Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

Tabloid journalism and media
pluralism
By Herman Wasserman
Herman Wasserman is Professor
and Deputy Head of <strong>the</strong> School of
Journalism and Media Studies at
Rhodes University, South Africa. He
is also editor of Ecquid Novi: African
Journalism Studies.
120 | Media in Africa - 2011
If journalism were a fairy tale, tabloids
would be <strong>the</strong> ugly stepsisters.
These newspapers are usually looked
down upon as an inferior genre that
peddles gossip, untruths, salacious
titbits and sensational fare, ra<strong>the</strong>r
than <strong>the</strong> “real” journalism of facts
and investigations.
This criticism is not completely
invalid. Tabloids often do transgress
<strong>the</strong> boundaries of mainstream
journalism, and in so doing brashly
and uncompromisingly challenge
<strong>the</strong> conventions of <strong>the</strong>ir broadsheet
or ‘quality’ counterparts. But this
does not mean that <strong>the</strong>y should not
be taken seriously.
When considering print journalism
in Africa, or thinking about media
pluralism, we cannot ignore tabloids.
The genre boasts several prominent
titles in African countries, such
as <strong>the</strong> (in)famous Red Pepper in
Uganda and <strong>the</strong> Daily Sun in South
Africa (where tabloids have had
a profound impact on <strong>the</strong> postapar<strong>the</strong>id
media landscape).
So what are <strong>the</strong>se ‘tabloids’? The
term is used to refer to different
products and processes. ‘Tabloid’
can refer to <strong>the</strong> format or physical
size of a newspaper, or to a genre.
As far as size is concerned, ‘tabloid’
refers to a smaller sized paper than
a broadsheet (<strong>the</strong> term originates
from a medicinal tablet in <strong>the</strong>
1800s). Format however does not
always tell us much about content,
as ‘serious’ newspapers can also be
printed in tabloid format (e.g. <strong>the</strong>
South African Mail & Guardian) or
<strong>the</strong> ‘compact’ size of several UK
newspaper titles (e.g. The Times).
Because newspaper formats are not
synonymous with <strong>the</strong>ir content, and
because <strong>the</strong> process of ‘tabloidisation’
has spread to o<strong>the</strong>r platforms
like television (think of <strong>the</strong> Jerry
Springer Show), ‘tabloid’ usually
refers to a particular journalistic
approach or style — and <strong>the</strong> term
is most often used in a pejorative
way, to suggest a downward slide in
standards and skills.
Despite recent concerns about
“If journalism were
a fairy tale, tabloids
would be <strong>the</strong> ugly
stepsisters.”
tabloid-isation of news globally,
tabloids have a long history. Their
roots lie in <strong>the</strong> simple, direct style
and human-interest focus of <strong>the</strong>
US ‘Penny Press’ in <strong>the</strong> 1830s,
later evolving into <strong>the</strong> ‘Yellow
Journalism’ movement with its
campaigns against corruption and
scandal. This distinctive journalistic
tradition, perhaps best epitomized
by <strong>the</strong> ‘red tops’ in <strong>the</strong> UK (with The
Sun a famous example), has its own
conventions and characteristics (e.g.
melodramatic headlines, striking