Tabloiding the Truth

What skills do journalists exhibit in sensationalising, exaggerating and otherwise 'tabloiding' the truth, while usually stopping short of stating unambiguous falsehoods? Why has the tabloid news not collapsed as predicted, but thrived as a medium in an age of interaction and online commentary? This book is a comprehensive and accessible exploration of the British tabloid newspapers from the 1960s to the present day. Examining topics such as sex and the representation of women, national stereotypes and Britain's relationship with Europe, war coverage, celebrities, investigative journalism and instances where the tabloids have misread the public mood, the author draws on Critical Discourse Analysis and Stylistics to take a language-led approach to the UK tabloids. With its interdisciplinary approach and readable prose style, this book will be of interest to a wide range of readers across language and linguistics, media and communication, journalism, political science and British cultural studies.

Presents a thematic study of the UK tabloid newspapers from the 1960s to the present day Considers source material with reference to its historical and sociopolitical context Examines readers' online feedback for those pieces written since the 'digital revolution'

Auteur

Steve Buckledee is a Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Cagliari, Italy. His previous publications include The Role of Motivation in Second Language Acquisition (2011) and The Language of Brexit (2018).

Contenu
Chapter 1: Introduction: A Uniquely British Phenomenon?.- Chapter 2: From 'Horse Dope' to 'Saucy Soap' Sensations: the Making of the Modern Tabloid.- Chapter 3: From 'Gotcha' to 'Shocking and Awful': How the Tabloids Report Britain's Military Conflicts.- Chapter 4: From 'Rivers of Blood' to 'Migrants Are Like Cockroaches': the Tabloids and Race.- Chapter 5: Totties, Time Warps and Traitors to the Sisterhood: the Tabloids and Sex.- Chapter 6: 'Ve Vill Occupy Ze Sunbeds Here at Precisely 5am...!': National Stereotypes and Britain's Relationship with Europe.- Chapter 7: 'Drug Trial Moment of Horror' to 'European Health Tourist Scam': Investigative Journalism and Other Merits of the Tabloids.- Chapter 8: From 'Zip Me Up Before You Go Go' to 'Boring Old Gits to Wed': the Tabloids and Celebrities.- Chapter 9: 'Bonkers Bruno Locked Up' and 'Under the Carapace of Glittering, Hedonistic Celebrity': When the Tabloids Misread the Public Mood.- Chapter 10: 'Parents' Car Hid a Corpse' and 'Terror as Plane Hits Ash Cloud': Lies and Distortions in the Tabloids.- Chapter 11: Conclusions.