---
title: "Topline"
description: "New tabloid breed is more than screaming headlines but could they be blueprint to the future? Topline Total n = 2,321 Note: Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding. Number of Stories per Paper in Sample Outlet # of stories Boston Metro 321 Boston Globe 222 DC Express 367 DC Examiner 634 * Washington […]"
date: "2005-12-12"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center: Journalism & Media staff"
    job_title: "Guest Contributor"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2005/12/12/topline-38/"
---

# Topline

### New tabloid breed is more than screaming headlines but could they be blueprint to the future?

#### Topline

Total n = 2,321

Note: Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.

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| Number of Stories per Paper in Sample |
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| Outlet | # of stories |

| Boston Metro | 321 |

| Boston Globe | 222 |

| DC Express | 367 |

| DC Examiner | 634 * |

| Washington Post | 270 |

| Dallas Quick | 293** |

| Dallas Morning News | 214 |

| Total | 2321 |

* One day, May 13, missing from sample

** One day, May 26, missing from sample

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| Story Origination |
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| Story Origination | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| Staff News | 8.3% | 15.8% | 72.7% | 29.9% |

| Staff Column | 8.7 | 5.7 | 20.5 | 11.5 |

| Wire News--Affiliated | 14.9 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 8.0 |

| Wire News--Unaffiliated | 56.3 | 51.3 | 0.6 | 38.0 |

| Combo Staff and Wire-News | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.8 |

| Syndicated Column--Affiliated or Unaffiliated | 5.8 | 4.6 | 0 | 3.7 |

| Non-Staff/Non-Wire (Freelance) | 0.9 | 12.9 | 1.8 | 4.5 |

| Q+A/Advice Column | 4.1 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 2.8 |

| No Source/Can't Tell | 0.5 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.9 |

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| Geographic Focus |
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| Geographic Focus | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| Local | 21.8% | 32.0% | 52.5% | 34.0% |

| Other U.S. | 22.7 | 16.9 | 8.5 | 16.8 |

| National | 12.9 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 14.6 |

| Mix U.S./Foreign | 5.9 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 5.5 |

| International | 13.7 | 11.0 | 4.8 | 10.3 |

| Not Applicable/No Specific Location | 22.9 | 20.7 | 11.6 | 18.9 |

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| Story Length in Words |
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| Story Length | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| Less than 100 words | 15.1% | 14.5% | 2.5% | 11.1% |

| 101-250 | 53.0 | 22.4 | 2.8 | 29.4 |

| 251-500 | 30.5 | 38.2 | 5.5 | 25.0 |

| 501-1000 | 1.4 | 23.3 | 56.8 | 24.3 |

| 1001 or more | 0 | 1.6 | 32.3 | 10.3 |

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| Story Topic |
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| Story Topic | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| Government | 9.2% | 12.6% | 15.6% | 12.0% |

| Crime | 13.4 | 10.1 | 12.5 | 12.2 |

| Business | 6.3 | 8.5 | 15.4 | 9.7 |

| Domestic Issues | 9.7 | 11.5 | 12.6 | 11.1 |

| Science | 3.7 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.3 |

| Foreign Relations | 6.7 | 5.0 | 2.3 | 4.9 |

| Accidents/Disasters | 1.9 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.2 |

| Celebrity/Entertainment | 14.7 | 6.6 | 5.7 | 9.7 |

| Lifestyle | 13.6 | 16.4 | 12.9 | 14.1 |

| Defense/Military | 3.6 | 5.4 | 2.5 | 3.7 |

| Sports | 16.5 | 20.0 | 18.0 | 17.9 |

| Other | 0.8 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 |

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| Number of Sources |
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| Number of Sources | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| No Sources | 24.1% | 23.8% | 7.2% | 18.9% |

| 1 Source | 32.3 | 25.2 | 9.1 | 23.3 |

| 2 Sources | 23.3 | 21.3 | 8.6 | 18.3 |

| 3 Sources | 9.9 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.5 |

| 4 or More Sources | 10.3 | 18.3 | 64.4 | 29.0 |

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| Young Demographic Impact |
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| Youth Demographic Impact | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| Demographic Impact Explicit | 8.3% | 1.9% | 9.2% | 6.8% |

| Demographic Impact Implied | 6.9 | 6.5 | 5.4 | 6.3 |

| No Description of Demographic Implied | 84.8 | 91.6 | 85.4 | 86.9 |

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| Principal Newsmaker Age Group |
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| Principal Newsmaker Age Group | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| Child (Under 18) | 1.7% | 2.7% | 4.8% | 2.9% |

| Young Adult (18-35) | 16.1 | 14.8 | 10.1 | 13.9 |

| Middle Age (36-60) | 18.8 | 14.7 | 18.1 | 17.4 |

| Elderly (61 or older) | 6.8 | 7.1 | 5.9 | 6.6 |

| Don't Know/Can't Tell Age | 5.1 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 4.0 |

| No Principal Newsmaker | 51.5 | 57.4 | 57.8 | 55.0 |

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| Journalist Opinion |
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| Journalist Opinion | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| No Opinion Present | 64.2% | 64.2% | 61.0% | 63.2% |

| One Statement of Opinion | 11.9 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 9.7 |

| Two or More Statements of Opinion | 3.2 | 3.5 | 7.5 | 4.6 |

| Not Applicable (Opinion Piece) | 20.7 | 24.8 | 23.1 | 22.5 |

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| Journalist Opinion -- Excluding Opinion Columns and Editorials (n= 1,798) |
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| Journalist Opinion | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| No Opinion Present | 81.0% | 85.3% | 79.4% | 81.6% |

| One Statement of Opinion | 15.0 | 10.1 | 10.9 | 12.5 |

| Two or More Statements of Opinion | 4.0 | 4.6 | 9.8 | 5.9 |

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| Range of Viewpoint |
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| Range of Viewpoint | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| All One Opinion | 8.9% | 11.8% | 5.4% | 8.6% |

| Mostly One Opinion | 9.5 | 6.8 | 23.5 | 13.0 |

| Two Views Present | 6.3 | 5.4 | 18.6 | 9.8 |

| More Than Two Views | 0.2 | 0 | 0.7 | 0.3 |

| Not Applicable/Non-Controversial | 75.1 | 76.0 | 51.8 | 68.3 |

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| Background Information |
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| Background Information | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| Presence of Background Information | 80.2% | 91.8% | 96.3% | 88.3% |

| No Background Information | 19.8 | 8.2 | 3.7 | 11.7 |

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| Future Implications or Impact |
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| Future Implications or Impact | Newspaper-Owned Tabloids (Quick, Metro, Express) | Independent Tabloid (Examiner) | Broadsheets (Wash Post, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News) | Total |

| Presence of Future Implications or Impact | 43.5% | 42.1% | 75.1% | 52.7% |

| No Future Implications or Impact | 56.5 | 57.9 | 24.9 | 47.3 |