Write a detailed comparison between a Tabloid and a Broadsheet newspaper

Essay by Locksta June 2004

download word file, 3 pages 5.0

The Daily Telegraph and The Sun are both newspapers that support the Conservative Party and are both stereotypical of their type. The best-selling tabloid newspaper is The Sun and is owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch, the same person that owns BSkyB whereas The Daily Telegraph is owned by Hollinger international. Despite these similarities they have vital differences.

One of the first differences that a reader would notice would be the difference in size between tabloids and broadsheets. The word tabloid is French for tablet meaning a newspaper with small pages. Where as a broadsheet is self-explanatory meaning a broad sheeted newspaper.

The front page of a newspaper is a very important selling point as this is the part of a newspaper that potential buyers initially see. The Daily Telegraph and The Sun are very different in the way they present themselves to the reader. The Sun has one large headline, a big masthead, usually a small advert saying what else is inside the newspaper and a large photograph with lots of colour to go with the headline.

The Daily Telegraph has many more headlines, A small masthead and it is much less colourful with smaller photographs. The types of stories are also different. The Daily Telegraph has stories concerning political news whereas The Sun normally has stories about celebrity scandals.

The Daily Telegraph has fewer photographs compared to The Sun and the types of photographs are also different. The popular tabloids tend to use photographs to liven up sensational stories; they are unlikely to have photographs of politicians making speeches.

One of the main differences in style between broadsheet and tabloid is their use of images. However, this is a complex area. Both types of paper are very good at choosing the types of photographs that their readers...