British Newspapers: Difference between revisions

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{{tropeUseful Notes}}
{{quote|'''PM Jim Hacker:''' ''"Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: ''The Daily Mirror'' is read by [[Driver of a Black Cab|people who think they run the country]], ''The Guardian'' is read by [[Soapbox Sadie|people who think they ought to run the country]], The ''Times'' is read by [[British Political System|people who actually do run the country]], The ''Daily Mail'' is read by [[Housewife|the wives of the people who run the country]], The ''Financial Times'' is read by [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|people who own the country]], The ''Morning Star'' is read by [[Dirty Communists|people who think the country ought to be run by another country]] and the ''Daily Telegraph'' is read by [[Strongly Worded Letter|people who think]] [[Political Correctness Gone Mad|it is]]."''
'''Sir Humphrey:''' ''"Prime Minister, what about the people who read ''the Sun''?"''
'''Bernard Wooley:''' ''"''Sun'' readers don't care who runs the country, as long as [[Page Three Stunna|she's got big tits.]]"'' |''[[Yes Minister|Yes, Prime Minister]]''
([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}DGscoaUWW2M&feature{{=}}player_detailpage#t{{=}}54s Watch the video], and note that [[Double Entendre|PM at the time was]] [[Margaret Thatcher]].) }}
}}
 
National newspapers in the UK were traditionally divided by format, between the relatively respectable and intelligent broadsheets and the scurrilous, gossip- and crime-obsessed tabloids. The latter are generally subdivided into the 'mid-market' tabloids and, at the lower end, those known colloquially as the 'red-tops' after their red-background title logos. Several of the broadsheet newspapers have now adopted tabloid or 'Berliner' physical formats, but the divide in reputation between the two types remains.
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* ''The Times'' - One of the UK's oldest newspapers (founded in the 1780s), currently owned by [[Rupert Murdoch]]. A neutral-to-conservative-leaning paper which, unlike ''The Sun'', is editorially independent and therefore doesn't necessarily have to toe the Murdoch line. Famous for its cryptic crosswords, and also the origin of the ubiquitous [[Useful Notes/Fonts|Times New Roman typeface]]. Occasionally referred to abroad as ''The London Times'' or ''The Times of London'' to distinguish it from other papers which imitated its name.
** ''The Sunday Times'' - sister paper to ''The Times'' and also owned by Murdoch, but they were founded independently. Remains in broadsheet format with several supplements, making it a heavyweight in more ways than one. Publishes the famous annual ''Sunday Times'' Rich List, a league table of the UK's richest people.
* ''The Guardian'' - Formerly ''The Manchester Guardian''. AKA "The Grauniad"<ref>To the extent that grauniad.co.uk redirects to the Guardian website</ref> or "General Belgrauniad", for its (historical reputation for) frequent printing errors. Officially a "centre-left, liberal" newspaper its columnists and readership often veer further left and its letters page can sometimes read like the outpourings of ''[[Private Eye]]'''s parody Trot, Dave Spart (often to the point where people can't tell if it's [[Poe's Law|a parody or not]]. The term "''Guardian'' reader" or "Guardianista" is sometimes used as a derogatory comment on a person's political leanings, similar to the US "latte liberal" or (more to the point) "''New York Times'' liberal". Has gained some notoriety in recent years for its pre-occupation with middle-class navel-gazing "lifestyle" aspirations and London-centric tendencies (ironic for a newspaper which began in the English North-West). When the chips are down, it will support Labour, although in the most recent{{when}} election it declared for the Liberal Democrats (well, it actually declared for "Liberal Democrat, but Labour if they're the only people who can beat the Tories in your constituency"). Although less widely known than that of the Times, its crossword is arguably better regarded among enthusiasts. [[The Bourne Series (film)|One of its journalists was once shot as part of a CIA cover-up of the Treadstone Project.]]
