British Tabloids

A rather infamous counterpart of the British Press, the British tabloids are all about making the daily dose of news simpler, colorful and off course sensational. Although the tabloids in most countries have a tendency to splash the tabloid pages with celebrity news, an interesting feature of the British Tabloids is making sensational celebrities out of every mundane news be it politics, sports, business or the never failing sensational news source – the good ol entertainment.

Classification of British Tabloids

Red Top British TabloidsRed Top British Tabloids are tabloid newspapers in the United Kingdom that generally have red mastheads. Red top tabloids generally signify a more sensational style of journalism and perhaps that is indicated by the use if color red in the masthead of the newspaper.

Black Top British TabloidsBlack Top British Tabloids are tabloid newspapers in the United Kingdom that are marked with a black masthead. Generally the Blacktop tabloids are considered a less sensational and more serious form of the British press. The Black color differentiated these tabloids from the sensational Redtop tabloids.

Reasons for the Success of British Tabloids

No matter how many people point fingers and frown upon the British tabloids it is a fact that the British Tabloids are popular and successful. There is a demand for compact news dose with minimum and peppy text and eye-catching pictures and the British tabloids are giving the readers just that. Here are some of the reasons the British Tabloids are alive and kickin…

British Tabloids: Combating the New Media Wisely
Print media all over the world is facing serious competition from the new media be it the Internet or Television and no one is geared up for the competition better than the tabloids. The New media has the power to supplant the print, and hence the tabloids have achieved what the mainstream broadsheets are still struggling with – creating a readership niche. Also most of the British tabloids have embraced the new media instead of competing with them and hence have their e-versions or online editions of their daily tabloid editions.

British Tabloids: Getting the Format Right
The British Tabloids have maintained a compact format, which is rather convenient for the reader to pick up, read and carry as well. The text is minimum and is supplemented with appropriate pictures. The entire format stresses more on the visual appeal rather than the textual content.

British Tabloids: No Hypocrisy
Yes, the British Tabloids wear the sensationalism tag with pride and accept that they are profit driven and aim for good business at the end of the day. The readers want sensational news, the tabloids give them just that – hot sensational news garnished with a lot of spice and dollops of entertainment. British Tabloids do not compete with the serious broadsheets instead; they have carved a niche for themselves. They have their own readership segment that is large enough to keep them going in the business as well.

Prominent British Tabloids

The Sun
Launched in: September 15, 1964
Owned by: News Corporation (Rupert Murdoch)
Readership:3.126.866 copies daily (As of October 2007)
Masthead: Red-top Tabloid

The Sun is perhaps the most popular tabloids that is published in the United Kingdom as well the Republic of Ireland. Owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, the Sun has the highest circulation of any English daily newspaper with as many as 3.126.866 copies daily in October 2007. Some of the Regular interesting features include the Page Three Girl which is highly criticized for being rather pornographic. The Paparazzi pictures are commonly featured on the front page. Although the Sun heavily banks on celebrity news from several fields, gossip concerning the British monarchy and soap opera storylines for its content, the British tabloid features serious news stories about issues like domestic abuse, pedophiles and security scandals.

The Daily Mail
Launched in:1896
Owned by:Daily Mail and General Trust PLC
Readership:2,400,143 ( As of 2007)
Masthead Black-top Tabloid

Originally started as a broadsheet in 1896, The Daily Mail switched to the tabloid format in 1971. The Daily Mail, Britain's oldest tabloid is not only the second biggest selling daily newspaper but it also has the 12th-largest circulation in the world among English-language dailies. It is a black top tabloid, which introduced a Sunday title in 1982 that was known as the Mail on Sunday. As of October 2007 the circulation figures by the Audited Bureau of Circulations show gross sales of 2,400,143 for the Daily Mail which is an increase of one third over the sales figures 25 years ago, when it sold 1.87 million copies a day.

