Tabloid television, also known as teletabloid, is a form of tabloid journalism. Tabloid television news broadcasting usually incorporate flashy graphics and sensationalized stories. Often, there is a heavy emphasis on crime and celebrity news.

Global perspective

The United States is not the only media market with this genre of broadcasting. Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and France all have tabloid television shows that reflect this same down-market, sensationalist style of journalism and entertainment. People such as Rupert Murdoch also came out of this genre. In his book Tabloid Television, John Langer argues that this type of "other news" is as equally important as the "hard news".

Examples of tabloid television

Popular shows of this type include Hard Copy and A Current Affair. A commonly cited example of tabloid television run amok is a series of reports in 2001 collectively dubbed the Summer of the Shark, focusing on a supposed epidemic of shark attacks after one highly publicized attack on an 8-year-old boy. In reality, there were fewer than average shark attacks that year. Other examples include the coverage of 'missing white woman syndrome' stories like those of Chandra Levy, Elizabeth Smart, and Laci Peterson. Critics claim that news executives are boosting ratings with these stories, which only affect a select few people, instead of broadcasting national issues.