A tabloid is a newspaper industry term which refers to a smaller newspaper format per spread; to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories and entertainment, often distributed for free (often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format); or to a newspaper that tends to emphasise sensational crime stories, gossip columns repeating scandalous innuendos about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and other so-called "junk food news" (often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format). As the term "Tabloid" has become synonymous with down-market newspapers in some areas, some papers refer to themselves as "Compact" newspapers instead.
The tabloid newspaper format is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. A tabloid format newspaper is roughly 23½ by 14¾ inches (597 mm × 375 mm) per spread. This is the smaller of two standard newspaper sizes; the larger newspapers, traditionally associated with 'higher-quality' journalism, are called broadsheets (although some British 'quality' papers have recently adopted the tabloid format; The Guardian being the exception by adopting the Berliner format). A third major format for newspapers is the Berliner, which is sized between the tabloid and the broadsheet.