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The aim of this article is to contribute to the ongoing discussion about the critical potential of tabloid journalism. It does so through a comparison of two popular journalism campaigns: the “Maiden Tribute” campaign in the London newspaper the Pall Mall Gazette in 1885 (dealing with underage prostitution), and the “naming-and-shaming” campaign in the News of the World in 2000, concerning child abuse and paedophilia. The main research question is whether any or both of these campaigns can be viewed as contributions to an alternative public sphere, as defined using concepts from Örnebring and Jönsson (2004 Örnebring , Henrik and Jönsson , Anna Maria ( 2004 ) “Tabloid Journalism and the Public Sphere: a historical perspective on tabloid journalism” , Journalism Studies 5 ( 3 ), pp. 283 – 95 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) and Atton (2002 Atton, Chris. 2002. Alternative Media, London: Sage. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Three aspects of the campaigns are compared: (1) How they discursively frame the issue at hand, (2) How they discursively frame the key actors present in the texts, and (3) What mode of address is employed. The purpose of this comparison is to examine whether the campaigns open up alternative possibilities in how they frame and present the issue and the actors, and in how they address and give space to their audiences. The main result is that the Pall Mall Gazette campaign has the greater claim to being a contribution to an alternative public sphere in terms of how it frames the issue and the actors. The article further argues that while there is a distinct potential of tabloid journalism to contribute to an alternative public sphere in certain circumstances, this potential should not be overstated.
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