** ''The Observer'' - Sunday-only sister paper to ''The Guardian''. Basically the same, but even more smug. Also leans more towards the arts.
*** ''The Observer'' does have some reason to be smug - it is oldest Sunday newspaper in the entire world.
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** In Summer 2011, The Guardian enjoyed a welcome bask in the limelight, having been plugging away at the ''News of the World'' phone scandal for years, only for them to [[Engineered Public Confession|blow the doors right off by publishing some revelations]] that the ''News of the World'' had also hacked a murdered teenager's phone and the phones of several dead soldiers. If the Graun hadn't been investigating so tirelessly, chances are what the ''News of the World'' were doing would never have come to light. Even Telegraph columnists have given them props.
*** It is also worth noting that ''[[Private Eye]]'' had been saying similar things for even longer, however.
** Even more recently{{when}}, the Guardian has shown itself to be particularly ''favorable'' towards the Occupy protest movements, the opinion pages practically endorsing it outright. On the other hand, it also shows a bias that both seems to skewer the coverage and conforms to the aforementioned "Guardianista" and navel-gazing tendencies.
** On the other hand, [[No True Scotsman|not everyone agrees that the Guardian is actually left wing]]: "When will the hacks stop saying that the Guardian is left wing? It's more of a lifestyle magazine for people on the centre right who occasionally Tippex their [[The Poppy|Remembrance Day poppy]] because they want to celebrate peace not war and who own kitchens whose colour scheme must match the dish of the day." - Robin Ince
* ''The Independent'' - AKA "[[Private Eye|The Indyscribablyboring]]". Considerably younger than the other broadsheets and originally set up to be genuinely independent, it has turned into a somewhat Lib-Dem supporting paper (stopping short of outright support but advocating a hung parliament), and latterly has turned to tabloid-style editorial-lead front-page headlines. It has also, in recent years,{{when}} become particularly outspoken on environmental issues to a slightly obsessive, even alarmist, degree to the extent that it tends to cover environmental issues in the same way the right-wing tabloids cover immigration (i.e. whether they're in the news or not). In March 2010 the paper was bought for £1 by Russian oligarch and former KGB employee, Alexander Lebedev. Having only been set up in the late '80s, Jim Hacker didn't say anything about it; if he did, he'd say that "the ''Independent'' is read by the people who think whoever is running the country isn't doing it properly" though the [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''Yes Minister'', ''[[The Thick of It]]'', describes the average ''Independent'' front page as "a headline saying 'CRUELTY' and then a picture of a dolphin or a whale underneath". Even if [[World War III]] had broken out the previous day.
** Has recently founded the ''i'', which can best be described as a "lite" version of the paper.
* ''The Financial Times'' - Business and economics broadsheet, mostly incomprehensible to anyone not working in management. Seems to be holding up better than most in the great general decline of newspaper readership. Has been printed on pink paper rather than white since 1893, originally because it was cheaper. Curiously enough, it sells more copies outside of Britain. (Old joke: [[Double Entendre|What's big, pink and hard in the morning? The Financial Times crossword.]])
 
