'Tabloidization' of news - A comparative analysis of Anglo-American and German press journalism

'Tabloidization' is a new, frequently used term equally employed by journalists, media critics and academics to characterize a recent, dubious trend in the mass media. This article sets out to define this diffuse, multidimensional concept and discusses its usefulness for communication research. It emerges that 'tabloidization' can only be analysed adequately with a long-term cross-national design that focuses on quality news media and employs a wide range of empirical measures. This approach is taken here by comparing the press of Britain, Germany and the US, whereas the focus remains on the first two countries. A three-seep empirical analysis based on a definition developed before - demonstrates that journalistic values, media cultures as well as economic and legal conditions are responsible for the degree of 'tabloidization' in a given country.