Hmm... the New York Post is a tabloid according to the AP. Of course it is, despite the fact that the Post prints many AP stories, unlike real tabloids such as the Weekly World News.
The following is the AP story about today's Post mocking its own mistake. Count the occurrences of "tabloid". Count the occurrences of "newspaper". And note the editing comments on the bottom. I'm sure any of you denying the AP's bias will be able to piece together the thought process of the writer -- and realize that the story went to the wire with a mistake of its own.
NEW YORK - The New York Post is reporting it right this time: John Edwards is the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
On Wednesday, the tabloid corrected its erroneous cover story that former House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt would be Kerry's pick. Kerry named Edwards shortly after the edition hit newsstands Tuesday.
Mocking its headline from the day before, the Post's Page One read: "KERRY'S CHOICE: Dem picks Edwards as VP candidate (REALLY)." Underneath, it said "NOT EXCLUSIVE."
The tabloid called the mistake "Our Gaffe-hardt" and apologized to readers.
"Rest assured that generous helpings of crow were eaten here yesterday â?? and the leftovers will surely last a few more days," the tabloid said. "We do hope you'll forgive the error â?? it certainly was one for the record books."
Auctioneers snapped up copies of the paper and posted them on eBay, where bids ran as high as $71 early Wednesday.
The Post's main competitor, the Daily News, gloated over its rival's blunder, sending bottles of sparkling wine to Post headquarters along with a note reading, "Congratulations on your 'exclusive'!!! Have a nice day."
Kerry's selection â?? the correct one â?? was reported first among mainstream media by Andrea Mitchell on NBC's "Today" show at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
An aviation buff reported on usaviation.com at 9:44 p.m. Monday that decals of Edwards' name were being put on Kerry's plane at Pittsburgh airport.
(SUBS 2nd graf to correct that Gephardt is a former House minority leader sted a former congressman; adds two grafs at end with early reports of Edwards selection)
"Tabloid" refers to the size and format of the paper. To most people it implies, shall we say, low journalistic standards, but technically, calling the Post a tabloid is an objectively true statement.
Tell me how the Post is a tabloid in either of the two criteria you mentioned.
1) The Post is full-sized. It wouldn't exactly fit on the tabloid racks at the supermarket; it's a full-sized newspaper, the same size as other "respected" publications such as Newsday (which is owned by the Chicago Tribune). Tabloid paper is almost square; the Post is printed on newspaper-size paper.
2) Layout? It's laid out like any other newspaper: news up front, sports in the back, classifieds in between, etc.
Still waiting for a definition of "tabloid" which the Post fits...
Vader, if anything that headline shows the Post isn't bashful about the true intent of owning a newspaper company: selling the most. If the Post is a tabloid, I wonder why I see more copies of the Post than the NY Times on the train into and out of Manhattan every single day.
If the paper size is 11"x17" (like the Enquirer and all those you see in supermarket checkout lines), then it's a tabloid (because that's the paper size). Otherwise, it's not. Haven't seen or measured it myself, so I can't say.
Though because of what seem to be the tendencies toward lower journalistic standards of those papers that use tabloid-sized material (maybe because of smaller budgets they choose the smaller paper?), "tabloid" takes on a certain connotation.
