On Defining the Tabloid

WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/research/westminsterresearch ‘Love it or loath it’: a cross-national comparison of tabloid reading experiences in the UK and Germany Mascha Karin Brichta School of Media, Arts and Design This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © The Author, 2010. This is an exact reproduction of the paper copy held by the University of Westminster library. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Users are permitted to download and/or print one copy for non-commercial private study or research. Further distribution and any use of material from within this archive for profit-making enterprises or for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: (http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/). In case of abuse or copyright appearing without permission e-mail [email protected] ‘LOVE IT OR LOATHE IT’ A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON OF TABLOID READING EXPERIENCES IN THE UK AND GERMANY MASCHA KARIN BRICHTA A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Westminster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2010 Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements ii 1. INTRODUCTION Studying Tabloid Reading Cross-Nationally 1 Background Context of the Research 3 Thesis Outline 7 SECTION I: TABLOIDS FROM A CROSS-NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 2. SIMILAR PHENOMENA Aspects of the British Sun and the German Bild 10 Profitable: The Sun & Bild as Commercial Enterprises 10 Controversial: Historic Events around The Sun and Bild 17 Distinguishable: Editorial Characteristics of the Tabloid Press 30 Conclusion 38 3. DIFFERING CONTEXTS Media Systems & Journalistic Traditions 41 Press History 41 Press Laws 49 Press Markets 52 Professional Traditions 55 Conclusion 60 SECTION II: TABLOIDS IN THE ACADEMIC DEBATE 4. THEORISING TABLOIDS Approaches to Popular Newspapers 64 Implying Detrimental Effects: Traditional Approaches 64 Turning to ‘the Other’: Alternative Approaches 74 Conclusion 82 5. MILESTONES REVISITED Building on Previous Audience Studies 84 Providing the Ground 84 Newspaper Audiences in the Spotlight 92 Tabloid Newspaper Reception 95 Conclusion 108 SECTION III: TABLOIDS FROM AN AUDIENCE POINT OF VIEW 6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Planning, Devising and Carrying out the Research 111 Comparing Nations: Conceptual Framework 111 Devising the Tools: the Research Design 115 Linking Principles and Practice: the Research Experience 122 Reaching Conclusions: the Data Analysis 139 Conclusion 142 7. BALANCING TENSIONS The Politics of Reading Tabloids 144 Trivialising Tabloids: the ‘Light Entertainment’ View 144 Scrutinising Tabloids: the ‘Flawed Journalism’ View 150 Endorsing Tabloids: the ‘Social Value’ View 159 Dismissing Tabloids: the ‘Ideological Imposition’ View 163 Conclusion 171 8. FOSTERING ENGAGEMENT The Participatory Potential of Tabloids 174 Access to News 175 A Currency of Communication 178 Spaces of Negotiation 183 Conclusion 190 9. MANAGING IDENTITY Tabloids as Tools for Social Belonging 193 Rehearsing Nationhood: ‘the trouble with this country’ 194 Flagging Nationhood: Socially Accepted Contexts of Patriotism 205 Belonging and Becoming: Notions of Status and Class 213 Conclusion 219 10. CONCLUSION Tabloid Modes of Engagement 222 Reading Popular News 224 The Tabloids’ Negotiative Space 229 Subtle Distinctions: Cross-National Differences 237 Looking Ahead: Future Perspectives 243 BIBLIOGRAPHY 246 Appendix I: Questionnaire (English version) Appendix II: Focus Group Guide (English version) Appendix III: Transcription Conventions Appendix IV: Publication 2006 Appendix V: Publication 2010 Abstract This thesis comprises a cross-national comparison of readership responses to the British tabloid The Sun and the German red-top Bild. The study is of qualitative nature: it draws on extensive material derived from a total of 18 focus groups conducted in both countries, in which 104 diverse adults participated. The first study to compare tabloid reading experience cross-nationally, the research sets out to explore how readers of The Sun and readers of Bild make sense of the papers, and how they evaluate them. The results are analysed with regards to emerging similarities and differences, which are pointed out and discussed in relation to the specific social and cultural contexts in the UK and Germany. While many academic approaches to genre consider popular newspapers hazardous to the workings of democratic society; this study takes a different approach. Drawing on a range of academic ideas that can largely be associated to the intellectual tradition of ‘cultural studies’, the research foregrounds the social and cultural functions of the popular press from the readers’ point of view; focussing in particular on notions of belonging and community as expressed in the construction of citizenship, social participation and collective identity formations. Among the key results of the