== Mid-market tabloids ==
 
* ''Daily Express'' - AKA "The Daily Sexpress" since its owner is Richard Desmond, a porn baron,<ref>Shhhh! [[You Fool!]]! He sues people who call him that!</ref> and the paper advertises his channels' programmes. Amusingly, however, the paper itself is very reactionary, and manages to convey an impression of being against porn in general terms. It seems to have an obsession with [[Conspiracy Theories]] about the death of Princess Diana, which generates a surprising number of front-page stories for the paper even today and has led to the use of the nickname "The Di-ly Express" (most notably, when every other paper was printing front page stories about the anniversary terrorist attacks on London, the two Desmond titles used a Diana headline (''Express'') and a B-list-reality-show-contestant headline (''Star'')). However, it usually runs Diana stories on a Monday. [[Schmuck Bait|Guess which day has lowest newspaper sales.]] Subscribes to [[Missing White Woman Syndrome]] on occasion, having an almost unhealthy obsession with Madeleine McCann. Strangely missing in Hacker's speech,<ref>though ''Express'' journalists showed up from time to time on ''[[Yes Minister]]''; William Hickey is noted as having described Hacker as "[[Unusual Euphemism|overwrought as a newt]]" in "[[Christmas Episode|Party Games]]"</ref> although he'd probably say that it's "''read by the people who think the country ought to be run [[Nostalgia Filter|like they think it used to be]]''". Interestingly enough, the first newspaper in Britain to have a crossword and one the first to [[Foreshadowing|report on gossip and sports to a significant degree]]. Leon Trotsky wrote despatches for the ''Express'' for a while after Stalin chucked him out of the USSR.
** For an example of the advertising for his own channels: in the issue after Desmond acquired [[Channel Five]], ''[[Private Eye]]'' observed that they mocked ITV's paltry audience share of 13.6% and praised Five's groundbreaking share of 5% in the same article.
** Probably better noted for being out and out racist, on occasion making the ''Daily Mail'' look moderate by comparison (and the rest of the time, not far away from the ''Mail'''s general tenor), regularly running front page stories demonising immigrants and/or minorities, often on a very very flimsy basis. Essentially, the ''Mail'' off its medication.
** Had a [[Kick the Dog|Crowning Moment of Tastelessness]] when it ran an article attacking ''the grown-up survivors of the Dunblane massacre'', for the heinous crime (a [[Moral Event Horizon]] in the paper's eyes) of... having pictures of them drinking on their Facebook pages.
* ''Daily Mail'' - [[Bloc Party|Says the enemy's among us,]] [[Waxing Lyrical|taking our women and taking our jobs.]] Ultra right-wing, populist, nationalistic, xenophobic, isolationist often [[You Can Panic Now|hysterical]] and notoriously obsessed with the immigrants and house prices and, lately,{{when}} campaigns against same -sex marriage and claimants of state benefits. Infamously supported fascism in a big way in the 1930s (hence the common "Daily Heil" nickname); prior to [[World War II]], it openly advocated an alliance with [[Adolf Hitler]] and claimed German Jews seeking refuge in Britain were "exaggerating" the bad treatment they claimed to be getting from Herr Hitler's sound and firm government. In the Mail's opinion, they were just economic migrants taking advantage of Britain's lax generosity, (and besides we have far too many Jews in Britain as it is.)
:Currently,{{when}} it likes to present itself as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI the voice of the "silent (moral) majority"]. It provoked a protest march from [[Emo]] kids due to some [[CowboyMedia BebopResearch at His ComputerFailure|shoddy journalism]]. Has an Irish edition that is similarly populist in its editorial policy, humorously leading to [httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20210307201208/https://www.layscience.net/node/507 scare stories and editorial campaigns printed in different markets that contradict one another]{{Dead link}}. Notable for having some pretty controversial columnists on its staff; Richard Littlejohn is usually the most commonly cited example. After its flirtation with the British Union of Fascists (until the events of 1939-45 made this unthinkable even for the ''Mail''), it will now always support the Conservatives, although its tone verges into BNP territory a lot, leading to the occasional condemnation of the latter to (unconvincingly) make itself appear moderate (in 2012 it raised some eyebrows by publishing a column endorsing the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election).
 
:Some journalists, notably the ''Guardian'''s Paul Davies, have pointed out the ''Daily Mail'' isn't right wing as a rule; it's just slavishly devoted to its huge market, the white 30+ middle class. If this market is resentful towards bankers (most recently), the Tories, etc., then the ''Mail'' is not afraid to bash bankers and the Tories. So it all comes down to the bottom line in the end. The ''Mail'' is very similar to ''The Sun'' when at its worst, but likes to pretend it's more upmarket. Obsessed with [[Karen Gillan]], [[Katie Price]] and [[Kim Kardashian]]. Only escapes being considered 'gutter press' due to tradition, but is even losing that battle, with its journalists famously trying to distance itself from their editor, Paul Dacre. Saving graces are that it sometimes does some pretty interesting historical articles (thanks to the presence of respected historian and ex-war correspondent Sir Max Hastings on the writing staff), and often has very nice nature and landscape photographs. The crossword isn't bad either.
Currently, it likes to present itself as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI the voice of the "silent (moral) majority"]. It provoked a protest march from [[Emo]] kids due to some [[Cowboy Bebop at His Computer|shoddy journalism]]. Has an Irish edition that is similarly populist in its editorial policy, humorously leading to [http://www.layscience.net/node/507 scare stories and editorial campaigns printed in different markets that contradict one another]. Notable for having some pretty controversial columnists on its staff; Richard Littlejohn is usually the most commonly cited example. After its flirtation with the British Union of Fascists (until the events of 1939-45 made this unthinkable even for the ''Mail''), it will now always support the Conservatives, although its tone verges into BNP territory a lot, leading to the occasional condemnation of the latter to (unconvincingly) make itself appear moderate (in 2012 it raised some eyebrows by publishing a column endorsing the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election).
** Another common theme in the ''Mail'' is that just about everything causes cancer, or cures it, possibly both on different days, and actually has a segment on ridiculous health theories, usually involving cancer, fruit, or fruit that gives you cancer. This is why it is nicknamed "The Daily Hypochondriac". The comedian Russell Howard created [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTu7GLfrmUI the Daily Mail Cancer Song] to [[We Didn't Start the Billy Joel Parodies|the usual tune.]]
 
