Storytelling on the far side: Journalism and the weekly tabloid

Abstract

The National Enquirer and other weekly “supermarket tabloids” have been branded a “disgrace to journalism” and seen as the epitome of “low‐taste” media. But are the tabloids really an entirely different species, fit only to be incinerated? This paper discusses how the tabloids report and write their stories, the relationship tabloid writing has to “straight” journalistic practice and how tabloid writers relate to such journalistic tenets as objectivity and credibility. Despite the fact that tabloids are commonly regarded as deviant “demons”, a case is made that tabloid journalism belongs on the same storytelling continuum as daily newspaper journalism.