Newspapers in the United Kingdom

Name:              Schneeberger Bernhard

Class:                           3 / 4 AEB 2000 / 2001

Examiner:                    Prof. Wurzinger Riedl

Table of contents

Basic information about newspapers.

How to compare newspapers?

Introduction

The Times

The Daily Telegraph

The Mirror

The Sun

The Observer

The Guardian

Conclusion

Words

Sources

A newspaper is a publication, which is issued at regular intervals, especially daily or weekly. It commonly contains news, comments, features and advertising. The name was first used in the late 16-th century (1660-1670). It contains the words "news + paper".

Newspapers usually have a very high circulation. (> 500,000). In the United Kingdom more newspapers are sold than in any other European country. They have a strong influence on public opinion. But the government of the United Kingdom is not allowed to intervene on the contents. That means that no censorship exists in the United Kingdom. This is called "Freedom of the press".

Newspapers are mainly financed by advertising. Most newspapers with high circulation are in the hands of big commercial enterprises. Some others, like student- newspapers, have very low circulation. They are commonly financed by schools or universities.

The first thing which can be seen if someone buys a newspaper, is the price. The price varies between wide borders. It depends on the quality of the paper. There are some main points which describe the quality of a paper (not only the paper quality).

First the quality of printing and paper. The paper which newspaper are made of is usually a low quality and low price paper. It is a light grey recycled paper. The paper quality is of every paper is approximately the same.

A newspaper could be coloured or just black on white. In the last years, the newspapers mainly changed to colour printing.

The size of the paper is also an important thing. Tabloid papers are small size papers (11" x 15"). Some tabloid papers are "The Sun", "The Daily Star", "The daily Mirror". Broadsheet papers are the double size of a tabloid paper (15" x 22"). Broadsheet papers are "The Guardian", "The Times", "The Independent".

Now, a look should be taken at the title page. It is full of different sized headlines and pictures. They are completely different from paper to paper. The title page gives information about which audience the newspaper is made for.

Different papers contain different main topics. Commonly papers contain the lottery numbers, the weather, local news, the TV-program, sports, economy, the cinema program and a lot of advertising.

To compare newspapers more in detail, it is useful to choose the same story in different papers and read them.

The first thing which is important is the language. Is a chatty or slang language used, or a colloquial language? Are the sentences very long or short? Is the vocabulary difficult? Is there a picture? What is it of? How big is it? Why?

Whose side is it on? How do the articles present the people and what details about them are given? Have the different papers included the same details? If not, what is missing and why?

All these things have to be checked to get an overview about the newspapers.

3.1 The Times

"The Times" is one of the best known broadsheet newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is a high quality coloured national newspaper, which is issued daily. Its political tendency is conservative. "The Times" was founded in 1785. The circulation is about 500.000. "The Times" also provides its news on the internet. (www.thetimes.co.uk)

"The Times" provides national and international news objectively reported. It covers a great variety of general interest. Often with background information. The articles are often written by experts. The articles should especially attract the educated reader. In Great Britain the paper costs 35p.

The Daily Telegraph

"The Daily Telegraph" is also a well known broadsheet newspaper in the United Kingdom. It is a high quality coloured national newspaper, which is issued daily. Its political tendency is conservative, like "The Times". "The Daily Telegraph" was founded in 1855. The circulation is higher than the circulation of "The Times" and is about 1.300.000. "The Daily Telegraph" also provides its news on the internet. (www.telegraph.co.uk)

"The Daily Telegraph" provides national and international news objectively reported. It covers a great variety of general interest. Often with background information. The articles are often written by experts. The articles are written for educated readers. The paper costs 45p in the United Kingdom.

The Mirror

"The Mirror" is a national coloured tabloid newspaper. It has half the size of a broadsheet paper like "The Times" or "The Daily Telegraph". "The Mirror" is issued daily. The paper with the labour political tendency was founded in 1903. The circulation is about 3.200.000. Popular papers like this provide sensational news so called "human interest" or "destruction" stories and scandals. This paper is lower standard and uses everyday English. It is made for the middle and working class.

