It is entirely possible to be both (though, not in this case, apparently). “Tabloid” simply refers to the arrangement of the pages, flat and book-like, as opposed to folded like a traditional newspaper. It has nothing at all to do with content, although most of the disreputable papers seem to be tabloids, for some reason.
This is pretty funny, actually. A few weeks ago some friends and I were discussing Cruise and Scientology, and imagining the dismay of the church elders that Tom keeps swallowing everything they shovel at him. They keep raising his level within the church, making up new outrageous stories, and he keeps believing! We figured that at some point they’d run out of Thetan levels, or whatever, and then they’d be in a fix. What can they tell him now?
“I’ve got it! We’ll tell him he’s Jesus!”
Problem solved!
Also, I’ve heard that getting out of the Co$ is somewhat difficult, if they don’t want you to go. I’d expect their willingness to sever ties mightbe somewhat marginal when the subject still has exploitable financial assets.
If the reports of former OT VIII training are true, Tom would be considered better than Jesus as he’s not a violent pederastic agent of the Makabrian (?) aliens.
“Cruise, 44, will be worshipped like Jesus for his work to raise awareness of the religion.”
Well it sure won’t be because of Cocktail.
insert obligatory www.xenu.net reference here
Caridwen: Thank You!
Rilchiam: You may be 100% right. Hey, sometimes an idea (tin-foil hat time?) just comes to you and you have to ‘what if’ it to smart people with an independent POV. (Still, if he bails on Scientology successfully, I just may have to ship him a beer anonymously.)
kaylasdad99, I’ve been thinking about this too. If he turned on them, they’d have to invest significant assets to destroy him, going with Co$ doctrine. (What do they call that? Crush, Kill, Destroy? No wait, that was ‘Lost In Space’, totally different Sci-Fi…) I skimmed some truly elegant posts on Co$ a few years back on SDMB, and once they declare you an enemy of the church, they go after your reputation, your employment, your assets, and your family in pretty much that order. Well, phase one pretty much shot his reputation (do your worst, Co$-boys). His major employment is already gone; his minor one was just to keep his hands busy & no great loss if he loses it. That leaves Assets & Family.
Assets: He’d need to major-league firewall them, something like Michael Keaton’s trust in ‘Pacific Heights’. They’d need to be spread out & secure; a combination of Cayman, Swiss, and various developing nations investments (dependant on currency risks. There are some massive formulae I’ve seen postulated to mitigate some currency risk, but it can be done if done wisely), but in places where they can’t be touched by Co$ and definitely outside of the US. Lastly, there’s family. He’d have to be sure they are not ‘true believers’ in Co$ doctrine first, as if they are, he’s sunk. From there, its time to move into a house in the suburbs, owned by a trust that allows his family to live there (suit/lien immunity) and write memoir chapters between cutting the lawn & packing his daughter’s lunch before school.
Ok, I know…tin-foil hat time. It’ll never happen… 
Not only that, but he performed the miracle of the lowered pitcher’s mound.
Count Blucher: Your plan, in basic concept and execution, worked perfectly for Michael Jackson.
I need a better A/R system… 
The nudity on page 3 may have given it away, however…
Ah, we’ve found the link to The Holy Gibson! www.mattonigranddrink.com/cocktail.php?id=25
(Or maybe not. Can’t research this further until Happy Hour.)
Cruise?? He has raised awareness of S-ologists as a crew of weird freaks. Any organization with half the sense Xenu gave yogurt cultures would have been expected to send forth Travolta and Alley instead as the public faces of their New Religion, if they wanted celeb endorsements…
But of course, expecing “sense” from the Co$ organization is silly.
And expecting accuracy from this particular newspaper, well… 
If you google “cruise christ scientology” you’ll find that that rumour has certainly been spreading far beyond that one tabloid!
Dunno about Tom, but Suri cruise might well be the product of a virgin birth.
It’s been a while since I read Matthew, Mark, Luke & John, but I don’t remember Jesus’s three marriages, two divorces, out-of-wedlock child, pitting of Brooke Shields and psychiatry and jumping up-and-down on Oprah’s couch
Actually, in the UK the term is practically synonymous with precisely the sort of gutter journalism the Sun purveys. Refer to “the tabloid press” and nobody will assume you’re talking about the Guardian or Times, despite the fact that those papers are now published in a tabloid format.
Not entirely true.
From Dictonary.com:
tab·loid (tāb’loid’) Pronunciation Key
n. A newspaper of small format giving the news in condensed form, **usually with illustrated, often sensational material. **
adj.
- In summary form; condensed.
- Lurid or sensational.
(bolding mine)
It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.