British Newspapers: Difference between revisions

{{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]]''

 

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.

 

* ''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.

** 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.

 

== 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.