Mass Media in Great Britain

In Britain more national and regional newspapers are sold per head than in any other Western country, a fact which emphasises the important role of the press in forming public and political opinion. The regional or local press is, compared to the national dailies, less significant, except in Scotland and Wales, which still have a strong national identity. But complete information can only be obtained by reading both a national and a regional paper. There are also numerous weekly, fortnightly and monthly ethnic minority publications being published by members of ethnic minorities e.g. Asians, Indians or people from the Caribbean. Newspaper reading is also part of the traditional British Sunday. National Sundays have a circulation of about 16 million copies (dailies of about 14 million).

The national newspapers, which are distributed throughout the country, are traditionally classified as either 'quality' papers or 'popular' papers. It is important to state that the striking difference between them reflects the gap between Britain's social classes.

Populars are mass-circulation tabloids, which are cheaper in price and of lower standards. The so-called yellow-press is read by lower middle classes and working class people, and also by commuters. The format is the handy tabloid (which means small-sheet). There are words in bold face type, sensational headlines and illustration with (colour) photos to arouse the reader's attention. The tabloids, which are written in an emotional, colloquial and informal style, use everyday English. There is a sensational treatment of news with emphasis on 'human interests' stories and scandals; some of them are down-market in their use of sex to boost sales. Political reporting is superficial, articles are sometimes more openly tendentious.

National dailies:

Daily Mirror

Daily Star

The Sun

National Sundays:

News of the World

Sunday Mirror

The People

As the name describes midmarket papers cover the intermediate market and are also tabloid.

National dailies:

Daily Mail

Daily Express

Today

National Sundays:

The Mail on Sunday

Sunday Express

The British press owes its international importance to seven papers with the highest standards. Those qualities are read by the educated and the élite, who normally have no problem with the format, which is mostly broadsheet. The full coverage of news is reliable and often gives additional background information. There is also a wide range of feature articles (e.g. on legal or financial affairs). Articles are mostly written by experts on the subject and are in formal, matter-of-fact, highbrow and sometimes literary style. Sunday papers include colour supplements with articles on travel, food, wine and leisure topics.

National dailies:

Financial Times

The Daily Telegraph

The Guardian

The Independent

The Times

National Sundays:

Sunday Telegraph

The Independent on Sunday

The Observer

The Sunday Times

The great majority of the national papers (70% of the circulation figures) express a conservative affiliation. This fact has frequently given rise to some criticism of the British press. The monopolistic tendencies of the British press are another area of criticism. 90% of the total circulation of the national press are controlled by only five 'Press Lords' or newspaper groups. The Australian Rupert Murdoch (News International) already owns one third of Britain's national press (The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, News of the World). His media empire also includes newspapers in Australia, the US, Hong Kong and New Zealand as well as television broadcasting companies in Britain and the United States. Until 1986 The Times always presented an unbiased and balanced view of the political scene. Since the acquisitation by Rupert Murdoch the reporting has shifted to the right, and the paper has lost its dominant position in forming and reflecting opinion at the highest levels. The Independent (founded in 1986) is a quality paper which is not committed to any political stance.

Most British newspapers are situated in the Docklands of East London. Here they take advantage of modern computerised printing systems which were introduced to keep pace with soaring costs and competition from cable television. The overseas editions are printed in Britain, France, Germany, the USA, Japan and Hungary.

Press Freedom

The British press, which caters for a much larger reading public than in many other countries, is unrestricted by censorship or state control. It is considered to be an instrument of controlling and criticising government and decision-makers. It has considerable influence in public affairs and therefore is sometimes called the 'Fourth Estate'.

But the press are not free to express themselves in complete freedom in Britain: regulations exist to protect the legitimate interests of the state and its individuals. The unauthorised publication of state and official information can result in serious trouble for the newspapers.

The 'Press Council' (1953) was set up to safeguard the freedom of the press and to maintain the highest professional standards. Unlike most other European countries the British press receives no subsidies and relatively few tax and postal concessions.

Libel

If a newspaper or magazine prints wrong or damaging information about an individual, it may be sued for libel. In such cases the editor, proprietor, publishers, printer and distributor of the print matter, as well as the author, may all be held responsible.

Contempt of court

In order to avoid influencing the decision of court cases, the media are not allowed to publish comments on court proceedings while these are continuing. They must only report the facts of the case.

Obscene Publications Act

This Act controls the publication of sexually explicit material which may offend public morality. The debate continues as to whether the controls are too tight or too lax. In an attempt to limit the abuses of the printed media, a Press Complaints Commission was set up in 1991. Editors of publications adhere to a comprehensive code of practice which seeks to regulate:

respect for privacy;

journalists' behaviour;

references to race, colour or religion;

payments to criminals for articles;

Radio and TV

Sound broadcasting is done by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and 44 independent local radio (ILR) stations. BBC radio provides four services over 32 local radio stations. An independent nationwide radio service is under consideration.

Television is provided by two authorities: the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The BBC (founded in 1922) is directed by a Board of Governors appointed by the Government. It is primarily financed by licence fees and sales of television programmes, recordings and publications.

The IBA was set up to co-ordinate independent television and radio stations. Its function is not to produce programmes, but to appoint companies to produce programmes, to supervise programme arrangement and to control advertising. Finance for these channels is provided solely by commercial advertising.

Direct broadcasting by satellite (DBS) has been available in Britain since 1989.