THE BRITISH PRESS The national press plays an important

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THE BRITISH PRESS
The national press plays an important information role in British culture.
36 million British people read a national newspaper at least once a week.
British people spend on average 25 minutes per read of their newspaper. They
often re-read the same newspaper later.
British newspapers are very influential, coming second only after wives or
husbands in terms of changing people’s opinions.
In Great-Britain, there is a significant difference between the readership of a
newspaper and its circulation. The readership is an estimate of the number of
times each copy of the newspaper is read. The circulation is the number of
copies sold. In Great-Britain, the readership of a newspaper is between two and
three times higher than its circulation. It means that two or three persons read
the same copy.
The most read British newspaper is The Sun, with a readership of nearly 9
million people. The Sun is also famous for its photo of a near-naked lady
(different every day) on page 3.
British newspapers are usually much less expensive than in France.
Vocabulary :
 read = (verbe) lire ou (nom) lecture
 readership = le nombre de lecteurs
 circulation = le tirage
 a copy = un exemplaire
 liberal = progressiste, centriste
 coverage = couverture (médiatique) ou reportage
 in-depth coverage = reportage approfondi
Terms commonly used by British newspapers :
 row (pronounced like “cow”) = an argument = une dispute
 quit = resign / leave a job = démissionner
 bid = an effort / an attempt = une tentative
 cut = reduce (verb) or reduction (noun) = réduire ou une réduction
 back (verb) = support = soutenir, appuyer, être partisan de…
 hit = affect badly = toucher, frapper
 key (adjective) = very important = important, phare
Examples :
David Blunkett quits Bad weather hits farmers
Poland backs US plan
New bid to cut teenage smoking
British press
Government cuts education budget
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The daily press
British daily newspapers can be divided into 3 groups :
 Popular papers
 Quality papers
 Middle-market press
They are different in content, size and style
Quality press
Newspaper
Circulation
Political stance
 The Daily Telegraph
865,000
conservative – right of centre
bought mainly by middle-class
readers
 The Times
623,200
conservative – right of centre
old established and influential
 The Guardian
339,880
liberal and humanitarian
left of centre
 The Independent
227,620
liberal – left of centre
Founded in 1986, it is now a rival to
The Times and The Guardian
Informative and serious
 The Financial Times
129,800
liberal, not restricted to financial
matters, well-informed
(printed on pink paper)
British press
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Popular press
Newspaper
Circulation
Political stance
 The Sun
3,148,950
right of centre
Sensational, minimum amount of
political news, maximum sports and
celebrities coverage
 The Daily Mirror
1,677,920
tends to favour the Labour Party
Many pictures, not so much text
sensational
 The Daily Star
756,530
right of centre
 The Morning Star
the Communist Party paper
Middle market press
Newspaper
Circulation
Political stance
 The Daily Mail
2,283,160
right of centre
A mixture of popular news stories
with in-depth coverage
 The Daily Express
904,850
right of centre
British press
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The Sunday Press
Most of the daily papers have their Sunday version. The Sunday papers usually
provide reading extra material about fashion, clothes, cooking, the house and
home, motoring and holidays. The quality papers also include a magazine called a
“colour supplement”.
Sunday quality newspapers
Newspaper
Circulation
Political stance
 The Sunday Times
1,167,280
rather conservative but not so
politically marked
 The Sunday Telegraph664,080
right of centre
 The Observer
407,670
left of centre – moderate
 The Independent
on Sunday
173,910
centre
Sunday popular press
 Sunday Mirror
1,419,170
a larger version of the Daily Mirror
Left of centre
 Sunday Express
943,860
right of centre, like the Daily
Express
 The Mail on Sunday
2,147,870
right of centre
 News of the world
3,478,010
right of centre
reports about scandals, sports and
legal matters involving sex and
violence
 The People
British press
916,840
centre
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