UK Newspapers: Trashy vs. Traditional

Introduction: My "Media and Britain" professor asked us to do an assignment comparing British tabloids and British newspapers. We also have to ponder why tabloids are so popular here in the UK. Though I don't have all the answers, I thought I might share a brief analysis of this topic. Enjoy!

British media is known the world over for its distinguished bastion, BBC News. The British Broadcasting Company’s news branch is still heralded for its brave reporting during the German blitz in World War II and today for its in-depth coverage of world events. One would assume that all British media, newspapers, radio and TV programs alike, follow the rich standards of the BBC. However, non-Brits may be surprised to discover the supremacy of tabloid culture in the UK.

In fact, the Sun, a tabloid, is Britain’s best selling daily paper with an average circulation of over 3,100,000 per day and a readership of over 8,000,000 per day. Those figures are well ahead of the Daily Mail, a conservative tabloid-light. The Daily Mail has an average circulation of about 2,300,000 per day and a readership of almost 5,300, 000. The Sun is also light years ahead of the more distinguished papers, The Guardian, average circulation: 338,000, and The Times, average circulation: 612,000.



Compare this to the U.S. The national newspaper USA Today leads in circulation with over 2,500,000 copies per day. Following suit are two respected publications, the Wall Street Journal with just over 2,000,000 and the New York Times with about 1,600,000 per day. Keep in mind that the Sun still has a higher circulation than all three of these papers in a country much, much smaller than the U.S.

But what makes a tabloid by far the biggest newspaper in the UK, a feat not seen in the US?

One possible reason is the newspaper culture in the UK. Comparing the population of the UK with the US, it is evident that a higher proportion of Brits read newspapers compared to Americans. In the US, newspapers may be favored by those interested in news topics such as the economy and politics. People interested in celebrity culture will turn to magazines and television instead of forming a daily habit of reading a newspaper. This does not reflect on “American intelligence” or “American priorities." Withholding stereotypes, it may reflect a difference in culture just as more Brits drink tea while America is more of a coffee culture. I hope to explore this topic more in depth later.