Can anybody really take the tabloids seriously?
dominated the bottom of the list of print media in terms of credibility, according to a Pew Research Center study; apparently only 3% of those surveyed firmly believed what they read there (as opposed to 41% who had strong confidence in the Wall Street Journal). But some folks do. The same Pew Research Center study was able to create a profile of the Tabloid News Audience, a whopping 14% of the public, characterized as 57% female, young, not well-educated, but racially diverse, with a taste for the emotional and entertaining. Indeed, there is something to be offered in the tabloids. In their relentless pursuit of certain kinds of sensational human interest news, tabloid reporters are often on the spot. Richard Zoglin admits in Time magazine: As happened so often during the O.J. Simpson trial, the mainstream press had to acknowledge that the tabloids, and tabloid tactics, can sometimes unearth legitimate news. More to the point, there is clearly a consumer market for reports on the titi
