It may be  a daily, weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories and entertainment, often distributed free of charge (often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format) or to a newspaper that tends to sensationalize and emphasize or exaggerate sensational crime stories, gossip columns repeating scandalous and innuendos about the deeply personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and other so-called “junk food news” or junk mail (often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format).

As the term “tabloid” has become synonymous with down-market newspapers in some areas, some papers having a smaller format (to save on newsprint) which claim to have a higher standard of journalism refer to themselves as “compact” newspapers instead.