The development of the news media in western societies coincided with the formation of a fully democratic polity based on universal suffrage, and from the outset the press and later broadcasting were assigned a central role in providing the information and argumentative resources for citizenship and in checking for abuses of power. But the commercial news media were also industries, increasingly financed by the sale of advertising, and commentators saw the search for audience maximisation moving news towards sensation. While these developments gathered momentum over many decades in the West, in Taiwan they have been compressed into two, as the country has experienced a rapid triple transformation: from authoritarian, single-party rule, to democratic politics based on multi party competition; from a state managed economy to a market-driven economy; and from a restricted media system to an open one marked by fierce competition. Many observers see this highly compressed process of change, coupled with the relative weakness of civil society, generating a particularly aggressive form of tabloidisation, a withdrawal from social responsibility and ethics, and news system ill adapted to serving the needs of a still consolidating democracy. This argument empirically through three detailed case studies of key stories places them in the context of the general changes reshaping Taiwanese news media and the original arguments over tabloidisation in the West, and concludes by exploring the possibilities for reform in the future.

Pas de résumé français / Pas de résumé anglais / Mit dieser durchaus selbstkritischen Einschätzung sprechen die Spiegel-Redakteure MarkusBrauck und Isabell Hülsen eine Diskussion an, die seit einigen Jahren in Gesellschaft und Wissenschaftunter dem Schlagwort "Boulevardisierung" geführt wird. Wie das Zitat zeigt, gehtdamit die Vermutung einher, der Boulevardjournalismus habe die Berichterstattung traditionellerMedien beeinflusst und lenke deren Aufmerksamkeit immer stärker auf Themen, die vorwiegendin Boulevardmedien auftauchen. Neu ist jedoch, dass derartige Beobachtungen auchvon Journalisten selbst stammen, was darauf hindeuten könnte, dass klassische Medien tatsächlichimmer stärker zu bunteren Themen und Stilformen tendieren. Andererseits zeigt das Zitataber auch, dass "Boulevardisierung" häufig und über alle Medienformate hinweg als Tatsacheverstanden wird, obwohl kaum wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen hierzu vorliegen. Dabei gebendie Spiegel-Redakteure auch unumwunden zu, was sie von derartigen Tendenzen im Journalismushalten: "Krawalljournalismus, Sensationsgier, Schaulust, Prominentenhatz und Aufwiegeleihaben immer noch ihren Platz in den Boulevardblättern, sie nehmen breiten Raum einim Boulevardfernsehen, und sie breiten sich im Internet aus wie ein stinkender Pilz." (Brauk &Hülsen, 2008, S. 74) Die Annäherung zwischen Boulevardmedien und klassischen Medienschätzen die Autoren damit als sehr negative Entwicklungen ein, die ihrer Ansicht nach denseriösen Qualitätsjournalismus in Deutschland unterlaufen und gefährden.

The thesis "Position of the tabloid press in Switzerland on the example of Blick" deals with the position of tabloid press in general as well as with its development in Switzerland. There is a characteristic of the tabloid press and the necessary economical and social circumstances. The tabloid press is described from the point of view of its signs, form and the way it communicates with the audience. The thesis also describes the history and natural conditions of Switzerland that determinate the development of the press. Switzerland is the country with four official languages that might be regarded as an obstruction to the print media (for example Italian is spoken only by 6.5% of the total 7.785.000 population) on the other hand there is a potential of specialized audience and therefore custom made titles. The third chapter deals with the history of tabloid press in Switzerland on the example of the publishing house Ringier. The tabloid daily Blick has been a part of its portfolio since 1959 (circulation 214.880, audience according to Ringier 628.000). Ringier is one of the most powerful players on the media scene of Switzerland. The last chapter describes the general trend of the change of media towards tabloid type, the trend is supported by the Swiss media quality research done at Universität Zürich.

