Tabloids have been getting some bad press lately. The press as a whole, and tabloids in particular, have been tarred by the The News of The World scandal; but let's not forget that the tabloid is something of a cultural institution. There are undoubtedly some darker aspects to this type of journalism, but provided they keep things above board, surely there is still a place for the humble tabloid in our newsstands?

UK Sunday tabloid sales have been enjoying a boom period since the collapse of The News of The World, gaining an extra 2 million in sales from June to July this year, as The Guardian reports. So it's clear that the love affair with the tabloid is not over for the British public at least.

The relationship between UK readers and Murdoch's tabloids is a long one and it has endured hard times before.

For instance, after the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, which ended in the deaths of any football fans who were trampled to death in the standing enclosure, The Sun released a controversial front page which clamed that drunken Liverpool fans hampered rescue efforts and urinated on bodies. There are still deep tensions between some members of the Merseyside community and The Sun: in fact there are still campaign groups dedicated to boycotting The Sun 22 years on.

Yet despite this, The Sun retained massive influence in the U.K., audaciously claiming that it was the paper that helped swing the 1992 election in favour of conservative candidate John Major, with the headline: "It's The Sun Wot Won It."

It remains to be seen whether the UK and the world will be as willing to forgive and forget Rupert Murdoch's errors this time. But the ruthless and sometimes morally dubious reporting methods of certain individuals within the tabloid press, no one can deny that tabloids have a great sense of humour. Roy Peter Clark of Poynter has come up with a short list of classic American tabloid headlines, which really showcase the tabloid's best assets: its ability to reflect public sentiment and to make otherwise dull news entertaining. Nobody does headlines better than tabloids.

So let's admit it; there will always be a place for a bit of scandal and sensation in the press, provided the reporting is done ethically. The News of The World may be gone, but the tabloid is here to stay.

Sources: BBC , Dontbuythesun.co.uk , The Guardian , Poynter , Wikipedia