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.

This thesis deals with the use of dishonest manners of obtaining information, particularly in connection with the tabloid media. The aim is to evaluate the practices of the tabloid media in gathering information and contribute to the discussion about their ethical borders. It also analyzes investigation of Leveson Inquiry, which was established in 2011 by the British government in response to the phone-hacking scandal connected with tabloid newspaper News of the World. The judicial commission leded by Brian Leveson was tasked to examine the ethical aspects of media and to find out if the system of media self-regulation is still effective. The thesis also includes an analysis of the tabloid environment in the Czech republic. It is based on interviews with representatives of major tabloids in this country.

The subject of this master thesis is the comparison of the way of writing about celebrities in two time periods, namely 1930-1938 and 2000-2008. Thesis are based on two first-republic social magazines, Eva and List paní a dívek, and two magazines from the turn of the century - Cosmopolitan and Rytmus života. The first part of the thesis introduces primarily a theme of the social magazines and celebrities, it also touches the tabloid and the mass media. It also deals with the characteristics of selected social magazines. At the same time, the theoretical part explains the basic knowledge from the history of the two examined periods, which allows a better understanding of context of the periods. The second part of the master thesis is focused on own empirical research, which consists of exploratory and descriptive phase of research. It is therefore the most important part of the thesis, which brings new knowledges. The exploratory phase includes a research sample and presents article entries. The descriptive phase includes an analysis of relationships between celebrities and themes, emotions and sentiment in relevant articles. Part of this section contains research questions and answers.

The aim of this bachelor thesis was to examine how Swedish tabloids portrayed Sweden’s greatest female boxers Mikaela Laurén and Klara Svensson the time before and the time after their great meeting at Hovet the 10th of September. We examined the following questions: Which gender roles are given to Sweden’s greatest female boxers Mikaela Laurén and Klara Svensson in Swedish tabloids and how is the interplay between media and the figures in the text described in the Swedish tabloids?   We used narrative analysis to investigate 14 texts from Aftonbladet and Expressen which were related to the match at Hovet. We found that the two boxers were portrayed differently. Laurén was portrayed as the bad girl who had to fight hard to get to where she is. She is tough and she is the one that comes with mean comments and gives media the real intrigues and she likes to use props. She believes she has a greater purpose, to get female boxing acknowledged on the media agenda. Svensson is portrayed as the good girl, she is more girly and is portrayed as if she seems to think that she is a better person than Laurén and therefore pity her when Laurén creates drama in the media. Svensson tries to convince the media that she is a tough girl but is still portrayed as more girly. Both Laurén and Svensson were also portrayed with their roles outside of boxing, as girlfriends which is common for female athletes. The meeting seems to be perfect for both the media and the boxers team. The meeting is portrayed as the final battle between good and evil.

The aim of this work is to describe the language of several important tabloids in the First Czechoslovak Republic. Firstly, sensationalist journalism is defined by different criteria and is distinguished from serious journalism. The development of sensationalist journalism in Czech lands is outlined and the press in the First Czechoslovak Republic is characterized. Then, selected tabloids are characterized and evaluated according to the defined criteria of tabloids. Language in journalistic texts is put into broader context of journalistic style and is considered on the basis of the influences that affect the choice of the specific language means. One chapter is devoted to formal and language aspects of headlines of the tabloids. The headlines are described on lexical level, morphological level and syntactic level. The language of the tabloids itself is analyzed on the same levels, on the lexical, morphological and syntactic level. The tabloid press in the First Czechoslovak Republic is compared to contemporary tabloid press and some tendencies of the development of the tabloid press are outlined.

Background: Diabetes is a global health issue on the rise. Besides genetics as a cause of diabetes, diet, weight and lifestyle are amongst the main factors. Due to the modernized society, new technology and risks, there has been a shift in responsibility of safety and health. As a part of a health promoting policy development during the last few decades there has also been a natural de-authorization of health knowledge and expertise. Governmental expertise has been decentralized to the society and so has the responsibilities. Traces of this new health paradigm can be seen in the media discourse. It has been seen in studies of the reporting of diabetes in North American press, that societal factors – such as labor market, health care and infrastructure – often get veiled by individuals’ responsibility and guilt due to lifestyle and life choices. This affects how individuals feel about their life situation and how the public perceive them.     Method and material: A quantitative content analysis was performed on 112 articles from six Swedish broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. The articles were coded with variables measuring article theme, dominant framing of diabetes´ causes and whose responsibility, what arguments are used and what agents with dignity can be seen. Excerpts from the articles were also analyzed with qualitative tools as modality and argumentation analysis. Results: Similarities between the Swedish and the North American newspapers were discovered. Societal factors and structures as causes and means of responsibilities were not as prominent as those aiming for the individual. The responsibility of the society was also reported to a much greater extent than society as a factor contributing to cause diabetes. This can be considered a sign of the health promoting strategy and the individualism that is rooted in modernization, industrialization and economic liberalization. Doctors and scientists were given dignity as often as celebrities and private citizens, which indicates the de-authorization of health knowledge and the further use of scientists and doctors as a truth repository in media. Several of the articles concern the critique of the diabetes unawareness and predominant individual responsibility that was the outset of this study. Celebrities and private citizens were frequently given dignity in these cases. In their criticizing, high modality contributed to a strong authority in their knowledge. / Grund för forskningsfrågan: Diabetes av olika slag drabbar ett växande antal människor världen över. Sjukdomen tros främst bero på genetik och omgivande faktorer så som livsstil, vilken påverkas av den omgivande miljön. Det har visat sig i studier av rapportering kring sjukdomen i bland annat nordamerikansk press att samhälleliga faktorer ofta hamnar i skymundan och att skulden och ansvaret för sjukdomen framstår ligga hos individen och dess egenvalda livsstil. Detta kan bero på en hälsofrämjande strategi som setts växa fram under de senaste decennierna, som en reaktion på effekterna av teknisk utveckling, modernisering och marknadskrafter. Strategin har inneburit en naturlig av-auktorisering av hälsokunskapen och individualisering av ansvaret. Detta hälsoparadigm återspeglas i medierna.   Studien: Denna studie undersöker rapporteringen av diabetes i svensk press, genom en kvantitativ innehållsanalys av 112 artiklar från sex svenska dags- och kvällstidningar. Materialet kodades med variabler för bland annat artikeltema, dominant gestaltning av orsak samt ansvar för diabetes, vilka argument som förekommer och vilka aktörer som tillskrivs dignitet i sammanhanget. Detta kompletterades med en kvalitativ analys av några textutdrag från materialet, med verktyg och begrepp från och argumentationsanalys samt det lingvistiska begreppet modalitet.   Resultat: Det framträder stora likheter mellan de svenska tidningarna och de nordamerikanska. Samhällsstrukturer som orsak till och ansvar för diabetes framgår inte i samma utsträckning som individens roll. Samhällets ansvar för sjukdomen framgår dock i större utsträckning än dess skuld, vilket går i linje med individualiseringen av hälsoansvaret. Läkare och professorer tillsammans förekommer med dignitet i ungefär lika många artiklar som privatpersoner och kändisar tillsammans, vilket indikerar avauktoriseringen av hälsokunskapen, och den fortsatta användningen av läkare och professorer som ett slags ”sanningsvittnen”. I flera artiklar framträder just den kritik mot okunskap kring sjukdomen och hur individerna själva måste arbeta för att förändra läget, en utgångspunkt för denna studie. Kändisar och privatpersoner fick i dessa fall dignitet. I deras kritiserande av andra uttalanden de inte höll med i, agerade hög modalitet en faktor som gav dem auktoritet i sina uttalanden.

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)