where multi-sections which went tabloid in Sun on the right; Daily
offer an appropriate 2003, soon followed by Mirror on the left). They
editorial environment for The Times; The Guardian have participated in the
advertisers, which used opted for a ‘halfway’ house rise of celeb culture and
to be the preserve of the between the tabloid and have cultivated links with
Sunday press. Thus readers broadsheet formats and TV soaps and ‘reality TV’
become not citizens in a introduced the Berliner in programmes such as
democracy but consumers 2005. These changes all Big Brother. Editorially,
whose eyeballs are sold to resulted in a short-term red-top newspapers are
advertisers. boost in circulation; but the relatively cheap to run,
In another attempt to long-term decline has not there’s little need for an
widen their appeal, there been substantially reversed. expensive foreign bureau
have been changes of or investigative journalism
format by most of the
Tackling the
(though The News of the
‘quality’ press. Leading the tabloids World has produced a
exercise; it was reported
has more American than
way was The Independent, Changes in the tabloid, number of scoops with ace
that Prince received British readers online (no
red-top sector have undercover reporter Mazher
£250 000 – probably doubt because they find
been less evident. Since Mahmood).
more than he would have the newspaper’s liberal
Murdoch purchased Despite these
received in royalties if the perspective very different
The Sun in 1969 and innovations newspaper
CD had been conventionally from the right-wing
introduced ‘Page 3 girls’, the proprietors are still faced
released. consensus in USA) and is
mass market newspaper with declining markets.
expanding into the USA. If
has shifted from a populist Some newspapers, such as
Managing the newspaper can become
news agenda to one of Northern and Shell’s The
decline by going an online brand that is
gossip allied to a strident People, look as though online
trusted, then it can act as a
political orientation (The they are being left to die. Its The increasing reliance
portal for web traffic and
circulation, excluding bulks, on advertising to fund the
so garner more eyeballs for
was 1 316 110 in October printing of large reams of
advertisers.
2001; by August 2007 it had newspaper which is then
As web-surfing portable
dropped to 519 276. (Bulk distributed physically across
devices, such as the iPhone,
sales are a device used to the nation will become
become more widely
boost circulation by giving problematic the next
available and economically
away the newspaper in time there is an economic
accessible, then audiences
hotels or in aircraft.)
recession: advertising
may continue to read
The increasing use of
spending is often the first
newspapers – even if only
freebies, such as the Mail
budget businesses cut.
in their online versions.
on Sunday’s new Prince
In this New Media world,
The Fourth Estate may be
album in August last year,
dying, but the internet
the use of Old Media
only serves to give short
is increasingly the place
techniques is bound to fail;
term boosts to circulation.
where we can find out
many local newspapers
This is useful in maintaining
what those in power don’t
have already dropped
advertising rates, which
want us to know. Maybe
their evening editions in
are determined both by the
the internet is already the
favour of one morning
number of people reading
cyberspace of the Fourth
publication. This suggests
a newspaper and, to an
Estate.
that owners are content to
extent, who is reading
manage decline rather
Nick Lacey is Head of Media Studies
them (ABC1 readers are
than reinvigorate their
at Benton Park School.
more valuable than
business. However, those
working class C2DE).
publishers that embrace
However, it is a very
New Media may survive.
expensive marketing
The Guardian, for example,
26 MediaMagazine | February 2008 | english and media centre
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