British digital tabloids in the twenty-first century: Continuity or transformation?

The growth of digitalization continues to lead to profound changes in the media field. Due to increased competition, media must compete more fiercely than ever for the attention of users and advertisers. The trend of tabloidization has also appeared in various media. Meanwhile, tabloids still thrive in the internet age. However, the development and transformation of British online tabloids in the digital environment remain unclear. Therefore, this thesis investigates the changes in British tabloid characteristics in the digital environment, examining how tabloids use new technologies to attract audiences while integrating these innovations with traditional features. This thesis focuses on the continuity, change, and presentation of British tabloids in the digital environment. This study is about digital tabloids in the UK.
Specifically, this thesis explores the digital strategies employed by the British tabloids, as well as how online tabloids interact with digital strategies and traditional features. Meanwhile, changes in the characteristics of online tabloids compared to print tabloids, and how they build communities through language are investigated. This research employs a mixed-methods approach, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. It involves conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with British tabloid journalists, performing content analysis on online and print tabloids, and conducting critical discourse analysis on online tabloids.
The results show that British digital tabloids actively embrace digital strategies, and the synergy of digital strategies and journalists' values and judgment influences the development of tabloids in the digital environment. The changing character of British tabloids in the digital environment is complex. It is a multitude of changes across multiple aspects. Also, digital strategies have both amplified and limited the development of tabloid characteristic. Meanwhile, British tabloids mainly continue to use many of the language strategies of traditional tabloids to construct an imagined community. We found that British tabloids use a combination of 'new and old models' to build readership. Overall, this thesis reveals that British tabloids have combined traditional characteristics with audience needs and the influence of digital strategies to achieve successful transformation.