The living generally regard any age that they call the 'present' as somehow new and categorically distinct from ages of the past. Only those living in future times may look back and decide the validity of that distinction, and also see how how that 'present' is connected to the past. Occasionally, someone might select some particular element of their 'present' and connect it to the past, giving it a history and a place in an ongoing tradition. Some choose to analyze people; Robert Burns was characterized by his contemporaries as a modern Catullus, through the style of his poetry and its subject matter. Some choose to analyze popular institutions (although in some cases a person can constitute an institution), as Roland Barthes did in his book Mythologies. Barthes attempted to discover the meaning behind everything from wrestling to striptease by analyzing them and placing them in a larger historical context. Notably absent from Barthes' notes on aspects of popular culture is a discussion of tabloids. Perhaps France does not possess a tradition of tabloids as North America does; perhaps tabloids in France are like tabloids in England, sensationalist reiterations of the sobersided reporting found in major, 'respectable' newspapers. Since we live in an 'information-dependent' society, and since printed dailies and weeklies are the most commonly consumed forms of information, it seems likely that a comment on the value of the information found in tabloids would be useful. I used to think that the National Enquirer, the Star, and the Sun existed purely for the amusement of sophisticated types while they stood in line at a supermarket. The sensational headlines, including such wonderful examples as "'Home Alone' Dad Snatches Real-Life Son", "Liz' [Taylor's] hubby microwaves germs to save her life". and "White House Cat Faces Nervous Breakdown - the untold story", were easily ridiculed, denied or ignored. I certainly never imagined that anyone bought them, let alone read them. This naive assumption was quickly dispelled when I began to notice tabloids in laces other than the newstands. At my hairdresser's, at the Walk-in Clinic on the corner, and - most surpisingly - in the hands of women in diners and coffee shops everywhere. People, being human, generally share a wide variety of interests; there is no topic under the sun tha ta person will not touch on, at least mentally, once in their lives. Was I, perhaps, 'missing out' on something? This essay topic provided me with a perfect opportunity to discover just that. After purchasing - with some embarrassment - a few tabloids for analysis, I hurried home with them to inspect their contents. Taboids almost never contain the sort of information which can be found in 'formal' newspapers like the New York Times. The articles focus on soap opera stars, movie stars, European royalty, the family of the American President, and television evangelists; in other words, larger-than-life figures. There are also, although not usually on the first page, articles on 'ordinary' people who have performed extraordinary events. Some tabloids also document extremely unlikely events, such as extra-terrestrial visitors, eight year old mothers, or the physically unusual; in short, freaks. Like ordinary newspapers, they also have classified advertisements; the advertised services usually include tarot card readings, cash loans, blank birth or divorce certificates, recipe booklets and information on religious cults. The array of information I uncovered was mind-boggling; I wondered if it could possilby be resolved into a coherent whole. As it turns out, tabloids do have a strong internal structure and clear purpose, which is both sophisticated and subtle. The world of tabloids is divided into two major groups: the fantastic and the realistic. This division is not extremely clear; there is overlap from one to the other. Generally, certain papers will focus on the one area or the other. The fantastic papers contain more of the 'freak' article category, with 'personalities' coming a close second. The realistic papers deal almost exclusively with the 'personality' category, with a liberal addition of articles concerning 'ordinary' people. The second type is the more popular of the two; there are a greater number of papers of this type, and they also have a larger ciculation. Consequently, they are a more valuable source of information for us than the first type. Sill, as the first sort are the ones that people generally associate with tabloids, some discussion of them must be made. As mentioned above, a prominent place is afforded to those articles which focus on great personalities. It is quite apparent that everyone involved in western culture is somewhat interested in the activities of these figures. Why? A comparison can be drawn with the gods of the ancient Greeks. The myths as related by Hesiod begin with a discussion fo the professional actions of the gods: their ascent to power, the creation of man, Prometheus' unintended gift of fire, and so on. But later, the poems begin to focus on the gods; in other words, a way in whcih people can relate to them. In so doing, Hesiod created a symbol system. So it is with those figures that exist as demigods for us in our world. It does not belittle them; it allows us to understand them as being much like ourselves. Reading an