Tabloid television
Tabloid television emerged prominently in the 1980s, characterized by its focus on sensational content, including crime, sex, and celebrity gossip, often presented through exaggerated styles and provocative titles. This era saw a significant transformation in the television landscape due to the rise of cable channels and the establishment of FOX as a major network, which led to a burgeoning market for inexpensive, syndicated programming. Key formats within tabloid television included "reality" shows like *COPS*, tabloid newscasts such as *A Current Affair*, and tabloid talk shows, notably hosted by figures like Phil Donohue and Oprah Winfrey. These programs often employed reenactments and audience participation to enhance viewer engagement. Notable hosts like John Walsh of *America's Most Wanted* and Geraldo Rivera exemplified the dramatic and sometimes controversial nature of tabloid television. By the end of the decade, the influence of tabloid programming extended into local and national news, prompting journalists to adapt their storytelling strategies to compete with the sensational approach of tabloid shows, significantly impacting the journalism landscape. This genre of television reflects a complex interaction between entertainment and information, shaping viewer expectations and media practices.
Tabloid television
Sensationalistic television newsmagazine programs modeled after print tabloids
Meant to be the televised equivalent of tabloid newspapers, tabloid television shows established a foothold in both daytime and prime time during the 1980’s. Their proliferation blurred the line between entertainment and mainstream traditional news, the public accepted this shift, and network news programs modified their formats in response to their tabloid competition.
Tabloid television in the 1980’s encompassed a range of programming that used provocative titles, an exaggerated style, and content related to crime, sex, celebrity gossip, and other outlandish or sensational subjects. The television landscape was changing during the decade as a result of the proliferation of cable channels, as well as an increase in the number of independent broadcast television stations and the establishment of FOX as a viable fourth network. The explosion in the number of channels entailed a demand for content and created a thriving marketplace for syndicated programming—inexpensive alternative programming that was sold to individual stations or groups of stations, rather than entire networks. Unscripted, nonfiction programming, moreover, was the among the least expensive such programming to produce.
Rupert Murdoch had already built an international tabloid newspaper empire when he bought FOX. He programmed the fourth network with such “reality” and tabloid shows as COPS, A Current Affair, and America’s Most Wanted. The latter series was the first FOX show to break into the Nielsen ratings’ top fifty. As a man who had been the subject of tabloid attention because of his son’s kidnapping and murder, John Walsh was a perfect host of America’s Most Wanted.
Tabloid Television Genres
Three formats or genres of nonfiction programming became the basis for tabloid television. The first format, a type of “reality” television, used minicams to capture documentary footage of law enforcement or rescue personnel performing their duties. Extraordinary amounts of footage were shot and carefully edited to heighten the drama, and staged reenactments sometimes substituted for actual footage. FOX built early prime-time success on COPS, a show in which viewers were offered the experience of riding along in police patrol cars in different cities around the country.
The second format, the tabloid newscast or documentary, copied the appearance of a nighttime newscast or documentary but defied accepted journalistic standards. Examples of the format included A Current Affair (also a FOX creation), Hard Copy, America’s Most Wanted, and Unsolved Mysteries, which relied heavily on reenactment. America’s Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries added audience participation to the tabloid format.
The third format or genre of tabloid television was the tabloid talk show. Usually, such a show’s host posed a question in each episode or segment, and guests represented various sides of the featured issue. Phil Donohue and Oprah Winfrey began as Chicago favorites before their talk shows became nationally syndicated. Winfrey was credited with legitimizing the daytime talk show by bringing a level of sincerity to controversial subjects. Morton Downey , Jr., was far more provocative. He did not interview guests so much as scream at and belittle them. He treated members of his audience in the same fashion. Downey aired only in late-night time slots.
Few people personified tabloid television more than did Geraldo Rivera, an Emmy and Peabody award-winning reporter. Rivera’s career turned to the sensational when he hosted a special titled Secrets of Al Capone’s Vault in 1986. It was revealed on live television that there were in fact no secrets inside the vault, but the program was highly rated for a syndicated special. Within a year, Rivera had his own talk show and covered everything from crossdressers to neo-Nazis. In one show featuring neo-Nazis, a skinhead broke a chair over Rivera’s head and broke his nose.
Impact
Tabloid television brought changes in local and national news, forcing journalists to compete for stories that they once would have ignored. To the distress of many longtime journalists, by the end of the 1980’s, network news departments were examining successful tabloid programs to see what aspects they could incorporate in their own newscasts and news specials.
Bibliography
Glynn, Kevin. Tabloid Culture: Trash Taste, Popular Power, and the Transformation of American Television. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2000. Analyzes tabloid television’s effect on television in general.
Kearns, Burt. Tabloid Baby. New York: Celebrity Books, 1999. Kearns—the producer of A Current Affair who had worked in print media for Rupert Murdoch—discusses his career in both print and television tabloids.
Kimmel, Daniel M. The Fourth Network: How Fox Broke the Rules and Reinvented Television. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004. History of the FOX Network through 2000, with accounts by insiders.
Krajicek, David J. Scooped! Media Miss Real Story on Crime While Chasing Sex, Sleaze, and Celebrities. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. Print journalist examines taboidization and its negative effects on legitimate news coverage.
Povich, Maury, and Ken Gross. Current Affairs: A Life on the Edge. New York: Putnam’s, 1998. Talk show host Maury Povich’s account of A Current Affair.