Tabloid Babies

The daily newspaper industry, which did little but contract from 1960 to 2000, is on a 21st century expansionist roll. The Washington Post announced today that it is launching a new free tabloid daily in August to be handed out to younger readers riding the Metro. The start-up follows similar initiatives in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville and elsewhere.

Comments

[Steve in CO]

Perhaps it has something to do with the "turning inward," that so many talk about?

[Mike Cloud]

We are influenced by the TV news we watch, by the newspapers we read, by the people we talk with. Most of these people went to government schools - which teach Big Government thinking; which teach that government can solve social problems.

Their first thought is, "What should government do?". Because they were taught to think this way in government schools. And so were their brothers and sisters, their friends and neighbors, and virtually everyone else they know. Not to mention the people who report the news to them.

When a cucumber gets tossed into a vat of brine, the brine does not get cucumbered, the cucumber gets pickled. Environment is relentless. Fast or slow, completely or partially, it influences and changes us.

[jacob dreyer]

any Post readers out there?
and if so, whats the vacation donation?

[international playboy]

they've got a paper like this in London called, I believe, the Metro.

It's a great paper and this is a great idea.

[Al Schweitzer]

A new public opinion must be created privately and unobtrusively. The existing public opinion is maintained by the press, by propaganda, by organization, and by other influences which are at its disposal.

The unnatural way of spreading ideas must be opposed by the natural one, (which goes from man to man) and relies solely on the truth of the thoughts and the hearer's receptiveness for new truth.

[Anonymous]

it will keep the bums warm at night. probably will contribute to the litter problem though.

[Anonymous]

>>The existing public opinion is maintained by the press, by propaganda, by organization, and by other influences which are at its disposal

its disposal? is it a being?

[Matt Welch]

The Metro company is a Swedish chain, started in the 1990s by some far-left rabble-rousers, and they now have something like 20 papers on 5 continents, plus plenty of imitators.

[Anonymous]

Metro is a multi-national corporation then. They probably exploit their workers!

[Matt Welch]

It's also publicly traded....

[Anonymous]

the wonderful unions in Paris refused to distribute the Metro and dumped 'em all in the Seine.

[jacob dreyer]

^i love it when the left fights itself.

[At Work]

I made some inquiries into the newspaper biz a while back attempting to get some artwork published. While talking to working cartoonists and a few editors, it was all the same answer. The industry is in the toilet, my ?far-right? view is not welcome on any editor?s desk and I should just find a more stable way of making a living.

I tried pointing out that all of the ?right-wing? outlets were making money and that there seemed to be a connection between a narrowly focused left wing message and losing money but to no avail.

[jacob dreyer]

^dude, "The Federalist" e journal links to a lot of conservative cartoons- contatc them about it.

[Sean]

Jacob,

When you stop your delivery for vacations and such, you can either have your bill reduced for the papers not delivered or donate the money to charity. I'm guessing the Post gets to write this money off as if it was the one that donated it, but I'm not sure.

[Matt Welch]

At Work -- I would doubt that you find much correlation between political slant and profit margins at monopolist daily newspapers (which, even during a recession, are usually at 20 percent or higher). You might have an argument with *competitive* newspapers, especially tabloids like the New York Post. (Of course there *is* only one tabloid like the New York Post.) But even there, I don't know how much you can attribute its success to right of center politics, rather than an ethic, as Ken Layne puts it, that "just screams, 'New F--king York, how 'bout that?!'" When someone combines the Post's humor and the new weekday tabs' business model, we might start seeing some lively new newspapers.

[Anonymous]

>>we might start seeing some lively new newspapers.

yellow journalism. faux news in print. that is all we need!

[jacob dreyer]

Sean: i know, i was referring to the little advertisements the have with googly eyed transvetites, scuba divers, kofi annan etc. ith speech bubbles saying "whats the vacation donation?"

if it went over your head its probably my fault.

[Sean]

Jacob,

I see. I haven't seen them, so I didn't get it. I think the blame falls on their advertising dept.

[Matt Welch]

at -- Call me Old Yeller, but my view of the marketplace of ideas is that the more newspapers, the merrier. And if they can be entertaining to read, even better.

[Anonymous]

I was trying to get into the industry just before and little after the summer of 01. At the same time there were numerous stories of the demise of the newspaper industry; layoffs, dwindling ad revenue and so on.

At this same time, Limbaugh was signing a superstar athlete sized contract, Fox was passing CNN despite being in fewer homes and conservative websites were flourishing while Slate and the like were falling by the way side.

