Analysis of Tabloid and Broadsheet newspapers in the British marketplace.

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Tabloids v. Broadsheets

Introduction

Tabloid:

The term tabloid is used to describe newspapers with comparatively small pages, although there is no standard for the precise dimensions of a tabloid. It is also used, sometimes pejoratively, to describe a newspaper that provides a treatment of the news that is simplistic or sensationalist, often with a focus on personalities and gossip, and much less detailed coverage of topics such as politics and economics than is offered by newspapers regarded as more serious. Tabloids usually include more celebrity news than political.

The tabloid physical format, however, is not limited to such newspapers. In the United Kingdom, for example, it is used by nearly all local newspapers. In the United States, it is commonly the format employed by alternative newspapers. As the term tabloid has become synonymous with down-market newspapers in some areas, some small-format papers which claim a higher standard of journalism refer to themselves as compact newspapers instead.

A tabloid is an industry term which refers to a smaller newspaper format per spread; to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories and entertainment, often distributed free of charge (often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format); or to a newspaper that tends to emphasize sensational crime stories, gossip columns repeating scandalous innuendos about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and other so-called "junk food news" (often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format). As the term "tabloid" has become synonymous with down-market newspapers in some areas, some papers refer to themselves as "Compact" newspapers instead.

The tabloid newspaper format is particularly popular in the United Kingdom where its page dimensions are roughly 17 by 11 inches (430 mm × 280 mm). Larger newspapers, traditionally associated with 'higher-quality' journalism, are called broadsheets though several British 'quality' papers have recently adopted the tabloid format. Another UK newspaper format is the Berliner, which is sized between the tabloid and the broadsheet and has been adopted by The Guardian and its sister paper The Observer.

Broadsheet:

A newspaper having pages of standard dimensions (as opposed to a tabloid), especially one carries serious treatment of news. An advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution.

Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches or more). The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of matter, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet newspaper was the Dutch Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. published in 1618.

The term tabloid is used to describe newspapers with comparatively small pages, although there is no standard for the precise dimensions of a tabloid. It is also used, sometimes pejoratively, to describe a newspaper that provides a treatment of the news that is simplistic or sensationalist, often with a focus on personalities and gossip, and much less detailed coverage of topics such as politics and economics than is offered by newspapers regarded as more serious. Tabloids usually include more celebrity news than political.

The tabloid physical format, however, is not limited to such newspapers. In the United Kingdom, for example, it is used by nearly all local newspapers. In the United States, it is commonly the format employed by alternative newspapers. As the term tabloid has become synonymous with down-market newspapers in some areas, some small-format papers which claim a higher standard of journalism refer to themselves as compact newspapers instead.

Many broadsheets measure approximately 29+1⁄2 by 23+1⁄2 inches (749 by 597 mm) per full broadsheet spread, twice the size of a standard tabloid. Australian and New Zealand broadsheets always have a paper size of A1 per spread (841 by 594 mm/33.1 by 23.4 in). In the United States the traditional dimensions for the front page half of a broadsheet are 15 inches (381 mm) wide by 22+3⁄4 inches (578 mm) long. However in efforts to save newsprint costs many U.S. newspapers (including the overseas version of The Wall Street Journal are downsizing to 12 inches (305 mm) wide by 22+3⁄4 inches (578 mm) long for a folded page .

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Many rate cards and specification cards refer to the "broadsheet size" with dimensions representing the front page "half of a broadsheet" size, rather than the full, unfolded broadsheet spread. Some quote actual page size and others quote the "printed area" size.

The two versions of the broadsheet are:

Full broadsheet – The full broadsheet typically is folded vertically in half so that it forms four pages (the front page front and back and the back page front and back). The four pages are called a spread. Inside broadsheets are nested accordingly.

Half broadsheet – The half broadsheet is usually an ...

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