Abstract

Discussions of the values, ethics and pleasures of tabloid news and entertainment are now at the forefront of scholarship in media and journalism studies. "The Tabloid Culture Reader" provides an accessible and useful introduction to the field. It begins with a foreword by Martin Conboy and a general introduction to the historical and contemporary debates about tabloid media before bringing together key writings from both new and leading scholars in the field. Topics addressed in the reader include the "Sun" and "Mirror" newspapers; supermarket tabloids; "heat", "Fiesta" and men's lifestyle magazines; reality TV and talkshows, O.J. Simpson and "Big Brother's" Jade Goody. Specially written prefaces accompany each section which includes work by Feona Attwood, Karin Becker, S. Elizabeth Bird, Martin Conboy, Patricia Holland, Su Holmes, Bob Franklin, Jostein Gripsrud, Mark Andrejevic, Mark Pursehouse and Graeme Turner. It includes extracts from classic and difficult to find pieces together with specially commissioned articles on gross-out television and 'lads mags'. Sections address: debates and definitions including the alternative public sphere; postmodernism, tabloidisation; 'behind-the scenes' producing tabloid culture; tabloid audiences; gender and sexuality; celebrity; and ethics and values and spectacle carnival and excess. Each section is followed by recommendations for further reading.