by MBDavis

Created on: May 09, 2007   Last Updated: January 31, 2010

News is a topic society discusses every day, however how does society recognize which stories are factual and which ones are sensationalized? Society must be aware of the sources from which these stories are being told. The American public obtains news information from multiple sources. These sources are essentially comprised of two types; the tabloid version and the official, prestige news version of the events. There are many differences between these two sources of information.

Tabloids are the unofficial version of news stories. Tabloid weeklies exist in both magazine and newspaper form. They can be found in supermarkets, right at the checkout line as "impulse buys". Their subject matter is more sensational than factual. The journalists tend to exaggerate news events by using "secret sources" or "undisclosed sources" to corroborate their sensationalized stories. For example headlines tend to consist of UFO's, television and movie stars, astrology and the occult, health miracles, and, of course, the latest sighting of Elvis Presley. Their headlines scream right out at you in an effort to make you buy, for example my favorite, "FROZEN CHICKEN WAKES!" The National Enquirer, Globe and National Star are the three biggest with combined circulation in the tens of millions.

On the other hand, there are the official sources of news information which include newspapers and television shows which are compromised of factual information regarding the events of a certain newsworthy story. For example, a city's newspaper such as the Chicago Tribune, Omaha World Herald and Lincoln Journal Star are official newspapers. The stories in these newspapers are factual and are written by journalists who have researched the stories and obtained interviews from key characters in the events. Television shows such as Nightline, Larry King Live, and 60 minutes are all based on the factual information as well, taken from key people in the stories. These shows rely on the characters involved in the events to personally reveal their stories to the public. Unlike the tabloid versions of news events these sources are revealed and are not dramatized.

The Michael Jackson trial of 2004 was one of the most watched stories in news history. The trial made media headlines around the world both in print and via television. During 2003 and the beginning of 2004 Michael Jackson was accused of molesting a boy inside his Neverland mansion in California. The allegations seemed to be reminiscence of

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