As for the cartoonists, even some award winning ?right-wing? artists were saying that their own success seemed to defy all industry logic (because of the editorial slant).

[At Work]

I didn't sign my last post, sorry,

Ray, At Work

[At Work]

Phoenix has a one ?major? freebie tabloid that seems to hang in there. It?s mostly stuff a little too edgy for most people though it serves as a good place for up and comers. And they?re great for taking on the locals when the muck gets thick. We?ve had a couple of scandals in the last few years that the main paper, AZ Repub, only picked up after a libertarian leaning radio guy and the tabloid had beaten it to death.

[Ken Layne]

"yellow journalism. faux news in print. that is all we need!"

Jesus freakin' christ. What is it with this Tourette-style idiocy every time somebody suggests we might be better off with More Newspapers, or More Websites, or just More Information. Jackass obviously didn't read the article because of the spastic need to immediately post some slogan. If he had, he maybe would've comprehended the part about the free paper being filled with wire service news. You know, like the Associated Press or Reuters? You know, the same news that's in your local paper or on the teevee or on the radio news?

Wouldn't it be great to hold an international conference on issues such as "faux news in print," "yellow journalism," "diversity training," "media consolidation" and other Ethics, and pay for whoever wants to attend, and then blow up the hotel?

[Curt Warner]

As a newspaper editor in a small-to-medium-sized town, I can tell you that most newspapers, in my opinion, lean toward the status quo more than anything else.

[Anonymous]

what the fuck's happening to Reason? Hope it won't get taken over by Layne & Welch who can't seem to decide if they love themselves or each other more. Christ, they can't say five sentences without dropping each other's names, they both have shitty, innocuous blogs & try to force their pathetic music on anyone and everyone.

[Plutarck]

You know, just today I was thinking to myself, "Self, what we really need in this world is more publications where rumor, innuendo, and imagination is reported as fact."

I'm begining to think I can control the world with my mind.

*tries to summon a supermodel*

...wow, it worked. Technically I used Google, but my mind was involved, so I think that should count.

[Plutarck]

Wait a second, this isn't a "tabloid!" I've been tricked!

...actually, it is a tabloid:

tabloid
n. A newspaper of small format giving the news in condensed form, usually with illustrated, often sensational material.

[From tabloid journalism, from Tabloid, trademark for a drug or chemical in condensed form.]

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Excerpted from American Heritage Talking Dictionary
Copyright ? 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Just goes to show what happens when you don't click the link and rely on common uses and connotations of words. I'm kinda confused now, how "tabloid" means something according to the dictionary so incredibly different than common use. That's culture for you.

[webster]

Pluto, I know you like to impress us with the fact that you own an electronic dictionary, but we're getting a bit tired of your constantly including the dictionary's copyright notice with each definition.

If it's copyrighted, but you copy it anyway, what's the point of telling us that you made a copy of copyrighted material? Just highlight only the definition and leave the rest at home.

[Webster]

Aaaargh!!

[Plutarck]

A) It's automatic - one has to manually remove the copyright notice.

B) It's naturally good form to site one's sources, as not all dictionaries are the same and can and do have different definitions.

C) It's simple lawful fair use and reciprocity at work - as far as I'm aware, you can excerpt things freely from copyrighted material with only (what I deem to be an entirely reasonable) restriction that you include a notice of copyright/source, and they include the copyright notice automatically when one uses Copy for some reason, and your irrational dislike of having to overlook 3 lines of text does not appear to me to be sufficient reason to thwart their wishes or to spend the extra few seconds, mouse swipes, and keystrokes to delete it.

But since it does apparently bother you...

---------------------------------------------------------
Excerpted from American Heritage Talking Dictionary
Copyright ? 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Just to be a predictable thorn, so as to bring a sense of stability and coherancy to a sometimes random and uncertain world. And to annoy - can't forget that.

[anti webster]

poor webster. and now i've put him on the montgomery ward mailing list... (diabolical laughter)

--------------------------------------------------
Excerpted from American Heritage Talking Dictionary
Copyright ? 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

[Al Schweitzer]

Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind independent of the one prevalent among the crowd and in opposition to it -- a tone of mind which will gradually win influence over the collective one, and in the end, determine its character.

It is only an ethical movement which can rescue us from the slough of barbarism, and the ethical comes into existence only in individuals.

[Anonymous]

Douglas Fletcher is bombed out, folks. Drowning his sorrows in liquor.

[Douglas Fletcher]

Have a drink, Al, you'll feel better.

[Neufeld Josh]

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DATE: 01/19/2004 11:33:44
Perceptions do not limit reality.