The Daily Mirror
Launch Date:1903
Owned by:Trinity Mirror PLC
Masthead: Red-top Tabloid

Popularly referred to as ‘The Mirror", this consistently left-of-center tabloid was launched in 1903. The tabloid was supposed to be a newspaper for women and run by women. Alfred Harmsworth who originally started the newspaper had been quotes saying that, ""I intend it to be really a mirror of feminine life as well on its grave as on its lighter sides.... to be entertaining without being frivolous, and serious without being dull". Back in the 1970s, the Sun surpassed the Mirror’s circulation and declining circulation has plagued it since then.

The People
Owned by: Trinity Mirror PLC

‘The People’ is a British tabloid that is published only on Sundays. The Trinity Mirror group that also runs the Daily Mirror owns this tabloid. This tabloid also banks chiefly on celebrity news and scandals. Although it claims to be a competitor to The News of the World, it has a rather unimpressive circulation of less than one million as compared to the 3,445,459 copies per week sales of its competitor The News of the World. It is reported that the tabloid has suffered financial damages due to the cost cutting strategy in the year 2006.

The Daily Star
Launch Date:1978
Owned by: the Express Newspapers
Readership: 770,000
Masthead Red top tabloid

Published in 1978, the Daily Star was purportedly the first national daily in Britain after the launch of the Daily Mirror. This British tabloid is published by the Express Newspapers group, which also owns the Daily Express and Sunday Express. Like other redtop British tabloids, the Daily Star also features celebrity news, gossip and entertainment based features as its major content. Just like the British tabloid ‘The Sun’, this tabloid features a topless model on weekdays. These models are referred to as the ‘Starbabes’.

The Daily Express
Launched in:1900
Owned by: Express Newspapers
Readership:761,637
Masthead Black-top Tabloid

The Daily Express is another conservative middle-market black top British Tabloid. Owned by the Express Newspapers group, the tabloid was started in 1900 as a broadsheet with gossip and the crossword puzzle, this newspaper switched to the tabloid format in 1977. The Daily Mail remains to be its biggest rival. The front page of this British Tabloid describes itself with a tagline that says "The World's Greatest Newspaper." According to the figures from the Audited Bureau of Circulations in 2007, the Daily Express has a circulation of 761,637, which is a 60% decline since 1982 when it sold over two million copies a day.

News of the World
Launched in:1843
Owned by: News Group ( that is a branch of Murdoch’s News Corporation)
Readership:3,445,459 copies per week (As of 2006)

News of the World is a Sunday-only British tabloid published by News Group Newspapers that is a branch of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Published in 1843 by John Brown Bell, the newspaper soon established itself as the most widely read Sunday newspaper. Although the newspaper tends to focus on celebrity-based scoops and populist news, its constant interest and showcasing of sex scandals has gained it the nicknames like Sex 'n' Scandal weekly or News of the Screws and even Screws of the World. News of the World boasts of excellent sales records with an average of 3,445,459 copies per week in October 2006.

Metro
Launched in:1999
Owned by: Associated Newspapers
Readership 1.7 Million (As of the figures in 2005)

Metro is a free daily British tabloid published by the Associated Newspapers group, which is available from Monday to Friday on most of the public transport services across the United Kingdom. Launched in 1999, the sales have already crossed the one million mark making it the fourth largest daily newspaper in the United Kingdom. Mainly aimed at the traveling lot, the newspaper has a youthful appeal and is designed to be read in twenty minutes. Metro features a heady concoction of articles ranging from subjects like travel, homes, style, and health to arts and entertainment listings.

Love them, hate them but you just cannot ignore them. British Tabloids speak volumes about the survival of the Print media and serve as an excellent example of a successful; business model in the mass communication industry by creating a niche for themselves. There exist a section of readers who would prefer a newspaper that could be picked up in their busy schedules and will serve as some quality light reading. It’s like having different tastes in books, and tabloids symbolize pulp fiction – If you find them blasphemous, suit yourself!