interview with Kenny Rogers on his upcoming album and what his future career holds is interesting in an abstract sense; it is much more engaging to find out whether he was having an affair with one woman or two at once. [See Appendix, Article 1] Although such figures are discussed extensively in the mainstream press, it is usually in a 'professional' capacity; the details of their personal lives are reserved for extensive discussion only in tabloids. Those articles which feature ordinary people engaged in ususual endeavours have a slightly different significance. Rather than discussing what seems to be purely part of the 'natural order' of things, as the articles on personalities do, these articles symbolize possibilities; specifically, the possibility of moving from one symbol-system (the ordinary existence) to another (the demi-god personalities). Although there is an order and clear structure to the tabloid world, the people in these articles manage to transcend the normal boundaries. An artice on a woman who founded and operates the first all female car repair centre [The National Enquirer, December 8, 1992, p. 5.] clear expresses that this is possible for any woman to accomplish. The "super cop" who managed to arrest 22 gang members at once, represents not only a possible model for men, but more importantly, transmits a possible sense of security for women, who are generally more dependent on the police than men. The articles which focus on freaks are at once less important than the ones already metioned and also reveal more about the nature of the tabloid than the others. On one level, they satisfy a curiosity which was once addressed by circus side shows. Whereas the articles on famous people connect quite firmly to an established order, and the articles on extraordinary members of the hoi polloi explore the flexibilities in this order, the freak articles focus on its limits. Philosophical questions, such as "what constitutes a human being?" are adressed by such articles as "half-human, half fish found in florida!" [Weekly Word News, Dec. 15, 1992, p. 1 & 21; see Appendix Article 2.] As well, such articles are themselves a symbol system for the completely fantastic. But beyond this, in the structure of these particular articles there occurs an interesting phenomenon. their headlines will generally be displayed on the front paeg, while the articles themselves are buried within the paper. These headlines rarely, if ever, fully connect with the contents of the article. The bold assertions in the headlines end up being highly qualified in the articles themselves, until the event is reduced from the extraordinary to the doubtful or the pedestrian [See Appendix, Article 3.] As this occurs with astonishing regularity, it does not seem possible that a regular reader will be "taken in" by the intial claims stated in the headlines after their first contact with this type of article. The phenomenon is akin to watching an extremely formulaic movie or play. An audience will recognize certain 'tags' in a dramatic narrative which will tip them off to the conclusion in advance. When someone comes to such a realization, they no longer watch in anticipation of the ending; the entertainment now comes from seeing in what way the writer will resolve the narrative. Of course, some of the articles are outright falsehoods, complete with faked photographs; [Again, see Appendix, Article 2.] but the texts tend to be so tongue in cheek that they signify themselves as parodies of real news articles. People enjoy all types of artifice; even though these false articles tend to be repetitive, we can take pleasure in reading them, just as when we listen to a familiar piece of music, we can still take pleasure in the progressions and chords. This demonstrates a certain degree of sophistication in the tabloid audience; they already know and understand this peculiar code, the relationship between the writers of the articles and themselves as an audience for these artistic creations. Certain comments made above might have indicated to the reader the composition of the tabloid audience, namely, women. Perhaps this assertion poses a difficulty; after all, are there not a large number of glossy magazines devoted exclusively to women? [Althoguh some have asserted that such texts contain clan-destine codes for homosexual men] Why the need for an alternative source of the same text? Well, let us consider both in order to extract the difference. To begin with, the advertisements in tabloids are almost exclusively for items or services traditionally of interest to women. These include wigs, diet pills, breast enlargement creams, slim cigarettes, and psychic advice. There is a significant lack of advertising for perfume, makeup, or high-priced clothing, the the triad which comprises the advertisement code of magazines. As further evidence, beyond the advertisements lie a group of articles conerned with fasion, recipes and toys. But these articles are unlike the same sort found in Cosmopolitan and others. Fashion articles in the glossy magazines are barely articles at all; next to a large photograph of a model occur a few lines of type expressing positive sentiments about the quality or style of the clothing to be analyzed, a price list for each item in the assembly. I found no real critical appraisals in any discussions of clothing