In wondering why anyome buys or reads tabloids?

[Janos]

Really.

They are utterly devoid of any interesting content or intelligent comment.

Can't understand why people actually spend money on them.

And yet they must be popular as their cirulation is consitently higher than the so called 'quality press'.

What gives?

Intellectually the DM is a tabloid in my view, although I know they do have some very well written and researched features which are of a quality nature.

From looking at their website you'd think they were a specialist newspaper devoted to reporting the exact body shape of well known women.

The DM website carries about 50% content that is not in the print version. The online edition is much more international and showbizzy because over half their visitors are from overseas.

I think if I read the DM every day I'd probably spend most of my time cowering at home, rocking back and forth and wearing a tinfoil helmet...

The paper is vile - I know, I have read it (once!) and see the headlines every day blaring out from the newsagents.

Women! New research states that EVERTHING YOU DO IS WRONG AND SELFISH!

Etc.

Duchesse

DP doesn't write for the DM (thankfully).

The issue that shocks me is the DM "campaign" to help men who are falsely accused of rape, rallying to grant them anonymity too. Forget the fact that although this happens it is extremely rare and when men accused of rape did have anonymity it hampered the police investigations. The REAL issue is that rape has a 6% conviction rate, but that doesnt seem to be of interest. Also their stand against recycling

DH's grandfather gets all his opinios from the DM (he is not very educated, or to be honest very bright) and he takes it all as fact leading him to have some very scary opinions.

How can anonymity for the accused hamper a police investigation?

Quite drastically one would think.

for example?

Well I am not a policeman but it is one of the reasons why such men do not currently have anonymity. Know you are sticking up for journos Nancy - friends of mine work for the tabloids they are bright and interesting people. But still wonder if they dont feel abit guilty peddling some of the things that you see in these papers particularly the Star. Especially the guy I met who worked for Nuts. He did have the grace to be abit embarrassed about that one..

I am a journalist so, yes, I do stick up for them sometimes, not always.

You've been incredibly vague though and unable to clarify your point. How can granting two people anonymity until a verdict is reached be anything other than fair?

Nuts?
Can that be considered journalism?
Nancy, who do you work for? I'm a journalist too. I work for Her Majesty's national news agency .

I'm freelance now - I've been staff on three of the major tabs and one broadsheet.

i wouldn't pay those tossers to read their scum dumbed down, hyped up bullshit. i wouldnt give them MY money so they can Whip up a frenzy about whatever suits them.

i wouldnt give them the power. to practically hunt down people and whip the population up into anger - until the priminister is saying something about...erm...i dunno...jade goody or something during PMs question time.

its an abomination and abuse of power. and shows the feeble minds of those that read them

Well I write for one as a freelance quite a bit. It helps pays the bills, so even if some of it is tosh I don't care. One of my DM articles has been linked to and discussed on this site, was good fun reading all the comments.

I like the DM on a Friday for film reviews and also on a Sunday as I have a broadsheet phobia. For the size of them not the content. I read The Times other days.

Most newspapers are full stop I would not actually pay money for one at all.

I loathe much of what is written in tabloids, especially the Mail, and their imbecilic, scaremongering, moral panic stories. As most of their readers are LESS educated than readers of other papers it feeds into a system of rants about asylum seekers/pc gone mad (the 'faves' ), that is taken up by people who do not have the intellect to challenge the assumptions and broad sweeping statements.
Oh well, it has a market and we live in a capitalist society!

The Mail and the Express are in a class of their own. my friend writes for the Express. I have to bite my tongue around her.

The Mail actually has a higher number of ABC1's than any other newspaper so your theory, Manatee, is bollocks. sorry.

So most middle class and/or educated people read a blinkered insular paper which proposes an idealogy not dissimilar to that of the BNP?

Give me the tree-hugging Grauniad any day thanks

I just buy the local newspapers. No tabloids. Not really into buying newspapers regularly, just buy them to view the wedding photos!! see who's been marrying who and where etc... because I'm NOSEY!

I occasionally skim The Sun and the Mail online. I have to say that The Sun is pretty good for what it is - the issues that matter to the masses. Daily Mail is irksome.

The online version of The Sun has less jingoistic content, than the paper version, I feel.

Ahfeckit, I like local papers too, for the nosey stuff and the comedy non-news and slanging matches between local councillors.

I sometimes get the Mirror if I'm going to be on the train or a passenger in the car. Its politics are reasonably palatable, its sports pages are very good and the news reporting is not too bad. The Guardian fits in more with my own politics, but the articles tend to be waffly and poorly-written and can be as rigidly doctrinaire as those of the Mail.

Educated people read the Independent do they not??? For a balanced, reasoned view