The style is more emotional. Big headlines and coloured pictures are used to attract the reader. In Great Britain it can be bought for 32p. The address in the World Wide Web is www.mirror.co.uk

The Sun

"The Sun" is a national coloured popular newspaper. It has half the size of a broadsheet paper like "The Times" or "The Daily Telegraph". This is a more handy size compared with the regular broadsheet. "The Sun" is issued daily. The paper with the conservative political tendency was founded in 1964. Compared with other newspapers of the United Kingdom "The Sun" is a young newspaper. The circulation is about 4.200.000. Popular papers like this provide sensational news so called "Why does Mr. X hates his life" or "Flight on the Mars has been canceled". This paper is lower standard and uses everyday English. It is made for the middle and working class.

The style is more emotional. Big headlines and coloured pictures are used to attract the reader. The address in the World Wide Web is www.thesun.co.uk. The whole information of the newspaper is also available on this website.

The Observer

"The Observer" is the oldest Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom. It is a high quality coloured national newspaper, which is issued every Sundy in a broadsheet size. Every issue is thick with a lot of pages. Its said that "The Observer" is not influed by any party. "The Observer" was founded in 1791. The paper is a member of the "Guardian Media Group". The average sale is about 450.000. It also provides its news on the internet. (www.observer.co.uk)" The Observer" provides the best in arts, sport, culture, politics and business. That covers a great variety of general interest. The paper describes itself as the most exciting Sunday newspaper.

The Guardian

"The Guardian" is a daily issued broadsheet sized paper of the United Kingdom. It is a high quality coloured national newspaper. "The Guardian" works together with the liberal party. It follows the long- standing tradition of independent journalism. It was founded in 1821. The circulation is about 500.000 like "The Times". "The Guardian" provides national and international news objectively reported. The news are also provided on the internet. (www.guardian.co.uk)

It is a member of the "Guardian Media Group". The articles are written for the educated reader.

Today, in times of high circulation figures, up to 15 million a day, the newspaper industry doesn't make great profits. This is because of the hard conditions on the British newspaper market. Some people claim that a great majority of the national papers (about 70% of the circulation figures) express a conservative leaning. Further they criticize the monopolistic tendency of the British press. 90% of the total circulation are controlled by 5 "Press Lords".

Rupert Murdoch, an Australian, is one of them. He already owns 30% of Great Britain´s national press.

www.

www.mirror.co.uk

www.thetimes.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

www.thesun.co.uk

www.observer.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Random house webster´s

Unabridged dictionary

Issue: April 1999

ISBN 0-375-40383-3

"THE TIMES" newspaper

No. 67069 from Monday, March 26 2001

"THE DAILY TELEGRAPH" newspaper

No. 45342 from Monday, March 26 2001

"The Mirror" newspaper

No.31152 from Monday, March 26 2001

Suggestion for handwritten transparencies.

Table of contents

Basic information about newspapers.

Comparing newspapers.

A look should be taken!

Which headings does a newspaper consist of?

Introduction

The Times

The Daily Telegraph

The Mirror

The Sun

The Observer

The Guardian

Conclusion

Newspapers:

The Times

The Daily Telegraph

The Mirror

The Sun

The Observer

The Guardian

Headings:

• Titel page with headlines

• Local news

• Overseas news

• Comments

• Court and social

• Obituaries

• Buisness news

• Sport               (Cricket, football, Rugby, horse racing)

• Advertising

Basic information about newspaper.

• The word "Newspaper"

• Issued publication

• Circulation

• influence on public opinion

• censorship

• owner

• financing

How to compare different newspaper?

• The paper

• Printing quality

• The Size

• Title Page and headlines

• Language

• Pictures

• Comparison of texts

Tabloid papers:

• The small size (11" x 15")

• The Sun, The Daily Star, The Daily Mirror

• Comercial

• Not that high level language

• A lot of advertising

• Big and impressive pictures

• Wrong facts

• Not objective

Broadsheet papers:

• The big size (22" x 15")

• The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Observer

• For edjucated readers

• High level language

• Advertising (more hidden)

• Informative pictures

• Objectively reported

• Try to give the right facts