UKmedia

United Kingdom : media
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Concise History of the British Newspaper (from 1620 to today) on the British Library site. Click here and when the page appears, select the link for 17th, 18th, 19th or 20th century. You will see a detailed chronology illustrated by facsimiles of the front pages of various publications. Good departure point for obtaining a general idea of the subject.
Another concise history is to be found at http://www.999inks.co.uk/british-newspaper-history.html. This is a one-page text containing links to numerous other texts on specific aspects of the history of the British press (the earliest newspaper, the earliest cartoon, etc.). Not all of the links work as some sites have moved; in the case of long texts, you may not arrive on the page at the specific section you expected to see. However, this is still a useful place for beginning research on the subject. (Warning: since it is maintained on the website of a commercial company, it may be a relatively short-lived resource.)

The three following websites centralize the addresses of a large number of other sites concerning the media:

Media in Great Britain: http://www.kidon.com/media-link/unitedkingdom.shtml

Newspaper Internet Resources http://www.bl.uk/collections/newspaper/sources.html

Selected daily print newspapers in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Scotland: on the homepage, click on the “Europe” button in the left-hand column. http://www.zafo.com/news/

Channel Islands and Isle of Man Newspapers on the Internet http://www.bl.uk/collections/newspaper/islands.html

Newspapers :

Tabloids
The name "Tabloid" has its origin in the size of the pages of the newspaper which are smaller than those of quality newspapers - or broadsheet newspapers. The style of the articles is inflated. Journalists use short sentences and slangy phrases to tickle the reader's fancy. The English used in tabloids is characterised by use of colloquialisms, superficiality of thought or reasoning, clever or sensational presentation of material, and evidences of haste in composition. When writing up a story, tabloid journalists dramatise it, make more of it than the facts will really bear. They are constantly tempted to over-write and over-emphasize.
In Great Britain, the popular press may be divided into two categories :
- the middle-brow press or "middle market": e.g. Daily Express, Daily Mail, Today. Less academic and more informal than the "quality press", but it does not make general use of "vulgar" slang.
- the gutter press: e.g. The Sun, Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Sunday Mirror.
The "gutter papers" are often accused of being "muck-raking". Those have a long history. The origin of the catch phrase "Our reporter made an excuse and left" (known from the 1920s onwards) is telling in this respect. It was a two-faced line used by British newspapers: reporters sought to depict vice and crime while the newspapers protected themselves by righteous condemnation.

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Broadsheets

The "qualities" - or the "heavies" - are known for their elaborate news coverage and editorials. Its features deal with book reviews and art criticism. The articles are generally written by specialists. The account is informative and not highly exaggerated or sensational. However, the tendency to dramatise can be clearly observed (to challenge the tabloid press?). e.g. : The Times (the oldest of the daily "qualities", founded in 1785), The Independent (founded in 1986), The Guardian (since 1825), The Daily Telegraph (1855), The Financial Times (1888).

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