Newspapers in Britain

Almost every adult in Britain reads or sees a daily newspaper, and many peo­ple remain loyal to a particular paper for life. There are daily papers published from Monday to Saturday, and Sunday papers. In some cities, evening papers are also published. Newspapers are broadly divided into the quality press and the popular press. The ‘qualities,’ also sometimes known as the ‘heavies,’ are the serious and more expensive papers, with detailed and extensive cover­age of home and overseas news, and with a range of additional features such as sports sections, financial reports, book reviews, women's pages, arts summaries, travel news and usually a daily topical feature, such as a profile of someone in the news. All ‘qualities’ are broadsheet in format, that is with a large page size.

The ‘populars’, also known as the ‘tabloids’ (because of their smaller page size) or, disparaging as the ‘gutter press,’ cater to the less demanding reader, who is not interested in detailed news reports. They are cheaper in price, and are easi­ly distinguishable by their large, bold headlines, colloquial use of English and abundant photographs, often in colour. Their many short items and features usually concentrate on the personal as­pects of the news, with reports of the latest scandals and sensations, especial­ly of celebrities, not excluding the royal family. However, some of the ‘populars’ also offer their readers news coverage of a more conventional kind, and some of their 'scoops' are newsworthy and im­portant.

The oldest of the daily ‘qualities’ is The Times founded in 1785. It has a long-standing reputation as one of the most influential papers in the country, and has become well-known for its extensive news coverage, its sober and generally unbiased editorials, its letters to the editor, its financial and sporting pages, its personal column and its daily crossword. It claims to be politically independent, but is inclined to be right-wing and has an ‘established’ image. It is in close competition with two rivals: The Guardian, founded in 1825, and The Independent, founded in 1986. The Guardian is noted for its lively report­ing, its original features, and generally for its campaigning support for ‘worthy causes,’ such as educational reform, the protection and conservation of the environment, and animal rights. The Independent has rapidly acquired reputation for its excellent news coverage, intelligent reporting, informed comment, and the care it takes not to patronize its readers.

The circulation of The Guardian is about 400,000. The Independent has a circulation of about 224,000. The Daily Telegraph, founded in 1855, has a circulation of more than 1 million. It is noted for its detailed reporting and good international news coverage, as well as its ex­ceptionally wide and thorough coverage of sport. It is right of centre, supports the Conservative Party, and has a generally middle-aged to elderly but very loyal readership. The Financial Times, founded in 1888, specialises in city news but also carries some general news items, features and reviews. It is printed on dis­tinctive pink paper, so that it is sometimes nicknamed ‘The Pink ‘Un’.

The Sun, founded in 1964, has a circulation of about 3.5 million and current­ly outsells all other daily ‘populars.’ Its most famous feature is its ‘Page Three’ photograph of a nude or nearly nude young woman. The Mirror, with a circulation of about 2.2 million, was founded in 1903, and is traditionally supported by the Labour Party. The Express, founded in 1900 and the Daily Mail, founded in 1896 respectively have a cir­culation of 1,062 thousand and 2,387 thousand accordingly. The Express has established a reputation for its lively writing and ‘no nonsense’ reporting, while the Daily Mail is the most sophis­ticated of the ‘middle market’ papers with well-written ‘crusading’ articles and serialised fiction. Both papers have weekly book reviews, women's pages and other regular features. The Daily Star, founded in 1978, is similar to The Mirror. It has a greater number of young women readers than The Mirror, but a lower overall circulation of about 613 thousand.

Of the Sunday ‘qualities,’ the Sunday Times leads the field with a circulation of over 1,360 thousand. It has built a reputation for the range and excellence of its writing and reporting, and is pro­duced in eight separate sections: a main news section and others devoted to sport, news reviews, business, the arts, job advertisements (mainly in industry and business), fashion and travel, and book reviews. It was founded in 1822 and is politically right of centre. The Observer is the oldest Sunday paper, founded in 1791. It has a circulation of around 417 thousand and politically it is ‘middle of the road.’ The Sunday Tele­graph, founded in 1961, is more right-wing, like its sister daily. Its circulation is now about 808 thousand. The Inde­pendent on Sunday was first published in 1990.

The best-selling Sunday ‘popular’ is the News of the World, with a circula­tion of around 4 million. The paper, founded in 1843, has a reputation for its detailed reports of crime and sex stories but also for its sports reports and its political comment. The Sunday Mirror has a circulation of about 1,927 thou­sand, and like its sister daily paper contains mainly popular items on celebrities in the news, with much gossip and many photographs. Its rival is The People, a paper with a circulation of about 1,523 thousand and an emphasis on ‘true life’ stories and features. Both the Sunday Express and Mail on Sunday have cir­culations of about 2,298 thousand and 974 thousand accordingly and likewise resemble their daily equivalents in style and content. All Sunday newspapers have accompanying colour magazines.

Task 3. Mark the sentences True (T), False (F) or Don't Know (DK).

