The Tabloid Culture Reader provides an accessible and useful introduction to the field.

The ′demotic turn′ is a term coined by Graeme Turner to describe the increasing visibility of the ′ordinary person′ in the media today. In this dynamic and insightful book he explores the ′whys′ and ′hows′ of the ′everyday′ individual′s willingness to turn themselves into media content through: · Celebrity culture, · Reality TV, · DIY websites, · Talk radio, · User-generated materials online. Initially proposed in order to analyse the pervasiveness of celebrity culture, this book further develops the idea of the demotic turn as a means of examining the common elements in a range of ′hot spots′ in debates within media and cultural studies today. Refuting the proposition that the demotic turn necessarily carries with it a democratising politics, this book examines the political and cultural function of the demotic turn in media production and consumption across the fields of reality TV, print and electronic news and current affairs journalism, citizen and online journalism, talk radio, and user-generated content online. It examines these fields in order to outline a structural shift in what the western media has been doing lately, and to suggest that these media activities represent something much more fundamental than contemporary media fashion.

The Routledge Companion to British Media History provides a comprehensive exploration of how different media have evolved within social, regional and national contexts. The 50 chapters in this volume, written by an outstanding team of internationally respected scholars, bring together current debates and issues within media history in this era of rapid change, and also provide students and researchers with an essential collection of comparable media histories. The Routledge Companion to British Media History provides an essential guide to key ideas, issues, concepts and debates in the field. Chapter 40 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315756202.ch40

"A much needed media history and political and social assessment of a genre that is currently very much the subject of conjecture."---Sean Jacobs, University of Michigan --

The stolen snapshot is a staple of the modern tabloid press, as ubiquitous as it is notorious. The first in-depth history of British tabloid photojournalism, this book explores the origin of the unauthorised celebrity photograph in the early 20th century, tracing its rise in the 1900s through to the first legal trial concerning the right to privacy from photographers shortly after the Second World War. Packed with case studies from the glamorous to the infamous, the book argues that the candid snap was a tabloid innovation that drew its power from Britain's unique class tensions. Used by papers such as the Daily Mirror and Daily Sketch as a vehicle of mass communication, this new form of image played an important and often overlooked role in constructing the idea of the press photographer as a documentary eyewitness. From Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson to aristocratic debutantes Lady Diana Cooper and Margaret Whigham, the rage of the social elite at being pictured so intimately without permission was matched only by the fascination of working class readers, while the relationship of the British press to social, economic and political power was changed forever.Initially pioneered in the metropole, tabloid-style photojournalism soon penetrated the journalistic culture of most of the globe. This in-depth account of its social and cultural history is an invaluable source of new research for historians of photography, journalism, visual culture, media and celebrity studies.

Americans are obsessed with celebrities. While our fascination with fame intensified throughout the twentieth century, the rise of the weekly gossip magazine in the early 2000s confirmed and fueled our popular culture’s celebrity mania. After a decade of diets and dates, breakups and baby bumps, celebrity gossip magazines continue to sell millions of issues each week. Why are readers, especially young women, so attracted to these magazines? What pleasures do they offer us? And why do we read them, even when we disagree with the images of femininity that they splash across their hot-pink covers? Andrea McDonnell answers these questions with the help of interviews from editors and readers, and her own textual and visual analysis. McDonnell’s perspective is multifaceted; she examines the notorious narratives of celebrity gossip magazines as well as the genre’s core features, such as the "Just Like Us" photo montage and the "Who Wore It Best?" poll. McDonnell shows that, despite their trivial reputation, celebrity gossip magazines serve as an important site of engagement for their readers, who use these texts to generate conversation, manage relationships, and consider their own ideas and values.

This edited collection brings together a range of contemporary expertise to discuss the development and impact of tabloid news around the world. In thirteen chapters, Global Tabloid covers tabloid developments in Asia, Africa, the Americas, Australia, and both Eastern and Western Europe. It presents innovative research from eighteen expert contributors and editors who explore tabloidization as a phenomenon, and tabloids as a news form. With an awareness of historical dynamics where tabloids played a role in national news media systems, it brings the debates around tabloids as a cultural force up to date. The book addresses important questions about the contemporary nature of popular culture, the challenges it faces in the digital era, and its impact on a political world dominated by tabloid values. Going beyond national borders to consider global developments, the editors and contributors explore how the tabloids have permeated media culture more generally and how they are adapting to an increasingly digitalized media sphere. This internationally focused critical study is a valuable resource for students and researchers in journalism, media, and cultural studies.

This book provides a timely and important summary of tabloid journalism in Africa, which clearly shows how tabloids in the African context play a unique role in the democratization process. Prior to this book, very little was known about how tabloid journalists operate in Africa. The book first explores the global practice of journalism and then focuses on tabloid journalism – finally situating the discussion within the African context. As well as concentrating on how tabloid journalism can be seen as part of the broader neo-liberal thinking in Africa, in which democracy and freedom of expression is promoted, it also looks at how tabloid journalism practice has been met with resistance from the alliance of forces. Chama draws on examples from across the continent looking at success stories and struggles within the sometime infotainment genre. Tabloid Journalism in Africa concludes that even though challenges exist, there is a strong case to suggest that the practice of tabloid journalism is being readily accepted by many people as part of the unique voices of democracy – even those which might be shocking yet true.

This book studies the role of tabloid newspapers in exposing corruption and embezzlement in Africa. It makes a timeless, original contribution to the field by examining tabloid journalism practices and anti-corruption forces that have not yet been introduced to Afrocentric journalism scholarship. Defining tabloid journalism practice as an infotainment genre, the book examines corruption exposure by tabloids in Arabic, Portuguese and French speaking countries across Africa, making it a unique addition to the field. In doing so, it also builds an understanding of the evolution of anti-corruption tabloid journalism in Africa and gains insights into the relationship between the anti-corruption actions of the state and the anti-corruption reporting by tabloid journalists focusing on major corruption scandals. Providing evidence of the successes and struggles of journalistic practice in Africa, the book concludes by providing a synthesis of the emerging patterns and divergences from the cases analysed, looking to the future of corruption in the continent and the role of tabloid journalism in uncovering and challenging it.

Through a critical, transdisciplinary approach, Journalism and Crime offers a chronological interrogation of crime journalism from its first origins in 16th century print, to a transatlantic phenomenon in the 19th century and through to the complex networked digital spheres of the current day. This is the first book to historicise the development of journalism and crime together in relation to the people on both sides of the exchange. Taking a 470-year historical sweep, it tracks the cultural, political and social significance of crime journalism and its place as the longest sustained genre of media. It emphasises how crime journalism both reflects and drives shifts in media ownership, the priorities of profit, use of new technologies and legal and political governance. Written in an accessible style, this is essential reading for courses that consider the development and nature of journalism as well as supplementary reading for broader courses within journalism, communication, media studies, criminology, sociology and history.