Supermarket Tabloids

The Trouble with Tabloids

Tabloids have been around for over 100 years. The first known tabloid was created in the 1880's, and have been nothing but upgraded since then. Each publication, nowadays, represents the "juiciest gossip" that is happening at the time. However, it should be noted that many times tabloids are filled with flase, exaggerated, or "fake" news, making them much less believable. Their reputation has been ruined because of that, yet they are still extremely popular among the populus due to the world's interest in one thing: Drama! Tabloids are only interested in the drama happening now in Hollywood and the Music industry, as well as anything else relevant in pop culture.

There are so many different publishers of tabloids out there right now. Two of the bigger ones, Weekly World News and Daily Record both are two of the most well-known tabloid producers today. Both boasting a strong number of readers.

Weekly World News is an illustrated American publication of weird and curious stories. While presented as news, the stories do not necessarily reflect reality. Written for mass consumption, the stories often track topics of interest in contemporary American folklore. Popular conspiracy theories, such as UFOs, Bigfoot, Vampires, and so forth are regularly talked about. Other popular topics include government conspiracies, alien encounters/abductions, real-life superheros, and much more. Though there is a 99% chance these stories are nothing more than superstition to entertain, many still subscribe to the article and believe every word of it, leading to many becoming, in scientific terms, "Nutcases". 

Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It is published six days a week, and its sister paper is the Sunday Mail. It has a close kinship with the British-based Daily Mirror, with major stories of British significance being reported in both titles. Most of its stories are catered to Scottish citizens, obviously. However, it does have other publications of the same name written in other parts of Europe such as Germany and France, which also cater stories to their specific region. The stories that are printed are in a mixed range. Some seem more serious. Others seem more like a hoax for entertainment. Nevertheless, it has kept a large European audience, helping to keep the tabloid affloat.

 

For whatever reason, despite their inconsistencies and their less-than-factual stories, tabloids are still extremely popular and considered top sellers for gossip. Why are tabloids so popular now? Nobody really has a straight answer. Some will tell you it's the only legitimate way to get information anymore. Others will simply say that they're for entertainment purposes. Regardless, you can't deny that tabloids are incredibly popular.

Bias in Cable News

CNN: A Left-Handed Slap to the Face

CNN has been one of the most well-known cable news broadcasts in America. The network has been running for nearly forty years, constantly stepping up its game in terms of the stories it broadcasts and the messages it sends. In fact, of the "big three" news networks (CNN, FOX, MSNBC), CNN is currently the most watched network of them, according to a chart from Semantic Scholar (shown below).

However, because of their popularity, CNN's viewers have decided to put all their trust in the network, as well as all of the opinions given by their news anchors and independent correspondents. According to mediabiasfactcheck.com, "Overall, we rate CNN left biased based on story selection that often favors the left. We rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to misinformation and failed fact checks from guests and pundits. However, CNN’s straight news reporting would earn a High rating for factual reporting,"   

Even CNN's webpage is evidence of their bias (CNN News Page). Several of their stories such as "None of this is normal. Here's what the unprecedented move says about Democrats' new approach", and "Michael Cohen delays testimony, citing 'threats' from Trump", as well as many others, show the amount of "left-leaning" that the network has. In many of these articles, the writers show clear political bias towards trump and anything related to the president.

The writers are not the only ones who show their bias. Many news anchors also let their true colors show. Many videos on the CNN YouTube channel are enough to make some people question their reliability, or in some cases, enough to sway those who believe whatever they see on the television. Not only that, but journalists and other reporters have called out CNN directly, accusing them of bias (CNN Accused of Bias). Some have even gone so far as to record one of the executive producers of CNN explaining their complete bias towards President Trump (Video Below)

Videos, such as the one shown above, and broadcasts given by the newscasters themselves are also considered biased due to low fact checking, as previously stated, and as such, generally base many stories on their own ideals, beliefs, and values, whereas other popular news networks, such as CBS, ABC, or MSNBC, have been proven to, while not always completely basing their stories on their own ideals, have gone out and done the research needed to make their broadcasts that much more factual, or at least more factual than CNN, essentially slapping themselves in the face, so to speak.

Overall, while CNN does have one of the highest amount of views of any cable news network, they are an extremely biased network, leaning towards the left side with their news stories and articles. Their facts are usually based on their own opinions and have been proven to be unreliable, yet still, to this day, many still rely on CNN as their primary source of news and information.