Scandal sells, and no one knows that better than tabloid journalism. For over a century, sensational headlines and celebrity gossip have dominated newsstands. Now, they dominate our screens. With social media driving the demand for fast, bite-sized stories, traditional journalism faces a challenge: how to keep the public informed when attention is drawn to the most outrageous, clickable content?

Tabloid journalism, lets break it down; dictionary Cambridge explains that tabloid is “a type of popular newspaper with small pages that has many pictures and short” and journalism as “the work of collecting, writing, and publishing news stories and articles in newspapers and magazines or broadcasting them on the radio and television.” So basically whenever you want to know why your favourite Hollywood couple broke up or about an actor messy divorce, conspiracy theories, that’s the place to go.

Gossip columnist, reporter, tea spiller or however you call them, started around 1900s, becoming huge thing with a lot of magazines and newspapers; they included bold teasing and sensationalist headlines. Fast forward to today: nothing much has changed, except for the fact that instead of going to the closest newspaper stand to know all about the juiciest gossip going around. Now we are doomscrolling through clickbait headlines, threads of X and TikTok conspiracy theories.

Just like a cheaply made dress that falls apart after one wear, today’s news is often poorly stitched together, mass-produced for engagement, and abandoned when the next big headline comes along.

This raises the question, can gossip and journalism coexist?

As younger generations keep relying more and more on social media, it is more likely for them to encounter and consume this type of content, and that’s the new challenge journalists are facing today, how can we ensure that people stay informed. Times keep changing, that’s inevitable, and journalists have to settle down and adapt. The only responsible thing to do is manage the media people consume; like fact checking and just ethical writing.

Like everything in life, it’s about finding a balance—being mindful of both what we write and what we read. Gossip columns can be addictive, but they can also violate human dignity of the people involved. If they’re to be considered a form of journalism, they should follow ethical guidelines, just like any other type of reporting.

After all, what are we talking about if it’s not about the latest happenings worldwide? We, people connect through local news and mutual characters and that’s how engaging conversations happen, we are curious beings, and something has to fill the space every day, that something has to sell, and what sells is curiosity.

At the end of the day, tabloid journalism is a lot like fast fashion; designed for quick appeal, mass consumption, and easy entertainment. Stories are turned out rapidly, dressed up in eye-catching headlines, and discarded just as quickly when the next scandal arrives. But just like with fashion, we have a choice: to be conscious consumers. To think before we buy into every headline, to fact-check, to demand better quality. Because while trends fade, the impact of responsible journalism should never go out of style.

Text: Milagros Carolinne Vanlaeres Ramos.

Featured image: Image generated using ChatGPT.

Image: © Milagros Carolinne Vanlaeres Ramos.