As noted by Watanabe and Gamble in the Japan Media Review and in their book A Public Betrayed, the genre is "often described as bizarre blends of various types of U.S. magazines, such as Newsweek, The New Yorker, People, Penthouse, and The National Enquirer".
[1]: 170 Such magazines have also been hotbeds of articles that disparage neighboring countries, especially South Korea,[2] as well as invasions of privacy of celebrities; for instance, Bubka was involved in a lawsuit for their 2002 publication of unauthorized childhood photos of several female idols.
[5] The magazine has also been rebuked for publishing the names and photographs of minors who have been accused of criminal acts, even before their trials began.
[6] Alongside a small percentage of solid investigative reporting, tabloids publish celebrity stories constructed from anonymously obtained "leaks" to fill their pages.
Variants of sensationalism are interviewing neighbors and acquaintances of the person concerned and reconstructing his entire family history by deliberately emphasizing some details and leaving out others to obtain the most sensationalistic portrait possible of the protagonist of the story, or republishing known facts by having them commented on by presumed experts capable of distorting completely the episode they are talking about.