in those magazines I investigated. [Cosmopolitan, Elle and Vogue] The implicit message that all these clothes are beautiful and worth having insults the intelligence of the audience. In contrast, the "Pizzazz on Parade" section of the National Enquirer had these comments to make about the some of the ensembles: "cutie Holly Robinson looks like a trussed-up holiday turkey." and "Please! Somebody throw ex-'Love Boat' star Lauren Tewes overboard. She's frumpy and dumpy in this Titanic disaster." These candid analyses signify recognition of the discerning tastes and the sophistication of the audience. Unliek magazines, tabloid writers do not presume greater knoweldge than their audience; the arrogant tones clearly visible in the one are not evident in the other. The recipe articles are similarly significant; whereas in magazines they tend towards the frivolous and the complex, tabloid recipes are practical and simple; and most importantly, cheap. The articles on toys, while seasonal, are also extremely practical and signify a personal interset on the part of the tabloid editors for the children of the target audience. Such articles represent a larger group which might be named 'consumer reports'. Although magazines exist particularly for this purpose, tabloids tend to focus on the relative merits of the most domestic of items, in which category we can include children's toys. Such articles weigh the value of an item against its cost, an issue that increases in importance in an inverse ratio to the magnitude of an individual's income. The Enquirer provided an analysis of the 'enjoyment value' of the newest toys produced for this Christmas. [The National Enquirer, Dec. 8, 1992, p. 36, 37; see Appendix, Article 4.] The target audience can now be identified as older women of a low to lower-middle class income bracket. The focus on thrift and the pragmatic nature of the recipes and product analyses, the orientation of the advertisements, and the highly critical nature of the fashion commentary point to this conclusion. By contrast, due to their focus on high fasion, beautification products, and uncritical and unsophisticated articles, I would contend that women's magazines are directed more at a younger, less responsible and slightly more affluent audience. A word might be appropriate here about the implicit more code of the tabloids. The value system is a highly conservative one, which usually finds its expression in the articles on personalities and in those tabloids which focus on freaks of nature. An article on the marriage of two personalities focussed on all the positive qualities which each possessed, which included, "good looks, a great carreer", and "beauty and strength", and on the importance of a "good match". In contrast to this conservative view of what constitutes a good marriage, Kenny Rogers was presented in an extremely negative light in an article discussing his most recent affair. The freak articles provide even more sinister evidence for the reactionary nature of tabloids - the open ridicule of those who are unusual or don't fit into the 'normal' scheme of things. Because these two sorts of articles feature prominently in that second class of tabloids which have been largely ignored in this discussion, I conclude that such tabloids appeal to the arch- conservative section of the target audience, whereas the more popular sort have a more liberal-minded readership. Considered as a whole, the tabloid universe is a self-contained one, complete with its own mythology, private codes and even a moral subtext. The interrelated symbol systems of the fantastic, the heroic, and the practical provide this world with flesh, and with boundaries; the moral code provides it with bones. Self- contained, but not independent. Its moral code is familiar to us already, since it is composed of elements taken from the more conservative part of western society's value-system. Its mythology is likewise appropriated from other texts, including television. On a parting note, I would like to mention the strong connection between television and tabloids. The obvious intertextual nature of some of the articles aside, the moral codes of television and tabloids have similarities. The most important is the strong conservative thread which is found in both, especially in prime- time television and the less popular tabloids. In addition, the actual layout of the tabloid corresponds to the layout of television channels in any given time segment. When we watch television, we lazily flip from on station to another (without recourse to a tv guide) and encounter completely unrelated narratives along the way. In much the same way, the tabloid places totally different material on successive pages, and even juxtaposes thematically unrelated material on the same page. [As an example, see Appendix, Article 5] The free nature of the layout, and the lack of a table of contents inspires the same "pick and choose" feeling we associate with television. I would not be surpised that the relationship is a casual one, and that as television changes in the future, tabloids will alter with them. In these ways, and possible others tabloids are closely related to television, the text which we all share; as such, I do not think that they can be relegated to the status of a fringe phenomenon or dismissed as easily as they tend to be.