ABSTRACT
This chapter considers tabloid culture’s influence on conceptions of truth with regard to American politics throughout the twenty-first century, tracing the ways in which one particular tabloid genre, celebrity gossip magazines, has informed popular understandings and meaning-making processes around political news and information. The impact of tabloid practices on the celebrification of the American presidency and the rapid shift from an information environment defined by “truthiness” during the George W. Bush administration, to a “post-truth” landscape under Donald J. Trump, is also discussed. A critical examination of the editorial techniques used by celebrity gossip magazines highlights the ways in which these texts both reflect and contribute to an information economy characterized by scepticism, uncertainty, and ambiguous truthfulness.
