Tabloid journalism is a subject that has always fascinated me. Waiting in line at the grocery checkout, it's amusing to scan the bold headlines screaming "Biden Covid Conspiracy Exposed!", "JFK Murdered by LBJ!", "Moon Landing Was Faked!" and such headlines repeated ad nauseam.
Which ignited my curiosity of how and why these almost assuredly false statements made their way into mainstream journalism.
Dating back to the early 1900s, tabloid journalism basically started in smaller newspapers in an effort to keep up readership and subscriptions. Sensationalistic headlines on articles such as murder stories, fires, plane crashes, or celebrity gossip caught the reader's eye and made them reach into their pockets for money.
Without a doubt, the National Enquirer is the most recognized leader of tabloid journalism in the U.S. Founded in 1926, it pays for scandalous stories from the public. Most if not all of its stories are ignored by the mainstream press because of the dramatic wording, twisted quotes, and flat-out lies used to titillate readers. Other tabloids of the same ilk include The Star, Weekly World News, and The Sun.
Come on, admit it, you have stood in line and read those headlines and were amused by the sometime outrageous and downright silly headlines! We all have.
There have been movies made regarding this subject. My all-time favorite is a 1940 film called "His Girl Friday" starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. In a very fast-paced dialogue between the newspaper editor (Grant) and his ex-wife, an investigative reporter about to leave the business, he tries to woo his ex into covering one last story for the paper. She agrees to report on a man about to be hanged (but who ultimately isn't); at one point, she's barking sensationalistic headlines into the phone from a reporter's pool desk.
My second favorite is "Ace in the Hole," a 1951 release starring Kirk Douglas as a down-and-out and often drunk washed-up reporter. Much like a saddle tramp of the newspaper business, Chuck Tatum (Douglas) is a talented writer who bounces from job to job. He ends up in New Mexico at a small-town newspaper because he's desperate for work, and while sent on assignment by the publisher, happens upon a souvenir-store owner who has fallen into a mine shaft while gathering curios for his gift shop. Tatum smells a sensational story and milks it for all it's worth, creating a carnival-like atmosphere that attracts other newspaper reporters from around the country, when predictably, his "story" inevitably disintegrates. It is one of Kirk Douglas' finest performances, in my opinion.
Tabloid journalism has deftly inserted itself into journalism, albeit loudly, and maybe, just maybe, it does have a place in newspapers. But I still cringe when I saw the European newspapers' stories on Princess Diana's death after being chased by, you guessed it, tabloid journalists or paparazzi.
Some things are better left unsaid or sensationalized for the sake of a nickel.
Randal Berry is a musician, former snake wrangler at the Little Rock Zoo, and an amateur historian.