newspapers under consideration, that there are more violations of ethical standards in the semi-tabloid and tabloid newspapers, and that the most common violations entail the failure to credit the source or authorship of the photo and disregard for the presumption of innocence and the right to privacy.

Tabloid porn in Quebec

ABSTRACT In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Canadian region of Quebec saw a proliferation of tabloid newspapers, of uniform dimensions, covering a wide range of sensational genres (such as crime and celebrity gossip). Increasingly explicit content of a sexual character cut across these genres, marking each of these genres with elements of the pornographic. At the same time, a number of tabloid papers emerged devoted exclusively to sexual content, typically offering softcore photographic imagery of nude bodies and sexual activity which accompanied journalistic narratives (of variable veracity) chronicling sexual behaviour. The generalization of the tabloid form, this article suggests, has had particular effects on the ways in which these papers have survived. While, on the one hand, the tabloid form and use of cheap newsprint materials have contributed to a sense of the valuelessness of these papers, the manner in which the pornographic is very often ‘hidden’ within other sensational genres has allowed many of these papers to survive in contexts of preservation from which they might otherwise be expelled.

Editors’ Introduction

Editors’ Introduction

SENSATIONALISM AS A MODEL OF NEWS REPORTING ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN – A CASE STUDY OF MILENA RADULOVIĆ AND DANIJELA ŠTAJNFELD

The media play an important role in constructing public opinion on certain personas, topics and events. If they propagate stereotypes about men and women in news texts and articles, that can negatively impact the public opinion about violence against women. Although there are rare cases of the media trying to raise awareness of the problem of domestic violence and violence against women in general, the media mostly reports only on actual cases of violence when they occur. It is mostly reported in a sensationalistic way, which brings additional harm to the victims. In this paper, we researched in what way the news stories of raped actresses Milena Radulović and Danijela Štajnfeld were covered, i.e., how tabloids (Alo, Blic, Informer, Kurir, Srpski telegraf and Večernje novosti) reported on these cases on their front pages. By analyzing six daily newspapers (in the period from January 17 to February 2, 2021, and from March 23 to March 31, 2021), we found that the majority of these articles had been written in a sensationalist way, without respect for professional journalistic standards. Driven by the desire for greater circulation and profit, today’s journalists of (semi)tabloid newspapers often turn a deaf ear to ethical norms, which every journalist should adhere to when performing his or her profession.

The portrayal of mental health in Irish mainstream news media.

The portrayal of mental health in the mainstream news media is an important topic for discussion. Concerns about stigmatisation of those suffering from mental ill-health have been expressed for many years, leading to numerous anti-stigma campaigns. Previous Irish studies demonstrated an improvement in the tone and content of articles over time. This study aims to re-evaluate this topic, 19 years after it was last studied. Four Irish papers including the tabloid, broadsheet, online and compact paper with the highest readership were analysed daily for a 12-week period. Using pre-determined definitions based on previous studies, all articles or headlines incorporating psychiatry-related material were examined for tone, content, utilisation of terminology, reference to self-harm, suicide and violence. In total, 735 articles (2.19/paper/day) were identified and analysed. The majority of articles were found to have a supportive or factual tone. A higher proportion of judgemental or sensationalist articles were found in the tabloid newspaper. An improvement was noted compared to previous Irish studies. A decrease in articles written by mental health professionals was noted. Only 5% of articles portrayed psychotic disorders, with many of these referring to violence. Compliance with relevant guidelines for reporting of suicide was good overall. There has continued to be an improvement in the tone and content of articles since previous Irish studies. The introduction of guidelines within this time may have played a significant role. Psychotic illness received limited coverage and was more likely to be portrayed in a stigmatising manner, guidelines relating to this could be of benefit. Engagement between psychiatrists and the media is important to improve the portrayal of psychotic illness and enhance awareness.

Similar citizen portrayals? Converging media-based othering in tabloids and broadsheets

Political communication researchers studying the news media coverage often distinguish between broadsheets and tabloids when sampling relevant news outlets. But recent work has pointed towards a ‘tabloidization’ of news coverage, complicating the empirical distinction between the two. Computational methods for text analysis can help us better understand how distinct the news coverage between these two types of news outlets is. We take the Brexit referendum as a case study illustrating various aspects in which broadsheets and tabloids cover an issue permeated by othering and divisive rhetoric. We focus on Brexit-related news coverage before and after the referendum (N = 32,946) and use word embeddings to analyze the portrayal of different groups of citizens that can generate an in- and outgroup divide. First, we document the presence of media-based othering in the form of overly similar migrant and European Union citizen representations that are, in turn, very dissimilar to the UK citizen representation. Second, we show partial convergence between tabloid and broadsheet newspapers, as differences in the degree and characteristics of media coverage are rather small and specific.

Tabloid Tales: How the British Tabloid Press Shaped the Brexit Vote

AbstractThis article focuses on the role of the British tabloid press (BTP), and specifically the eurosceptic press, as a ‘supply‐side’ influence on the 2016 EU referendum. First, we focus on the BTP and its role as an ‘agenda‐setter’ in shaping eurosceptic discourse regarding the UK's relationship with the EU. Second, we use content analysis of five tabloid newspapers – The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Express and The Daily Star to demonstrate the disproportionate pro‐Brexit discourse prior to, and during, the EU referendum campaign. Third, drawing on opinion poll data, we show how this ‘bombardment’ approach influenced the electorate in the referendum campaign. Given the ‘knowledge deficit’ about the EU in the UK, we conclude that the BTP had a significant bearing on tipping the referendum vote towards Brexit.

The Categorization Heuristic

The Categorization Heuristic