document.getElementById("tabs") has no properties

var tabs = [['News', 'This Is The News Tab'], ['Events', 'This Is The Events Tab'], ['Other', 'This Is The Other Tab']];

function draw_tabs()
{
    var length = tabs.length;
    var html = null;
    
    for(var i = 0; i < length; i ++) {
        html += "<span id=\"" + tabs[i][0] + "\" onclick=\"select_tab(" + i + ")\">" + tabs[i][0] + "</span>";
    }
    
    document.getElementById("tabs").innerHTML = html;
}

draw_tabs();

<div class="tabs" id="tabs">&nbsp;</div>
<div id="tab_content">&nbsp;</div>