News: Newspapers in the 1960s

Newspapers in the 1960s were starting to be defined by their physical size. §All upmarket newspapers such as The Observer were printed in the broadsheet format, whereas downmarket newspapers such as the Sun launched tabloid formats (the Sun went tabloid in 1969). Broadsheet newspapers were dominated by a news agenda, with relatively little self-promotion on the front page, whereas tabloid newspapers relied on their front covers to attract readers. The Times, for example, continued to fill its front page with classified advertising until 1966. Front pages for The Observer from the mid-60s, for example, have many more news stories on the front page, less space dedicated to photography and promotion of the newspaper's contents, and are written in a more formal language register than would be used today.

The increasing role of marketing in newspapers was, however, evident in the launching of colour supplements in the early 1960s- these were designed to offer advertisers the opportunity to use high quality colour images. Printing in the main newspapers was monochrome and of poor quality compared to contemporary standards.

The terms 'broadsheet' and 'tabloid' are still in common use to describe the style of a newspaper, although few newspapers are still printed in the broadsheet format (The Observer- currently in Berliner format- is scheduled to change to the tabloid format in 2018). The 'quality' or 'broadsheet' press sometimes refer to they tabloid format as 'compact', as they feel the term 'tabloid' carries negative connotations of sensationalism and gutter journalism.

The main characteristics of tabloid and broadsheet newspapers are as below:

Tabloid:

• Softer news agenda- e.g. human interest stories, celebrities.
• Less formal language register.
• Pages dominated by headlines and images.
• Target a more downmarket audience.
• Offers news as entertainment.

Broadsheet:

• Harder news agenda- e.g. politics, finance, international news.
• More formal language register.
• Pages dominated by copy.
• Targets a more upmarket audience.
• Offers news as information.

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