Editorials

The author of the article "Super Market Tabloids to the Rescue" does a good job of convincing people that tabloids do not really report accurate news but rather latch on to news that has already reached maximum recognition and then try to reverse it. The author is arguing that tabloids print untrue material just to get people upset about a situation in order to draw attention to their magazine; this is what keeps the tabloid business thriving. The author of this article, Clif Droke, focuses on economic news as an example of how tabloids provide false information. He establishes logos very well through the use of specific data and examples of previous situations that have occurred in which tabloid magazines were proven false. For example, he includes the piece of information that one day last year, when the economic crisis was at its worst, economists predicted the stock market was going to improve because trading volume was 10:1 in favor of upside volume. However, on the same day The Independent published an article calling for a second Great Depression. This obviously shows that tabloids are inaccurate in reporting financial news because they do not have experts in the field working for them. It can be inferred from this example that other types of news tabloids report is also not completely true. The author uses pathos when he recollects walking into a grocery store in 1998 when there was a stock market crash. He uses detail to explain his story and show how once again the tabloids were wrong in calling for a Great Depression. The portion of this article that doesn't help to convince me of his opinion is that the author does not establish ethos. He does not specifically establish his credibility in this article because he doesn't cite specific sources and doesn't discuss why he is an expert on the topic. However, it is an article on the Financial Sense website which looks like a reputable source. If he is a writer for a credible source then I would imagine that his facts would be true. However, assuming this may be wrong, so the weakest portion of his argument is in the ethos section.

The author of this article does a mediocre job of convincing me of his point. First off, I do not know who Simon is, so I don't believe what he is saying because the article does not mention his title or describe why he is someone to turn to on the topic of tabloids. Also, he does not appeal to the needs, wants, or desires of readers. The author touches on a few points that insinuate that tabloids, especially in the UK and even Fox News in the United States, may twist information to get people to believe that they are reporting the news when in reality they are convincing people of whatever they want them to believe. This allows tabloids to achieve their alternate agenda. The author brings up the idea that in the UK, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, three fourths of daily newspapers are tabloids, so people should be concerned that they are not being provided with important, accurate news on a large scale. Citing this source establishes Simon's credibility to a small degree because it shows that he did research. His reasoning through out the article makes sense and seems to prove the point that people need to be careful with what they read because tabloids are dominating the news paper industry. But in the end he does this with out specific facts and without establishing his credibility which makes his argument hard to believe.

Sebastian Noren does a good job of persuading his readers that we as humans are too caught up in tabloids and celebrity gossip. He establishes his credibility by citing sources such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration when referring to the number of deaths per year from car accidents. He uses this information to show that it is a bigger issue that we should be concerned with. Noren also uses a personal example about a friend of his who was killed in a car accident in Sweden. The event was covered with a single, small article that did not even mention his friends name. However, when Anna Nicole Smith died there were news updates everyday and new secrets were uncovered that everyone waited anxiously to hear. The author establishes pathos when he relates to the audience by talking about the tabloids we all see while standing in grocery store lines and showing how focusing on more important issues will make us all better people which we desire to be. Noren establishes logos in using cause and effect through out the article. By focusing on only celebrity news and gossip, he explains how we are becoming more "dumb" and apathetic as a society. Since he uses logos, ethos, and pathos, correctly, this is a good persuasion article.

Tabloids and the Law

One may think that tabloids get sued all the time since it seems as if most of the information they print is false. However, tabloids win lawsuits over celebrities more often than one may think. The reason for this is that the definition of libel is a complicated one, and tabloids have found ways around it so they don't get caught. In order to avoid publication of libelous material, most tabloids keep lawyers employed in order to read articles they write before they are published. Many newspapers, though, know just how far they can go before the information they print is considered libelous. This is why tabloids seem to be constantly publishing untrue material and not getting punished for it. From a lot of experience, they know just what they can and cannot do with out going over the limit. The standard for libel of a public figure is very high which makes cases with tabloids hard to win for the celebrity. The celebrity has to not only prove that the printed information was false but also that the tabloid knew it was false and continued to print it anyways.

When it comes to stories that just seem outrageously crazy such as aliens on earth or bizarre new diseases, tabloids are not brought to court. Even though almost everyone knows these stories are fake, if the tabloids are not harming anyone's reputation then there is no reason someone would want to bring them to court to sue the magazine. Most people believe that it would just be a waste of time and money.


For the same reason, many celebrities don't even bother filing a lawsuit against tabloids. Even if the false information printed was harmful to their career, it would cost them thousands of dollars to take the case to court. A lawsuit may drag on for many years and would just attract more tabloid attention to the celebrity, reporting every step of the lawsuit, which may be worse than the initial false publication.

