Newspapers.

Mid-Market News

The mid-market newspapers consist of The Daily Mail and The Express. If you are a grandparent then you read The Mail, this is based on the evidence of every grandparent that I have ever met and is therefore one hundred per cent accurate. This may help to explain the fact that it has the second biggest weekday and Sunday readership in the UK (after the sun, meaning that there are officially more white van drivers in Britain than there are grandparents). Peter Cole sums up the Mails basic views nicely, 'for Britain and against Europe' (some may also say against America, Asia, Africa, The North etc...) It could definitely be seen as a newspaper of the right wing variety. The Mail stands for tough punishments, tough immigration laws, traditional family values. It rejects the welfare state. Cole also mentions that the Mail knows its audience and is confident of its audience, and that is why it continues to please its audience (oh and the constant supply of free Beach Boys CDs.)

The Mail's only real competitor is the Daily Express, which at its peak in the 1950s sold an incredible 4 million copies every day. In 2007 this number had dropped to 770,000. Cole believes this to related to it's changes in allegiance around the time of its popularity. The Express has an odd obsession for Princess Diana conspiracy theories (much like myself). Cole states that this is due to connections that Hugh Wittow (deputy editor) has in Paris. He comments on how this obsession has recently transformed to Madeleine McCann. It seems as though for now however the Mail has the Mid-Market Market (?) wrapped around its papery little finger and the Express will remain in second place.

The Tabloids

I was surprised when reading this to find out that the sales of tabloids are massively decreasing, at first I was considering that this may be due to an increase in general intelligence, causing people to turn to broadsheets, however it is far more likely that reading is completely unnecessary to many people thanks to television. Tabloids tend to follow everyday topics of meaningless conversation, for example what celebrities are wearing/having sex with, as much as, if not more than 'proper news.' Piers Morgan tried to change this in The Mirror after 9/11, he says:

"The Mirror's a sensational paper, but sensationalism doesn't mean the distortion of the truth. It means the vivid and dramatic presentation of events so as to give them a forceful impact on the mind of the reader."

This worked to an extent, until an 'investigation' was taken a little bit too far and photos depicting British troops torturing Iraqi soldiers were found to be faked. Piers Morgan was sacked.

The Sun is Britain's top selling newspaper and this is no coincidence. Peter Cole emphasises that tabloid journalists are by no means bad journalists. In fact in many cases they are some of the best. They write emotive stories, that are easy to read and entertaining. In a world where people don't often have a lot of time, The Sun is an easy read. Cole sums it up very well

"Some of the best journalists work for tabloids and the techniques of tabloid journalism are the hardest to acquire. The ideas that go into tabloids, the presentational devices employed, the economy of language, the directness of views and the irreverence of the Sun at its best are as impressive as ever. It is the editorial agenda that has gone awry. The political reporting, when it is there, of both Sun and Mirror remains sharp"

The Broadsheets

The Broadsheets consist of the Guardian, The Times, The Independent and The Telegraph. Peter Cole mentions that the readership of all four papers combined is smaller than that of the Daily Mail. This can no longer be blamed on the fact that they are so big and annoying to read in the wind as they are nearly all available in a compact form (except the telegraph). These papers tend to deal with 'serious news', They are generally not interested in celebrities, unless one of them dies or something else 'serious' happens.

The Independent is slightly different to these other papers, described by its editor as a 'viewspaper' it tends not to worry about what's going on in the world and 'concentrates on the issues it believes it's readers care about.' Cole writes:

" It is the lightest fighter in the ring, but it has carved a niche, capturing a constituency dependent on a daily fix of war, climate change, Heathrow protests, Darfur and university clearing."

The Guardian is the most read of the Broadsheets, Cole says that the times 'agonises over the human condition and cannot quite understand why the world isn't a better place.' It also has a reasonably new magazine section called 'G2' which is aimed at a younger audience, giving it an extra dimension in a world of newspapers often ignored by a younger audience.

From my own experience, I find that the sports coverage in broadsheets is superb. However in day to day news I find myself missing the sensationalism and ridiculous puns that often barely make sense that only a tabloid can offer.

Mid-Market newspapers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/aug/20/mondaymediasection.pressandpublishing

Tabloids newspapers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/aug/27/mondaymediasection.pressandpublishing

Broadheets newspapers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/sep/03/mondaymediasection.pressandpublishing1