Some journalists, notably the ''Guardian'''s Paul Davies, have pointed out the ''Daily Mail'' isn't right wing as a rule; it's just slavishly devoted to its huge market, the white 30+ middle class. If this market is resentful towards bankers (most recently), the Tories, etc., then the ''Mail'' is not afraid to bash bankers and the Tories. So it all comes down to the bottom line in the end. The ''Mail'' is very similar to ''The Sun'' when at its worst, but likes to pretend it's more upmarket. Obsessed with [[Karen Gillan]], [[Katie Price]] and [[Kim Kardashian]]. Only escapes being considered 'gutter press' due to tradition, but is even losing that battle, with its journalists famously trying to distance itself from their editor, Paul Dacre. Saving graces are that it sometimes does some pretty interesting historical articles (thanks to the presence of respected historian and ex-war correspondent Sir Max Hastings on the writing staff), and often has very nice nature and landscape photographs. The crossword isn't bad either.
** Another common theme in the ''Mail'' is that just about everything causes cancer, or cures it, possibly both on different days, and actually has a segment on ridiculous health theories, usually involving cancer, fruit, or fruit that gives you cancer. This is why it is nicknamed "The Daily Hypochondriac".The comedian Russell Howard created [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTu7GLfrmUI the Daily Mail Cancer Song] to [[We Didn't Start the Billy Joel Parodies|the usual tune.]]
** Also expect a similar obsession over house prices as well, how they are at their worst for years and too many people can't get on the property ladder. Almost as if they cycle through [[Captain Obvious|3 or 4 pre-selected topics a day...]]
** ''The Mail on Sunday'' - The Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mail''; while still staunchly conservative, it's far less alarmist and far more credible. Has journalists and columnists such as staunchly Anglican conservative and enemy of television Peter Hitchens (brother of the famous atheist/antitheist [[Christopher Hitchens]]). Tends to be read by conservatives who like reading a newspaper without hysteria (although Peter Hitchens can sometimes seem a little bit out-there; he regularly bashes the Conservative Party for being too left-wing and strongly criticises what he perceives as the modern right's idolisation of [[Margaret Thatcher]]).
** Throughout the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' books, the ''Daily Mail'' is the morning paper read by Vernon Dursley, Harry's snobby and politically reactionary uncle.
** Oh, and they're the [[Trope Namer]] for [[Political Correctness Gone Mad]].
* ''Evening Standard'' - London's evening paper. Formerly an Associated Newspapers paper, it played a contributory role in Ken Livingstone's 2008 defeat in the Mayor of London election. This led to it being dubbed the "Evening Boris" after eventual winner [[Boris Johnson]]; the paper's particular dislike for Livingstone can be traced back to a controversial incident in 2005 where he was less than polite to one of its reporters, and what should have been a minor gaffe was blown out of all proportion, became a national scandal and left everyone involved (including Livingstone himself, the reporter who chose to make it an issue, the ''Evening Standard'' in its entirety, and the ''Daily Mail'' which had predictably come to its sister paper's defence) with egg on their faces. Recently{{when}} bought by a former KGB agent for £1 and turned it into a freesheet. Despite no longer being part of Associated Newspapers, it was even more hostile to Ken and pro-Boris in 2012 than 2008, if that's even possible.
** The ''Evening Standard'' has something of a reputation for provincialism, in particular any other news story being overruled by something about a strike on the [[London Underground]] (for example, [[Worst News Judgement Ever|"TUBE STRIKE CALLED OFF; page 93, global thermonuclear war breaks out]]). Currently{{when}} has added an obsession with the evils of squatting. Also subject to [[Memetic Mutation]] is the distinctive way its sellers shout out its title, "Eeeeevngggg-Stendeddddd!" That's all in one syllable, if you didn't know.
 
== Red-top tabloids ==
* ''The Sun'' - AKA "The Currant Bun" in one of the better -known pieces of Cockney rhyming slang, or "The Scum" if you're not feeling as kind. Famously, home of the [[Page Three Stunna]], although it's not the only tabloid to do so. Also known for [[Sex Sells|using topless women]] to [https://web.archive.org/web/20100724143826/http://www.bloggerheads.com/page_3.asp sell propaganda]. Solidly conservative-right when it comes to politics, its populist working-class stance means this position is usually dressed-up as standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the common man, often unconvincingly. Supported the Conservatives under [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[John Major]] before deciding to back Labour in 1997, 2001 and 2005 (in spite of spending much of this period attacking Labour Party policy in its editorials), it now{{when}} supports Cameron's revitalised Conservatives. One theory for the paper's changing party allegiance (unusual in a British newspaper) is that the paper doesn't want to be seen to back a loser—or rather, Murdoch is trying to get UK media ownership regulations relaxed. It may also have something to do with the Labour party's hard swing to the right during Blair's leadership.
 
