I listed my comparison between the broadsheet The Guardian and the tabloid Daily Mirror in the picture shown above.
Flipping through the "World News" sections of these two official news websites, I observed the first major difference. Compared with broadsheets, the topics concerned in tabloids are more casual. The Guardian updated hard news on domestic and international affairs, implementing an in-depth approach on social and political issues. On the contrary, the Daily Mirror tended to focus on eye-catching life events, especially sensational news such as a gruesome murder or the capturing of a rare animal.
Then, I dug deeper into two pieces of news developed around the same topic. Both articles talked about the recent Indonesian tsunami, but the headlines reflected dissimilar styles of broadsheets and tabloids. In The Guardian, a combination of the title and the subtitle gave an objective representation of the casualties brought by the earthquake. Choices of words, for example, "hits" and "is likely to rise" are comparatively neutral and official. The Daily Mirror, however, created a lifelike disaster scene of dying victims and anxious rescuers. Phrases such as "soars to", "triggered deadly waves" and "slammed into the island" are more dramatic and striking.
Albeit the length of these two articles didn't show an obvious difference, a discrepancy could be discovered in the contents. The Daily Mirror quoted the disaster spokesman Mr. Nugroho frequently, whereas The Guardian cited another eyewitness and trustworthy statistics. Compared with its sober broadsheet counterpart, the tabloid article was written in an exaggerating manner, depicting every chaotic detail of this disaster. Nevertheless, the overly vivid description also made the article a little irreverent.
The last distinction lay in the choices of photos. The Guardian included a regional map and an inclusive photo of the affected area, while the Daily Mirror posted many specialized photos. The tabloid concentrated on the sufferings of individuals, featuring overturned vehicles, wounded people and lining corpses. With an array of arresting photos and videos, the tabloid tried to visually appeal to its readers.
To conclude my observation, soft news, catchy headlines, colloquial writing style and lurid photos contributed to the uniqueness of tabloids. Thus, tabloids diverged from the traditional approach to entertain and engage their readers. Still I would prefer to read broadsheets, believing that they always convey comprehensive and factual views.
------
Links of the two news articles mentioned in my comment:
Tabloid journalism is a style of journalism that emphasizes sensational crime stories, gossip columns about celebrities and sports stars, extreme political views from one perspective, junk food news, and astrology.
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages