ABSTRACT
In the introspective world of the press, the 1990s have been characterized by a growing obsession with what has been seen as a decline in standards in the perhaps ironically named 'quality' titles. While the news traditionally had to compete with 'magazine stories, money-spinning games and promotions and quality sports writing' in the tabloid papers, the permeation of such attitudes into the 'serious' press appeared new. This chapter argues that there has indeed been a convergence of news values among the tabloid and broadsheet press, counteracting a tendency which prevailed for most of the twentieth century. In market terms, 'quality' and 'popular' newspapers began to overlap, and to compete directly, in the 'middle market' which once seemed to lie like a chasm between them. The tabloidization of the 'serious' press probably began in the provincial newspaper sector, and reflected perceptions held by proprietors and managers that the nature of the public it was addressing was changing.