:The ink comes off on your hands. Has been responsible for some of the most famous (or infamous) headlines of recent times, such as "Gotcha" (the sinking of ''General Belgrano'' in 1982 during [[The Falklands War]], although the original story merely thought it had been damaged), "It's The ''Sun'' Wot Won It" (after backing Major's Conservatives to a surprise 1992 General Election victory), and occasional superlatively convoluted [[Punny Headlines]] such as the football-related [[Mary Poppins|"Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious"]]. Uses [[Bold Inflation]] a '''LOT'''. Has recently createdCreated a free Polish-language edition, ''Polski Sun'', for the duration of Euro 2008. The last time{{when}} time they endorsed Labour they did it by blowing red smoke out of a chimney. You see, this Ratzinger fellow had received a [[The Pope|promotion]]...
* ''The Sun'' - AKA "The Currant Bun" in one of the better known pieces of Cockney rhyming slang, or "The Scum" if you're not feeling as kind. Famously, home of the [[Page Three Stunna]], although it's not the only tabloid to do so. Also known for [[Sex Sells|using topless women]] to [http://www.bloggerheads.com/page_3.asp sell propaganda]. Solidly conservative-right when it comes to politics, its populist working-class stance means this position is usually dressed-up as standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the common man, often unconvincingly. Supported the Conservatives under [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[John Major]] before deciding to back Labour in 1997, 2001 and 2005 (in spite of spending much of this period attacking Labour Party policy in its editorials), it now supports Cameron's revitalised Conservatives. One theory for the paper's changing party allegiance (unusual in a British newspaper) is that the paper doesn't want to be seen to back a loser—or rather, Murdoch is trying to get UK media ownership regulations relaxed. It may also have something to do with the Labour party's hard swing to the right during Blair's leadership.
 
