Tabloidization in Philippine Online News Media: A Content Analysis

Abstract

This study is a content analysis of the implication of tabloidization in the top online news sites of the Philippines: Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), Manila Bulletin (MB), and Philippine Star (PS). It sought to: determine the amount of tabloidization concepts observed in the three online news sites; and ascertain whether the amount of tabloidization has a significant association with the ranking of the online news sites. It made use of a correlational descriptive research design to acquire data regarding the current status of the phenomenon which is about the infiltration of tabloidization in news media. Also, it is anchored upon the Uses and Dependency theory and Media Dependency theory. Moreover, the study employed quantitative content analysis and purposive sampling method. The findings of the study show that the ranking of the amount of tabloidization concepts is true for all online news sites, with individualism as the highest, followed by drama, entertainment, and political concepts. Moreover, the PDI is found to be the most sensationalized among the three online news sites, followed by PS and MB. Finally, there is an association of the amount of tabloidization to the ranking of the online news sites. With these findings, it is concluded that the use of tabloidization in news media could be a strategy to gain a huge lead in readership and eventually attain the widest market possible.