Tabloid Void

I have to admit that I had complete blogger’s block (like writer’s block…geddit?) while trying in vain to write this all day. It’s not that I couldn’t write, I couldn’t think of what to blog about. So, while I sat there doing my daily rounds of the British red tops (on my lunch break of course) it suddenly dawned on me that I read more British news than Canadian… and I’ve been here for over a year!

It’s not that I haven’t tried, it’s just Canadian papers are B-O-R-I-N-G. British tabloids make me laugh. They push the line. They speak to a nation and they pull at the heartstrings. The Sun and it's Sunday paper, The News of the World headlines have been dominated in recent weeks by the tragic story of little Madeleine McCann. The story has captured the nation’s hearts (and mine) and we are all on tenderhooks awaiting the outcome of her parents suspect status. Papers like The Sun give us the essentials of what is happening (but not too much to bore) and scream at us from the newsstands – Cops Want Cuddle Cat; Maddie ‘Dumped In The Sea’. We have to buy it. It’s only 30p.

Funnily enough, the word "tabloid" comes from the Latin word tob, which refers to human waste products. The idea of compressed tablet was later applied to "compacted" journalism that concentrates stories into a simplified, easily-absorbed format. It gives a whole new meaning to why my father asks me “why do you read that sh*t?” He is a reader of The Times which, along with most of the old fashioned broadsheets in the UK, changed to a tabloid size in recent years – though they aren’t willing to call themselves that, and are, in fact, known as “compacts”.

I suppose one blatant thing that separates the tabloids and the compacts is the colour of their “top”. True tabloids are red topped – The Daily Mirror, The Daily Sport, The Daily Star and The Sun. Compacts are black topped – The Times, The Daily Mail , The Independent , The Guardian, and so forth. Tabloids also seem to follow rules – they always have sensational headlines; they tend to focus more on celebrity and showbiz than the compacts; they are more ready to take an overt political standpoint – which guarantees them a loyal following with an occasional crossover of readers, though most people in the UK have ‘a paper’ and stick to it like glue. Unless the headline next to it is better, of course.

My paper is The Sun. I love the headlines. I love the Bizarre column. I love the sarcasm and the fact they say what’s on the public’s mind. I love the fact that The Sun sells nearly 3.5 million copies per day (5 times more than The Times). I love the fact that their readership is nigh on 8,000,000 EVERY DAY. I love the fact the editor, Rebekah Wade was arrested for alleged husband battery while the paper was running a campaign against domestic violence.

And finally there’s the Page Three Girl. A random topless woman on the third page of the newspaper. Introduced to the Sun in 1969, and finally topless in 1970, this little bit of flesh increased sales by 40%. But that’s another blog.