The ink comes off on your hands. Has been responsible for some of the most famous (or infamous) headlines of recent times, such as "Gotcha" (the sinking of ''General Belgrano'' in 1982 during [[The Falklands War]], although the original story merely thought it had been damaged), "It's The ''Sun'' Wot Won It" (after backing Major's Conservatives to a surprise 1992 General Election victory), and occasional superlatively convoluted [[Punny Headlines]] such as the football-related [[Mary Poppins|"Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious"]]. Uses [[Bold Inflation]] a '''LOT'''. Has recently created a free Polish-language edition, ''Polski Sun'', for the duration of Euro 2008. The last time time they endorsed Labour they did it by blowing red smoke out of a chimney. You see, this Ratzinger fellow had received a [[The Pope|promotion]]...
** A useful tip would be not to buy/read or [[Berserk Button|talk positively about ''The Sun'' around Liverpool]], due to a particularly disgusting article they [[Blatant Lies|fabricated out of whole cloth]] which accused Liverpool fans of attacking victims of the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster. You'll find it difficult to do this anyway; most newsagents in Liverpool refuse to stock it and nobody will take it, even with a free DVD or magazine stuffed in to lure them to buy it, nor can they even give it away for free. Twenty-two years on and the ''Sun'''s circulation in the city has never even begun to recover. It was ''that'' offensive.
*** At one point the ''Sun'''s editor apologized, but later after he'd left the paper he recanted, said he'd been pressured into the apology by Rupert Murdoch, and stood by the original story.
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** All of the above make the arrests of the weekend of the 11–12 February 2012 and the subsequent internal blame game very easy to watch for all of the above offended groups.
** Former editor Kelvin McKenzie (the one responsible for the above-mentioned Hillsborough article) conveniently summed up the average ''Sun'' reader: "He's the [[British Pubs|bloke you see in the pub]], [[Godwin's Law|a right old fascist]], [[Politically-Incorrect Villain|wants to send the wogs back]], [[Council Estate|buy his poxy council house]], [[Red Scare|he's afraid of the unions]], [[Dirty Commies|afraid of the Russians]], [[Heteronormative Crusader|hates the queers and the weirdos]] and [[Drugs Are Bad|drug dealers]]. [[Viewers are Morons|He doesn't want to hear about that stuff (i.e. serious news)]]".
** The ''Sun'' now{{when}} publishes an edition every day except Christmas Day.
* ''The Mirror'' - A generally left-wing tabloid (though as a populist paper it can veer right on issues like crime), supporting Labour doggedly but opposing the Iraq War. Ironically founded as a Conservative stable-mate of the ''Daily Mail'' (to the extent of supporting Oswald Mosley), but new ownership in the '30s turned it to its present left-of-centre ideology. Had one editor (Piers Morgan) [http://web.archive.org/web/20041012123314/ sacked over faked pictures of abuse in Iraq], then few months later ran the "Bush states have lower IQs" hoax as genuine. Has been in decline a long period of time. Also known as the "Daily Moron", after Piers Morgan - [[Insistent Terminology|always named]] some variant on Piers Moron by ''[[Private Eye]]''.
** Other notable gaffes involved [[Fawlty Towers|"mentioning the war"]] before England's Euro 96 semi-final against Germany. Then again, that's standard operating procedure in the gutter press whenever England play Germany. Nonetheless, on this occasion the Mirror contrived to go unusually far even by those standards, going off on an extended riff about "Declaring Football War" on Germany.
** It also has an odd history of enmity with ''[[Private Eye]]'', due to both an owner, [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Robert Maxwell]], and later the aforementioned editor Piers Morgan, having a special hatred for the magazine and no compunction against devoting all the resources they possessed to this 'battle'.
*** Maxwell sued ''[[Private Eye]]'' for £225,000 (a fortune then, and an even bigger fortune now) and won it. ''[[Private Eye]]'' editor Ian Hislop famously said: [[Deadpan Snarker|"I've just given a fat cheque to a fat Czech."]] (Maxwell was born in Czechoslovakia).
** In more recent years the ''Mirror'' has been targeting a primarily female audience, to the point where generally about half of the stories and articles are aimed specifically at women, with the remainder (barring the sports pages) being gender-neutral. The exception to this is the Saturday and Monday editions; since so much of the paper is dedicated to [[The Beautiful Game|football]] on those days anyway, the editorial team usually uses them for any male-specific content they want to publish.
* ''The Daily Star'', another Desmond title. More tits and less news than ''The Sun'', and is essentially a daily gossip magazine. The day after Prince Charles' engagement to Camilla Parker-Bowles was announced it led with the headline "BORING OLD GITS TO WED". Admittedly makes things up.
** Remember several paragraphs up when we mentioned the ''Express'' was "the ''Mail'' off its meds"? Well, as the ''Star'' doesn't have the need to kid anyone about its (lack of) journalistic integrity, it sometimes appears ''[[Up to Eleven|more racist]]'' than its sister paper, including cozying up to the <s>far-right</s> [[A Nazi by Any Other Name|Muslim-baiting]] English Defence League on several occasions. So basically, the ''Express'''s "special" little brother. Who is also off his meds.
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** The day they reported on the bomber, they received a phone call: "I am a professional astronomer, I am looking at the Moon right now, and I can assure you, there is no bomber there." Their headline the next day: "World War II Bomber On Moon Vanishes!"
** After a brush with bankruptcy the daily edition of this once fine organ of the press<ref>Which organ is best left to the imagination.</ref> has ceased publication, although the ''Sunday Sport'' lives on and a midweek version is also published.
* ''News of the World'' - Another Murdoch paper, formerly published weekly on Sunday. Known as "News of the Screws", and usually thought of as the "Sunday ''Sun''". Its reputation was [[Engineered Public Confession|utterly destroyed]] within a matter of days in July 2011<ref>Albeit after the Guardian had been plugging away at the story for a number of years with no real recognition - it was only when the Milly Dowler story came out that public revulsion set in</ref> when it emerged that they had [[Moral Event Horizon|hacked - it was claimed deleted at the time, an allegation later withdrawn - the voicemails of (among others) murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler]], giving her parents the [[Hope Spot|illusion of hope]] that she was still alive. This resulted in it ceasing publication and a mess of controversy for Murdoch, who saw his bid to acquire the BSkyB network scuttled in the aftermath - and the resignation (and in some cases, criminal indictment) of several high-ranking officials in the [[David Cameron|Cameron]] government and the London Metropolitan Police who had been associated with the paper.
* ''The People'' - A Sunday paper, sister to the ''Sunday Mirror''. No-one reads it, since the ''Sunday Mirror'' is basically the same but with better brand recognition, but somehow it's still going after 130 years.
 
