Divisions between the British tabloid and the serious, quality Press Essay

Divisions between the British tabloid and the serious, quality Press - Essay Example In as much as these media publications have different names and are no longer in circulation; they have something in common which lacks in the current media newspapers that we have today. The old publications represented the partisan ‘radical press’ that agitated for the betterment and improvement of the society (Stephens 2006, p. 23). They influenced the beliefs and the attitudes of the working class. This is because it defined the society to be made up systems of exploitations and not as a series of disjointed events. Additionally, the radical press played a significant role in undermining the social order normative support through challenging the validity of the economic and social institutions in which the social order was based (Seymour-Ure 1991, p. 150). The radical press obtained funding from subsidies from social movements and sales it made from the circulations of the publications. This is contrary to the independent press of the recent times which obtains its f unding from advertising revenues and sales of publications. Introduction Several debates revolving around the current state of British newspapers are being conducted. However, recent findings reveal that the traditional news values that dominated the media have become revolutionized and reformed (Negrine 1994, p. 87). In the recent times, the dominance of social and celebrity news, the blurring of the line separating reality shows and news, as well as the advent of civilian journalism, demonstrates that the nature of news and news values are changing; and that the traditional values of news are becoming irrelevant. It is worth noting that the old traditional news values are being replaced by the tabloid news values. These values represent the interpretive work of journalists, and they cut across the broad sectors of public life. For instance, this news revolves around crime, sports, scandals, pop culture, just to mention but a few (Hampton 2008, p. 98). On the other hand, pertinent issues such as public affairs and politics are given minimal attention. The tabloid news stories are normally personified in order to impart high emotions and sensation (Franklin 2008, p. 23). According to media historians, tabloid news values are present in the English newspapers in the recent times because of two factors, namely; media ownership and advertisements. This is because they contribute to the existent of hierarchies in the journalism profession. It is debated that there is no narrowing in the divide that exists between broadsheets and tabloid newspapers (Keeble 2008, p. 45). This is attributed to the fact that there are several changes in their features. Therefore, this paper shall seek to explicate as to whether tabloids are similar to broadsheets, as well as determine if the ‘quality press’ is concentrating primarily on issues that touch on public interests. In order to make my arguments clear, I will use examples to emphasize on my main points. Discussio n Studies reveal that broadsheets newspapers undergone a tabloidization process. Tabloidization refers to the style of papers that does not pay much attention to foreign affairs and government policies. Instead, it as an entertainment-oriented style of journalism that centers on celebrity, lifestyle, crime/ scandal and entertainment (Sparks & Dahlgren 1992, p. 123). Some of the reasons of tabloidization are