News of the World > Reviews (21)

tab-loid
- noun
1. A newspaper of small format giving the news in condensed form, usually with illustrated, often sensational material.

broad - sheet
- noun
1. Chiefly British. a newspaper printed on large paper, usually a respctable newspaper rather than a tabloid.

Seems even the dictionary is against News of the World, as at the very search of the broadsheets you get the tabloids cut down to size for their cut throat attitude. I think it's time to get something out in the air from the very beginning though, and that is how much I enjoy the journalism.. or, tabloidism of the weekly newspaper. Even though I'm sure many would argue whether it deserves the title of 'news' or not. I have never been able to get my head around my nannas need for the giant pages of the Daily Telegraph, but I suppose that can be put down with my infatuation with a celebrity lifestyle over the more worldly matters of Obama versus Clinton, and I only know that because of Obama's huge publicity campaign. Sunday's are made for the big story, and on a quiet Saturday evening I have found myself even checking out their website to perhaps see what might be making their pages in the morning, usually something to do with Ronaldo whether it be his huge money contract extension at Man Utd or his involvement with six prostitutes.

'The Sun' newspaper makes way for NOTW when it comes to the climax of the week, and whilst I struggle to find anymore recent statistics the paper was selling an average of almost 3.5 million copies per week in October '06, making it the biggest selling English-language newspaper in the world. Mainly they make their sales by making a fool out of the most idolised people in England, and that is our Premier League footballers. This has lead to many libel actions taken against the paper, whether it be David Beckham seeking damages in 2005 for claims that his marriage was on the rocks, or Ashley Cole receiving £100,000 for reports of himself using a mobile phone on vibrate a gay sex toy. Classy. I do remember reading the latter story, and if he wasn't using it for pleasure I would like to know what it was up there for. Of course, there is always the possibility that the stories in the paper aren't true (shock. horror.) but when it comes to NOTW I am more inclined to believe their exclusives, over say the front pages of the 'Daily Star' that appear so blatantly made up for sales. 'The Star on Sunday' is the main competitor to NOTW on the weekend when it comes to scandals.

My most memorable story from the paper would not be that of David Nugent's naked mobile phone pictures, Micah Richards sex tape or Ashley Young's behavior on webcam (don't search 'ashley young webcam' if you're looking for the story, you may come back with 'young ashley on webcam') but more the complete destruction of England's hopes in World Cup '06 by revealing how Sven Goren-Erikkson was already plotting his way out of the managers role. Not only did this mean we lost a world class manager who didn't really care about taking us to the victory in the competition, see his selection of Walcott, but it also meant we went all patriotic and got an awful English replacement in Steve McClaren that then lead us out of even qualifying for the European Championship 2008.

It's easy to get annoyed at NOTW for printing these stories, but as long as they are making money for it they won't stop - and it's easy to forgive and forget with all the other scandals that you can appreciate. What I do ask is that they do not give us a Capello scandal that gives us Kevin Keegan as manager.

Sport, sport, sport. They must offer something else right? Yes, but I'm not done with the sport yet. I can sit there for ages on a Sunday afternoon looking through the back pages, and the 'Score' pullout is even something I will consult when it comes to making selections for my fantasy football team. Also, any story that says Gerrard might go to Real Madrid for 50M in the summer gets my attention. NOTW are very good at getting a story that they think people will want to read, whether it be the first look at the mock-up of the believed Maddie kidnapped or this past week proving no exception going into Paul Burrell's strange behavior over the Diana case. Some of the other most famous scandals the paper has fronted is the David Beckham affair with Rebecca Loos (2004), Prince Harry underage drinking and drugs (2002) and Angus Deayton's fondness for cocaine and call girls that lead to him getting much stick and eventually leaving his role on 'Have I Got News For You?' (2002)

As if the rest of what I have described doesn't sound showbiz enough, the paper does have its own two-page spread especially for showbiz in a column by Rav Singh. You know, he's one of those people that would like to have you believe he rubs shoulders with celebrities and gets incredibly exclusives but I think it's more about his ability to use an internet search. Britney Spears is probably the most frequent face on the distinctive showbiz pages, but there will often be parts of this section that even I don't care about - like the Arctic Monkeys at the Brits. Come on, how can we really have a music awards show when all our best music is imported, bar Leona Lewis. Carole Malone and Ian Hyland are the two most distinctive columnists in NOTW, and whilst one expresses her femine attitude towards the world, Hyland is more of a Harry Hill type that pokes fun at everything on the television. These sections are rarely that interesting, as I read the paper for the exclusives not the opinions, and it can be incredibly irritating when you do not agree with an opinion of a columnist.

Also coming with all the trimmings of a normal newspaper, such as the crosswords and agony aunts, even on a slow week you are likely to find something in the News of the World. A tabloid created with keeping the reader entertained in mind, and with all their money they can afford to pay for all these kiss and tell stories as well as their exclusive interviews.