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* ''The Herald'': Formerly ''The Glasgow Herald'', a centre-left broadsheet. Generally supports Labour, although was anti-war in Iraq. Sunday edition is called ''The Sunday Herald''.
* ''The Scotsman'': Published in Edinburgh, slightly right leaning. Broadsheet in terms of content, but published at tabloid size. Sunday edition is called ''Scotland on Sunday''.
* ''The Daily Record'': Scottish tabloid, published in Glasgow. Supports Labour and takes a leftist stance on economic issues but tends to be conservative on social issues (it vocally supported a campaign to retain the anti-gay Section 28 legislation). Second best selling paper in Scotland (beaten by ''The Sun''). Fiercely, fiercely anti-nationalist. Previously owned by The Mirror Group, when it was basically just the Scottish edition of ''The Mirror'', but now{{when}} independently owned and is all new content. A cut-down version is given out in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow (with a small amount of regional specific exclusive content in each edition). Sunday edition is ''The Sunday Mail'', which is more leftist and is the biggest selling Sunday paper in Scotland.
** Also known as 'the Daily Weedgie', 'The Daily Rangers' and 'The Daily Retard'.
* ''The Press & Journal'': Published in Aberdeen and only available in the North-East of Scotland. Incredibly parochial (the rumour goes that the sinking of the Titanic was reported as "North-East Man Lost At Sea"). Right leaning, but does not openly support the Conservative party. Independently owned and published.
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== Northern Ireland ==
* ''The Belfast Telegraph'': Published in Belfast (obviously), a conservative and moderate Unionist daily broadsheet. Currently{{when}} the best selling Northern Irish based newspaper.
 
* ''The Belfast Telegraph'': Published in Belfast (obviously), a conservative and moderate Unionist daily broadsheet. Currently the best selling Northern Irish based newspaper.
* ''The Irish News'': Published in Belfast and available across Ireland, though it is only a major player in the North. A moderate Nationalist compact.
* ''The News Letter'': Ancient Belfast based tabloid, published since 1737, making it the longest surviving English language daily in the world. Staunchly Unionist in politics (though apparently it was once Republican in its distant past).
* Additionally most of the English papers sell specific Irish editions in the Republic. These range from near-identical to the English versions (''The Irish Sun'') to substantially different (''The Irish Daily Star'', which superficially resembles its London equivalent but with far less interest in celebrities and a surprisingly strong Irish political view). ''The Daily Mail'' (of all papers) has fairly recently{{when}} started producing an Irish edition and is trying to find its footing and understand its audience - ironically Lord Northcliffe, the founder of the paper was himself originally from Dublin.
* ''[http://www.impartialreporter.com/ The Impartial Reporter]'', based mainly around Fermanagh and Enniskillen. Tries to stay out of politics, and a brief look at [[The Troubles|Northern Irish politics]] will tell you why and give you the reason for the name.
** Ironically, ''The Impartial Reporter'' is viewed in some circles as the local Protestant/Unionist newspaper; a second newspaper in the area, ''The Fermanagh Herald'', is more geared towards Catholic/Nationalist readers. This duopoly in local press according to where you stand on [[The Irish Question]] is mirrored in other cities and towns in Northern Ireland; its second-largest city has weekly papers ''The Derry Journal'' and ''The Londonderry Sentinel'' - have a guess which community each paper targets!
 
== Freesheets ==
 
Tabloid sized newspapers available free at railway stations and from street vendors. Or from the seats of trains, which is where they usually end up - letters to the ''Metro'' have on occasion encouraged people to do this and complained about train staff removing the papers. On the Manchester trams, there are notices encouraging people to leave the ''Metro'' on the seat. Conversely on Manchester area trains and the [[London Underground]] there are posters warning that doing so is littering.
 
