Words of Innocence and Experience

Ever since I entered university, one grudge professors often lash out at students has been impossible for me to ignore—”Why don’t you read the papers?” “How come you know nothing about the news at all?” “Why don’t you do something meaningful in your free time, such as reading the newspapers?” Having heard the acquisitions repeatedly, students may have probably been too ashamed to give reasons which account for their unwillingness to read newspapers, or rather, “formal” newspapers.

For one thing, according to a survey conducted by The China Times, a prominent publisher here in Taiwan, the average age of newspaper readers is thirty-seven. Does it mean that one of the reasons that college students do not read papers nowadays is that they have yet reached the age to appreciate it? Although the answer is unlikely, the survey does evidence a worrying phenomenon that formal newspapers are losing its number of readers. Most people might believe that the trend only takes place in Taiwan, yet various proofs are in place to show that other countries have their share of similar tendency.

Newspapers have long been categorized into two types: quality papers and tabloids. Always considered vulgar, tabloids suffer from extremely bad reputation. Thus, it really struck me when I learned that tabloids sell far more copies than quality papers universally. New York Times, whose reports and articles are highly recognized, is a well-known publisher in the city of New York; nevertheless, New York Post, a tabloid in the same city, attracts much more readers on a daily basis. The situation is similar in Britain, where the Sun, the first tabloid published in the world, is much more popular than the Times or the Guardian.

Likewise, students in Taiwan do read papers and even purchase them occasionally, but what I usually see in the hands of the passenger sitting next to me on the bus is Apple Daily, yet another tabloid in Taiwan. Due to its notoriety, some of its readers refuse to admit buying it. When professor interrogate that why students do not read newspapers, some students may be murmuring under their breath: “Yes, I read papers. I read Apple Daily and I’m never going to tell you that.” Tabloids are guilty pleasures of the common people, yet it takes courage for educated people to scan them in the light of day.

As stated above, tabloids are vile, meaningless, and shallow, but their appeal to people is immense. To begin with, there are more pictures on tabloids than on quality papers. Obviously, pictures are more pleasant for the eye than endless lines of words jostling to the margin. USA Today, a publisher in America, used to be caught between the qualifications of tabloids and newspapers, yet its sale has been on the rise since the number of pictures multiplied.

The proportion of pictures is not the main reason for tabloids’ massive popularity. Eroticism, discords, and violence whose sinister qualities draw people in, fill the headlines of tabloids. The Sun, for instance, dedicated its second page to a scantily-clad girl every day. There is no particular reason which explains why the girl is there, and no one asks because too much sanity would ruin the beauty. Apple Daily may have copied the feature, and girls in swimming suits appear in various pages out of nowhere. As a female, it would be nice if there were some provocative male pictures as well. As for violence, bloody snapshots taken from an accident or pictures of people fighting are blatantly placed in the front page of Apple Daily. While some people would be frightened by such undisguised sanguinary pictures, quite a few people would be thrilled by the sheer ferocity.

With jaw-dropping content every day, no wonder tabloids are more appealing to people. Conversely, what appears on quality papers, particularly on the headlines, are overly serious. After all, the human world is complex and tedious matters such as politics are indispensable in society. A whole page of political analysis would suffice to either bore or annoy the reader to a great extent.

Taiwanese readers are especially disillusioned by worldly affairs, so the corresponding section cannot escape the fate of shrinking in quality papers. Considering the source of international news, it is obvious to see the reason for its unpopularity. Most of the international news which shows up in newspapers is translated from CNN or BBC, both news media well-known for their professionalism, or tediousness. If one is displeased with local politics, let alone the fact that s/he may enjoy reading the election in Britain or France. Also, Taiwan is rarely allowed to join worldly organization. Not a member, the new directions a certain institution is heading for means little to Taiwanese people. Another type of news likely to hit international headlines is severe accident or cruel atrocities. Then again, being accustomed to being isolated, no one cares about the disasters overseas as long as they have no influence on Taiwan.

The remaining sort of news which holds charm for the reader is local anecdotes. People here are oddly enchanted when reading about a maniac monk, little children of meager means, a murder case as a result of love triangle, or the funeral of a gangster. It is natural for people to have more interest in the things taking place in their own country, anyhow, and newspapers, tabloids or quality papers alike, are eager to print more local news. This way, people are more willing to read the papers and be informed of both positive and negative news, yet equally engaging.

Newspapers are not part of the daily commodity, and thus they needs to be entertaining enough to tempt the masses to buy them. The amusement tabloids grant its reader is clear, and of course, some people would still choose to read quality papers to increase knowledge. It happens that Taiwanese people are not zealous over international news. As a way of survival, local newspaper publishers tend not to include too much of it. Fortunately, with the Internet connection, it is fairly easy to keep on track of the news outside of Taiwan. Most people here would still have the partial phobia for grave international news, and there is nothing wrong with this preference and for local newspapers to cater to people’s desires.