Although the yellow press has been in existence in Great Britain and the USA since the start of the 19th century, it has only recently been introduced in the South African media environment. The mainstream press like Rapport and Beeld have showed certain characteristics of the yellow press for a while now, but rather present a combination of both trivial and more serious news to the reader. The arrival of the yellow media which brought along a more sensational approach to news became also visible in more serious papers. This phenomenon is called "tabloidisation". The yellow press can be distinguished from serious papers on the basis of its nature and presentation. These characteristics can be divided into three categories, namely news themes, language and style, and presentation. The yellow press can be recognised by the amount of news items that focus on scandals and gossip involving celebrities, sex and crime. These media communicate in a informal and an easy understandable way with the readers,. These publications often make use of crude language and the stories are mostly people-driven. The yellow press publication can be seen as an entertainment package, because the aim is to entertain the reader. A vivid news package is presented to the reader by using bold headlines, large photos, graphics, colour and a captivating front page. This study investigates the characteristics of the yellow press. It investigates whether and how these characteristics are presented under the categories news themes, language, style and presentation of three local daily tabloids, namely the Kaapse Son, Daily Voice and the Daily Sun. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Although the yellow press has been in existence in Great Britain and the USA since the start of the 19th century, it has only recently been introduced in the South African media environment. The mainstream press like Rapport and Beeld have showed certain characteristics of the yellow press for a while now, but rather present a combination of both trivial and more serious news to the reader. The arrival of the yellow media which brought along a more sensational approach to news became also visible in more serious papers. This phenomenon is called "tabloidisation". The yellow press can be distinguished from serious papers on the basis of its nature and presentation. These characteristics can be divided into three categories, namely news themes, language and style, and presentation. The yellow press can be recognised by the amount of news items that focus on scandals and gossip involving celebrities, sex and crime. These media communicate in a informal and an easy understandable way with the readers,. These publications often make use of crude language and the stories are mostly people-driven. The yellow press publication can be seen as an entertainment package, because the aim is to entertain the reader. A vivid news package is presented to the reader by using bold headlines, large photos, graphics, colour and a captivating front page. This study investigates the characteristics of the yellow press. It investigates whether and how these characteristics are presented under the categories news themes, language, style and presentation of three local daily tabloids, namely the Kaapse Son, Daily Voice and the Daily Sun. / Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The study critically explored the tabloidisation of political news in Zimbabwe by focussing on the coverage of the expulsion of Joice Mujuru from ZANU PF and government by selected newspapers. The study analysed three national dailies across the ownership divide; The Herald, Daily News and NewsDay. The objective of the study was to establish whether or not the decline in standards of journalism and performance in Zimbabwe could be attributed to tabloidisation. The study employed a qualitative methodology through qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews to assess whether the framing reflected tabloid or broadsheet journalism styles. The framing of Joice Mujuru by The Herald was pejorative and derisive as she was depicted as corrupt, traitor, inept and a simplistic thinker who cannot handle issues to do with statecraft. Daily News sympathised with Joice Mujuru as a victim of chauvinistic factional politics in ZANU PF, especially, after the death of her husband, General Solomon Mujuru. The study argued that Joice was also depicted as a brave leader who could challenge for the office of the president, if she formed a coalition with MDC –T leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Daily News sought to counter all the negative framing of Joice Mujuru by The Herald. NewsDay framing was sympathetic, like Daily News but was more inclined on creating an image of a moderate leader in Mujuru, one who would be acceptable to all Zimbabweans because she had the critical liberation war credentials that Tsvangirai lacked and Mujuru’s perceived abilities to extricate the country from the economic challenges by mending relationships with the West. Despite the diametrically opposed frames in terms of The Herald versus Daily News and NewsDay, all the newspapers are undergoing the damaging process of tabloidisation by employing tabloid styles and formatting in their political news coverage through sensationalism, trivialisation and emotionalism. It was argued that the media needs self-introspection and recommitment to ethical and objective journalism as the watchdogs of society. / Communication / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)