* ''Metro'' - Has multiple local editions. No real political views explicitly expressed in the paper (it doesn't have a comment section) but the writing is reminiscent of its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail''. Amusingly, [[Hilarity Ensues|once confused a Saudi Royal with an international terrorist.]]
** Most of it'sits content can be summed up as obsessing over ''[[The X Factor]]'', Cheryl Cole, Reality TV, Simon Cowell and anything with Pop Music in. Although it does print [[Nemi]] as well.
* ''thelondonpaper''. [[Page Three Stunna|Frequently sticks a picture of a scantily-clad woman in its "pictures of the day" section on page 2]]. It was owned by [[Rupert Murdoch]], go figure. Although unlike Murdoch's other papers, it was strongly socially liberal, with male and female regular gay columnists. Now defunct.
* ''London Lite''. Associated Newspapers owned (and previously a lite version of the ''Standard''), now defunct.
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== Notes ==
Many of these papers have Sunday editions, some of which are quite different (especially ''The Observer'', which is considerably more moderate than ''The Guardian'', &and the ''Mail On Sunday'', which is held to be a bit more credible than its daily counterpart). These papers often have a [[Sunday Leaked Document]]. There are also Sunday -only papers, as mentioned earlier, not to mention numerous daily regional papers around the country from the ''Western Mail'' (Wales) to the ''Eastern Daily Press''. Most places in the UK also have at least one local newspaper, where newspaper journalists traditionally start (and in most cases end) their careers. These are generally published weekly, often on a Friday, although it can be on any day. These papers generally (or at least stereotypically) deal with mind-numbingly parochial topics such as road repairs, coffee mornings, local council affairs, etc. Perhaps best summed up with Linda Smith's favourite newspaper headline, "Worksop Man Dies Of Natural Causes". The ''Rochdale Observer'' (a typical example, best-known outside the titular town for being name-checked in ''[[Waterloo Road]]'') once ran a front page story about a ''food fight'', describing a chicken leg "arcing gracefully through the air" and featuring two interviewees arguing about the airspeed velocity of a Black Forest gateau. One said it was doing 10&nbsp;mph and the other said 25.
* [[Monty Python and the Holy Grail|African or European]]?
** [[Ba Dum TishRimshot]]
* [[Worst News Judgment Ever|On the day every other paper reported the assassination of JFK, a local paper's banner headline was "Edlington Man Has Ferret Stolen From Back Garden".]]
* The ''Dundee Courier'' (from the makers of the ''Sunday Post''); when news of the Titanic sinking reached it, its main headline was "Dundee Man Arrested". The Titanic story was a few pages in.
* The ''[[Framley Examiner]]'' - a parody of English local newspapers, based in the fictional town of Framley and its surroundings (with names like Whoft, Effing Sodbury and others) A very British equivalent of ''[[The Onion]]''.
 
== News and politics magazines ==
 
* ''The Spectator'' - The right-wing weekly news magazine, which dates back to the nineteenth century (although it sometimes naughtily claims descent from a famous unconnected early magazine of the same title from the eighteenth century). Now owned by the Telegraph Group. Generally open to all strains of right-wing thought, from the libertarian to the Neo-Conservative to the old school up-the-aristocracy, and editing the magazine gets you a lot of cred in the Conservative Party (e.g. [[Boris Johnson]]). Likes to criticize [[Political Correctness Gone Mad]].
* ''New Statesman'' - The left-wing weekly news magazine, popularly known as "the Staggers" because of its perpetual financial precariousness. Lost a lot of prestige thanks to a recent period when it was owned by a slightly corrupt government minister and became slavishly [[Tony Blair|Blairite]]. Now seems slightly confused and looking for a role.
* ''[[The Economist]]'' - A weekly magazine (although it calls itself a newspaper) owned by [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The Economist Group]]. Known in the US mostly as that magazine whose name you throw around if you want to sound smart whether or not you actually read it. Covers foreign affairs and economic matters from a classic liberal perspective (as opposed to American liberal). In the British media, it is considered to be economically quite hard-right-wing but socially libertarian—placinglibertarian&nbsp;— placing it more or less halfway between the leftmost of the Thatcherite Tories and the rightmost of the Lib Dems—whereasDems&nbsp;— whereas in the US it tends to fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. It might be fair to say that it got its dream-government in the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition, which it has frequently praised (and criticized, but more often praised). The news magazine is mostly a loss-leader for the very expensive, specialised and high-quality business information and economic analysis provided by other bits of the Economist Group.
* ''The Week'' - Weekly digest of the week's big news stories, with a fairly dull middle-market middle-wing middle-brow viewpoint. The news and politics magazine for people who aren't all that interested but think they should be making an effort.
* ''[[Private Eye]]'' - a fortnightly satirical magazine edited by Ian Hislop of ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' fame. Notable for having better investigative journalism than most of the proper papers, with the twin results of breaking many scandals earlier than anyone else, and being the subject of countless libel suits (Hislop frequently publishes the letters threatening legal action, and occasionally describes himself as "the most-sued man in British legal history"). Slightly split personality as the news pages tend to be quite left-wing while the cultural coverage tends to "all modern art is a con trick and all pop culture is trash" conservatism.
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[[Category:Print Media Tropes]]
[[Category:Useful Notes/Britain]]
[[Category:British Newspapers{{PAGENAME}}]]