Description
Book SynopsisFocuses on diverse theoretical sources and an unprecedented range of electronic and print media in order to analyse important aspects and key debates that have emerged around this phenomenon. Rejecting elitist dismissal of sensationalist media, this book traces the cultural currents and counter currents running through their forms and products.
Trade Review“At last, a book that treats tabloidism seriously! Glynn’s multidimensional study— analytical, historical and theoretical—shows us how tabloid TV became the genre that reshaped the media environment of the 1980s and 1990s. Glynn’s treatment of the phenomenon itself and of the controversies around it provide insights into contemporary media culture that we cannot ignore. No one who is interested in how changing notions of popular culture shape both the commercial and textual forms of contemporary media can afford to miss this book.”—John Fiske, author of
Media Matters: Everyday Culture and Political Change“This is a very smart book about aspects of contemporary media culture that have never been more visible nor more in need of rigorous analysis. Glynn goes beyond the simplistic demonization of tabloid television to specify both the genre’s form and its cultural ramifications.”—Jim Collins, author of
Architectures of Excess: Cultural Life in the Age of InformationTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Chapter 1: The Geneology of Tabloid Television
Chapter 2: Cops, Courts, and Criminal Justice: Evidence of Postmodernity in Tabloid Culture
Chapter 3: Bodies of Popular Knowledge: The High, The Low, and
A Current Affair Chapter 4: Fantastic Populism: A Walk on the Wild Side of Tabloid Culture
Chapter 5: Normalization and Its Discontents: The Conflictual Space of Daytime Talk Shows
Chapter 6: Conclusion: Cultural Struggle, The New News, and the Politics of Popularity in the Age of Jesse “The Body” Vent
Appendix; TVQ Scores for Tabloid Programs by Demographic Audience Category