Also, many tabloids employ very powerful law firms that have experience in the case of libel law. They know how to win law suits for the tabloid companies. The tabloids have almost built up an intimidating reputation in this sense. Tabloid's lawyers often file many motions in court which tends to delay cases. Often times, the celebrity settles and decides not to pursue the case after a lot of time has passed. As a result, cases such as these never come to trial.

In a rare case, Justin Timberlake actually won a lawsuit against a Tabloid magazine. They reported that they had an interview with model Lucy Clarkson who claimed that she had an affair with Timberlake while he was dating Cameron Diaz. During court, the magazine admitted to fabricating the story, and Timberlake said he would donate the money for libel damages to charity. Timberlake was successful, but tabloids have still not learned that they should only print the truth.

How Tabloids Work

Everyone knows that the information in a Tabloid magazine is not nearly as credible as newspapers such as the Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal. One significant difference is that tabloids incorporate every piece of news they receive into their magazines where as more credible newspapers include only the information that will impact everyone's lives. Often times, the information in tabloid magazines seems like it is not true at all, but how do these magazines come up with their stories, and more importantly, how do they get away with it?

Most stories in tabloid magazines start with a kernel of the truth and then get blown up into a story that is not fully true containing a lot of "fluff". The fluff, or made up details, often include sentences from people that are not quoted directly. For example, if a reporter were to ask, "How did the celebrity look when you saw her?" and the person being interviewed answered "bad" the reporter may quote the person as saying "the celebrity looked as if she was on drugs". This is the beginning of how stories become untrue. Also, the sources used in magazines with names that are uncommon and not specific, to the point where the reader becomes suspicious, may be made up completely.

In order to find stories, tabloid magazines have many people on call. Thousands of hairstylists, personal drivers, security guards, and even police officers are linked to magazines and have their number on speed dial. These people simply call up tabloids as soon as they have news to report about the celebrity they are with daily. The incentive is definitely worth it for the sources. If a person provides news about a minor celebrity they may get payed a hundred dollars for one phone call and if it is a story about Britney Spears or another big name, for example, the reward could be thousands of dollars. Some celebrities themselves even contribute news to tabloid magazines because they want to get the publicity. Especially when they are first starting off, celebrities want their names to be known and gain a fan base.

Although the information is untrue, tabloids get away with their business because most celebrities fear that the amount of bad publicity that would come with a lawsuit is much worse than the original false statement written about them in a tabloid magazine. Also, to have a lawsuit against a tabloid magazine would cost a lot of money on both sides and many tabloid magazines would not have enough money to pay for the damages even if the celebrity won in court.

History of Tabloids

We are all aware of the tabloid magazines that sit on grocery store shelves while we are waiting in line. These infamous magazines are known for having bold colorful letters on the first page next to a picture of something completely unrealistic. For example, a picture of an alien head or a common person who looks similar to a celebrity typically dominate the front cover.

However, tabloid magazines were not always this way. 60 years ago they were used to tell real stories about real people and even report important news that educated the public about information that mattered. Everything changed in 1952 when Generoso Pope, Jr. bought the National Enquirer, one of the largest tabloid magazines, and changed the focus of the magazine to what we are familiar with today. This caused magazine sales to rise to one million copies per week. Although many of the stories were fabricated and untrue, people willingly believed the articles in tabloid magazines because they were under the misconception that if the information wasn't true it couldn't be published.

Tabloid magazines began to suffer the effects of publishing false information in the 1950's. In 1952 another one of the biggest magazines, The Confidential, dropped from selling 4 million to 300,000 copies a week when it began to suffer from celebrity law suites.

Trying to avoid these effects, Pope, in 1968 changed the Enquirer's gory and often times unbelievable stories to articles that were more upbeat. These stories told about miracle diets and celebrity gossip. But when people began to read, they realized the inside contents did not match the false headlines. Since people were tricked, the tabloids lost credibility. This caused a slump in sales until 1972 when the Enquirer featured Cher on the front cover dressed in a more revealing outfit than most were used to seeing. This brought attention back to the tabloid magazines and when Sonny and Cher broke up people turned to tabloid magazines to find out the details about the popular couple.

The idea of celebrity news caught on, leading to a high demand for tabloid magazines. People and US Weekly magazines were published for the first time in 1974. The peak in sales of tabloid magazines occurred in the 1980's with the coverage of the OJ Simpson trial. From then on, there has been a steady market in the tabloid industry showing that the public finds those type of magazines entertaining, whether the information is true or not.