Why is everyone reading that damn tabloid?”
“How did that tabloid become the go-to news source in this city?”
“It’s just a tabloid. Don’t believe a word of it.”
We’ve heard it all before but lately we’re hearing it more than ever. While The Reporter has gotten deep under the skin of those whom we cover our newspaper has also gotten deep into the consciousness of the local community. Yes, our TABLOID has made an indelible impression on those individuals and institutions that we report on. And nothing convinces us more that we’re fighting the good fight than when we hear people hissing the word “tabloid” through clenched teeth, as if it were four letters instead of seven letters, describing the newspaper’s size.
Yes, the word “tabloid” is nothing more than a physical description of a publication that is approximately half the size of a traditional “broadsheet” newspaper. Most newspapers in England are tabloids. Some are tame many are lively or controversial. The New York Post and New York Daily News are tabloids. The Post is rather snarky and the News is more toned down. Both papers routinely irritate and entertain while informing readers.
While the critics of the Reporter think they’re accurately describing the paper by calling it a “tabloid” they’re only stating the obvious: the Reporter is printed in tabloid format. Nothing more and nothing less. No matter how deeply some people dislike the Reporter and no matter how hard they try to wish us into the journalism cornfield the facts are that the paper is quite popular. Deal with it.
In any event we have no plans to go away any time soon because there’s too much going on and we’re determined to keep reporting on it. We’ll keep covering the news that other media outlets find too inconvenient to go near. And if that makes some people uncomfortable, we make no apologies.
