By Jeff Cape
"If some great controversy is not announced every morning,
We feel a certain void, 'Nothing in the paper today,' we sigh" -Paul Valery
The statement above proves how much tabloids and sensationalism has penetrated our lives.
For tabloids, blatant headlines on crime, sex and disasters come as rice. The viand takes on the form of a juicy starlet in a bikini or a local celebrity facing controversies. The dessert served, on the other hand, are the latest Lotto results Add to that the economic news, sports news with the most ludicrous language, possibly even voyeuristic sex stories, and if one is unfortunate enough, one can find a page with people who have nothing better to do but look for text mates. To top it all off, they have ridiculous names such as Tiktik and Toro. Clearly, tabloids should be taboo.
While it is true that the news should be accessible to everyone, it doesn’t mean that writers and publishers should stoop down to sensationalized writing as such. These papers commonly identified with boisterous, brief news content, attempts to captivate or persuade the masses with their colors and headlines about wonderful, amazing and even shocking stories. Their treatment for news stories and some of the news that they have for that matter, can be described in two words--unprincipled and inconsequential. Where else can you find a hyped-up and major feature on a street fight between alcoholics?
Tabloids augment the significant events of the times to give way for showbiz and preposterous news. In the States, Paris Hilton’s night life is given more attention as compared to the Iraq war. Locally, Angel Locsin’s big switch has been the talk-of-the-tabloids and everyone has seemingly forgotten that there are more pressing issues. Another dire effect of this is that the idea of public service is abandoned. Furthermore, with these kinds of topics, the public is not stimulated to think about pressing issues and in turn, become nothing more than empty heads, amused and astounded by such writings.
An interesting perspective is that these sensational tabloids are a product of our societal conditions. The ten-peso difference from the major broadsheets mean a lot to people who live on minimum wage, which clearly makes it more affordable for them. Also, since almost all tabloids are written in Filipino, it becomes more readable to the ordinary Filipino. And in the end, the topics in tabloids that people in the slums would want to read—not those that he cannot relate to.
Taking in to consideration all these reasons why tabloids proliferate, one “tabloid” comes in to my mind. Tempo. Tempo is not what I would categorically consider as a tabloid since it has no almost-nude girl on its cover, it tries to balance the news between crime and its contemporaries with those of pertinence and its cost is no different with other “tabloids”. So the thing is, it’s actually possible to strike a balance between commercialism and responsibility. So why not move towards it?
However, the fact still remains that the only reason certain reporters bang stories like a gong is because it sells and it plays upon the emotions of readers. So at the end of the day, tabloids are not a valid form of journalism. It is insulting for me that the types of journalism that maintain a certain astute are leveled with stories without substance, provided only to whip readers into a frenzy whilst devoid of facts.
Tabloids used to be different with broadsheets only in size, but today, the differences they have are immediately recognizable. Given the large impact they have, tabloids should be more responsible with what they feature and how they feature them.
And the status quo, the tabloids’ current situation, is something I am ready to barf out anytime as soon as I ingest them.
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