study, cross-nationally shared modes of engagement with tabloids are highlighted, which contribute to an often tension-filled character of the reading experience. Moreover, the papers’ highly stimulating potential is stressed. I develop my idea of the ‘negotiative space’ generated by tabloids; arguing that this greatly contributes to readers’ development of their ‘vision of the good and bad’. Moreover, the thesis emphasises the significance of the popular press to various kinds of readers’ social and cultural identity formations; particularly with regards to notions of nationhood and national identity. i Acknowledgements I am enormously grateful to many of my friends and colleagues, who have inspired me, contributed ideas, assisted and sustained me in the writing of this thesis. It would seem impossible to name all the names, but I would like to express my gratitude to a few particular individuals. However, I am by no means less thankful to those not explicitly named here who have also accompanied me on my journey to the Ph.D., for providing support and interest, and for making this mission possible. This thesis would have been impossible without the contribution of the 104 readers of The Sun and Bild in the UK and Germany, who took part in the focus groups of this research. I am indebted to them in many ways, and I would especially like to thank each and every one of them for their interest and for educating me about their views and opinions. My warmest thanks also go to my supervisors at the University of Westminster, Professor Annette Hill and Dr. Peter Goodwin, as well as Professor Jutta Röser at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg in Germany. I would like to express special gratitude to my Director of Studies Annette Hill, who has guided, motivated and supported me in every step of the way; and who at times had more confidence in me than I had in myself. I am also hugely grateful to Peter Goodwin for his detailed criticism and suggestions on the final manuscript, which greatly improved the thesis. My appreciation also goes to Jutta Röser, who has continuously fed me with invaluable information and ideas, and has kept patient when I was reluctant to take advice. I also owe a great debt to those who have helped me recruit readers for the research, in particular Elke Grittmann and Jutta Röser in Germany; Colin Sparks, Rowan Adams and Rona Brunko in the UK. I would, moreover, like to thank Sören Werner and his girlfriend Claire; Kate Mansfield; Felix Esch; as well as Audrey Sykes for their invaluable help with the transcription of the focus groups. Much appreciation goes to Kevin Brownlow as well, for tirelessly supplying me with Sun snippets, and for treating me to a number of delicious luncheons that took my mind off Ph.D. matters. I feel fortunate to have received much encouragement and intellectual stimulation from my colleagues and students at the University of Westminster, the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, and the University of Hamburg. The thriving academic community at the University of Westminster has provided an excellent institutional home for this research, and I owe special thanks to the staff at the Media, Arts and Design department, for awarding me a three-year doctoral scholarship and stipend. I would also like to express my gratitude to my fellow Ph.D. researchers in Germany and the UK, for their company and peer support, motivation and sympathy, comfort and congeniality. Finally, I am very grateful for my parents and for Mr. Smith, whom I would like to thank for their patience, for offering their unconditional love and support, and for sustaining me emotionally, spiritually and financially in the writing of this thesis. ii I certify that I am the author of the work presented in this thesis. 10 December 2010 iii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION STUDYING TABLOID READING CROSS-NATIONALLY Tickle the public, make ’em grin, The more you tickle, the more you’ll win. Teach the public, you’ll never get rich, You’ll live like a beggar and die in a ditch. leet Street journalists are said to have coined the anonymous verse above in the nineteenth century (Engel 1996). Emerging at a crucial time in the development F of British popular journalism, the rhyme still conveys part of the controversy characterising contemporary debates and discussions about the tabloid press. Today, popular newspapers with a national reach are, indeed, often immensely profitable; they enjoy a very high circulation and wide audience shares. The papers chosen as a case study to this research, the British tabloid The Sun and the German popular daily Bild (lit: picture)1 even occupy the two top positions amongst Europe’s best-selling newspapers. Outnumbering all other papers in their country, they are prominent parts in the daily lives of more than 7.8 million readers in Britain, and 12.5 million people in Germany (National Readership Surveys Ltd 2010; Media-Micro-Census GmbH 2010).

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