Tabloid: A Format, Not a Reporting Style
Tabloid format
The Chicago Tribune recently announced that future newsstand copies (starting Monday) of the paper will be in the easier-to-read tabloid format. No, that doesn’t mean Arod and Madonna will suddenly grace the front page on a daily basis with headlines larger than both of their egos. It simply means the Tribune LAYOUT will be in the “book” format, reading from left to right all the way through, rather than the “sectional” format previously employed. This only holds true for Tribune copies sold at newsstands, not copies via subscription, but this post is about the confusion of the word “tabloid.”
When using the word “tabloid,” one description eventually led to another. In the past, the “sectional” style newspapers (think Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc.) were typically filled with unbiased, thought provoking news coverage while the “magazine” style papers (think New York Post, National Enquirer, Star, etc.) were sensational publications more focused on sales and marketing than quality news reporting. The common format of these sensational papers led the public to use the term “tabloids” to refer more about the writing style than the layout.
While there is still a certain caché to presenting a newspaper in a more vertical, sectional format, changes to the industry including printing costs, efficiencies, and readership demands have led several traditional papers to develop the tabloid format. Hopefully newspapers like the Chicago Tribune will make the move to the tabloid format but avoid the tabloid style of reporting. Because print media seems to be heading the way of 35mm film, I’m afraid it won’t be long before Arod’s next nuptials are trumping the situation in Gaza on the front pages of our favorite newspapers, but I’m hoping I’m wrong.
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Sam Zell refused to accept that the internet had changed competition. Now readers can get more news faster and cheaper on the web – and Tribune Corporation has simply ignored the shift. Lowering paper cost will not save the Chicago Tribune and LA Times. It will take a new leader, and a new strategy. Likewise, making employees work for free is no solution for the market shifts making USAToday and Gannett less viable. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com