Tabloid Journalism

I am posting this early; so that those students who finished all the blog material can get ahead. If you are still working on the blog, please scroll down to Monday's blog for general information and remember to post your final responses to your peers' work on Friday's blog.  The blog unit closes at midnight on Monday, February 4.

To begin, please read the following article from Time Magazine. 
A Brief History Of: Tabloids!! By Kate Pickert

When John Edwards admitted what the national Enquirer had been saying for months--that he had had an affair with a campaign videographer--it was only the latest in a string of high-profile scandals broken by the supermarket press. But politicians' foibles weren't always the target of choice for the tabloids. In the 1950s, their pages were splashed with bloody car accidents and gruesome mutilations. Enquirer owner Generoso Pope dialed down the gore in an effort to appeal to housewives in the checkout aisle, replacing it with alien abductions and medical oddities. Celebrity gossip took over by the late 1960s, as the Enquirer and rival Globe feasted on Chappaquiddick, Jackie Kennedy's remarriage and the death of Elvis. (The Enquirer paid a Presley relative to snap a picture of the King in his coffin.) Rupert Murdoch's Star joined in soon after. Weekly World News, billing itself "The World's Only Reliable Newspaper," carried on the mantle of the weird, covering miraculous cancer cures and zombie sightings. "When we inform people, it's usually by accident," admitted its editor. Tabloid circulation peaked in the 1980s, but the O.J. Simpson trial prompted a rapid--and ironic--reversal of fortune. Broadcast coverage of the spectacle eclipsed anything that could be done in print, setting a template for sensational TV journalism that would drive the tabs' circulation down 30% by the mid-'90s. Celebrity print media has bounced back in recent years, thanks to Britney and Paris, although mostly in the glossy magazine format that Star switched to in 2004. And as it is with most papers, the Internet is impinging on tabloids' turf. The new medium has already claimed Weekly World News, which folded in 2007--but readers looking for the latest on the ALIEN BABY LOVE CHILD can still find it online.

ASSIGNMENT: Part 1- DUE the end of class on Wednesday,February 6

Irresponsible journalism-what you don’t want! Go to the link below:http://www.toptenlinks.com/cat.php/News:Newspapers:Tabloids

If you have trouble with this, here is a list of tabloids. 1, National Enquirer 2. Star Magazine 3. Weekly World News 4. New York Post 5.The Mirror 6.The Sun 7.New York Daily News 8 Globe Magazine 9. Tabloid 10. Mega Star

Read 5 articles from 5 different tabloids. Take notes as you read in terms of content, organization, tone, language and syntax used. How do these compare to mainstream articles. In approximately 250 words, respond to these questions in essay format: What commonalities do you find within these articles? What ethical problems do you note? What purpose do these writings serve? Make sure to use specific evidence from your readings.

  Note you are writing 1- 250 word essay. What should you look for in the tabloid articles?  syntax,vocabulary, jargon, punctuation, photos used, target audience and topics covered. How do these compare to main stream news articles? What evidence is used in the articles? statistics, graphs?  Who is being quoted? Are they authoratative sources?  

Send you work along, as usual.

Assignment:Part 2 of the assignment; due Friday  8 February

Now write your own tabloid article: length approximately 300 words.  Make sure to include an image at the top of the article. Possible topics:

mythology / folk / fairy tale characters. You may NOT use real people! The Three Bears Cinderella Little Miss Muffet The Return of Odysseus Robin Hood The Trojan Horse Davy Crocket at the Alamo George Washington and the cherry tree The Old Woman and the shoe Johnny Appleseed Casey Jones Aladdin Little Red Riding Hood The Little Mermaid Snow White The Three Little Pigs Anything else that appeals to your imagination. I suggest you do a little background reseach to refamilarize yourself with a story. Details are very important. Don't forget to apply the who, what, where, when and how to your article, as well as your quote.