1. The popular newspapers are often called the ‘heavies’.

2. The ‘qualities’ cover nearly all aspects of life.

3. The ‘tabloids’ are for the experienced readers.

4. The Times has the largest circulation.

5. The Daily Telegraph is published on a very good paper.

6. The Sun is most popular among the blue collars.

7. The Sunday Times is famous for the excellently written articles.

8. The Sunday newspapers cover lotsof popular items.

Task 4. Match the words from the text with their definitions.

1. loyal 2. divide 3. extensive 4. overseas 5. additional 6. profile 7. abundant 8. newsworthy 9. unbiased 10. incline 11. acquire reputation 12. outsell 13. sophisticated 14. resemble

a. existing or available in large quantities so that there is more than enough; b. to think that a particular belief or opinion is most like­ly to be right; c. covering a large area; d. very cleverly designed and very advanced and often working in a complicated way; e. important or interesting enough to be reported as news; f. always supporting your friends, principles, countries etc; g. able to make a fair judgement, especially because you are not influenced by your own or other people's opinions; h. to become well-known because of your abilities; i. coming from or happening abroad; j. to look like, or be similar to, someone or something; k. to separate something such as area, group or object into two or more parts; l. a short description that gives important details about a person, a group of people, or a place; m. more than what was agreed or expected; n. to be sold in larger quantities than something else.

Task 5. Use the word in brackets at the end of each sentence to form the word that fits in the space in the same sentence.

1. I have not the slightest............... to take unnecessary risks. (incline)

2. She bears a remarkable............... to Lady Diana. (resemble)

3. Those people feel a lot of............... to the company. (loyal)

4. If we............... uncompleted projects from the calculations, the total spent is still more than £10 million. (excluding)

5. Wild flowers grow in............... on the hillsides. (abundant)

6. The............... of networking facilities will gradually enhance the sys­tem. (additional)

Task 6. Fill in the blanks with the words from Task 4.

1. The team has............... a fearsome reputation.

2. Highly............... machines have been produced by this firm.

3. Take the apple and............... it in quarters.

4. A detergent that............... every other brand is Fairy Plus.

5. The............... students often cause a lot of problems.

6. The reporter's task is to report what is............... about an event.

7. The storm caused............. damage.

8. It'll be hard to find an............... jury.

9. We need a............... of the area: population, main roads, water supplies etc.

Task 7. Give English equivalents of the following expressions from the text:

· Ежедневная газета;

· оставаться преданным чему-л.;

· быть условно поделенным на (две группы);

· предоставляющие подробное и полное освещение событий в стране и за рубежом;

· включающие большое количество дополнительных статей;

· ежедневная большая статья о событиях дня;

· краткое описание кого-л.;

· являться широкоформатным;

· с большими страницами;

· уничижительный;

· быть нацеленным на менее требовательного читателя;

· быть легко узнаваемым;

· броские заголовки;

· многочисленные фотографии;

· уделять большое внимание личному аспекту новостей;

· предлагать читателям более привычное освещение событий;

· заслуживающий освещения в прессе;

· иметь прочную репутацию;

· стать популярным благодаря широкому освещению событий;

· передовицы, предоставляющие трезвую и объективную оценку событий;

· быть политически независимым;

· зарекомендовать себя;

· соперничать с двумя конкурентами;

· известный благодаря живой манере освещения событий;

· активная поддержка общественно значимых дел;

· быстро завоевать репутацию;

· отличное освещение событий;

· грамотное освещение событий;

· компетентные комментарии;

· пытаться повлиять на мнение читателей;

· необыкновенно широкое и подробное освещение какого-л. события;

· быть правоцентристским;

· иметь круг постоянных читателей среднего и преклонного возраста;

· специализироваться на чем-л.;

· печататься на характерной розовой бумаге;

· называться/ иметь прозвище;

· превосходить по числу продаж все ежедневные малоформатные газеты;

· завоевать репутацию благодаря живой манере письма и здравому освещению событий;

· авторитетный (о газете);

· газеты, читателями которых являются представители среднего класса;

· хорошо написанные разоблачающие статьи;

· художественная проза, печатающаяся по главам в выпусках газеты;

· общий тираж;

· занимать лидирующую позицию с тиражом (1 млн. экземпляров);

· отличный стиль письма и широкое освещение событий;

· придерживаться центристских политических взглядов;

· акцент на правдивых жизненных историях и статьях;

· быть похожим на что-л. по стилю и содержанию.

Task 8. Match the verbs on the left with the words and expressions on the right:

1. to cater to 2. to acquire 3. to patronize 4. to concentrate on 5. to offer 6. to have 7. to be noted for 8. to have 9. to specialise in 10. to outsell 11. to lead 12. to resemble in

a) the field b) the less demanding reader c) reputation d) news coverage e) personal aspects of the news f) style and content g) all other newspapers h) readers i) lively reporting j) a middle aged to elderly readership k) reputation l) overseas news

Task 9. Copy the table below into your notebook and write out all the expressions that you can use speaking about broadsheets and tabloids. Remember to consult the texts The British and American Press (1.5, Task 2) and Newspapers in Britain (1.8., Task 2).

broadsheets	tabloids

— SPEAKING

Task 10. Choose any Russian newspaper and describe it using the expressions from Task 9. Get ready to present your description in class.

? VOCABULARY PRACTICE

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