UK DU-ers: Could you give me a brief rundown...

[ailsagirl]

of the UK newspapers? I'd like to make the switch to UK news but I'm not sure which would be appropriate for me. Independent? The Guardian? Daily Telegraph? The Observer?

Which do you prefer?

Thanks!

[Starboard Tack]

1. Guardian and Observer are sister publications,both centre-left.

Telegraph is centre-right and the Independent is pretty much what it claims to be, though with tendency toward the left socially and right fiscally.
That said they are all fairly decent papers in terms of quality journalism, especially when compared to the right wing rags like the Daily Mail and Express.

[ailsagirl]

2. Thanks for the information...

I appreciate knowing that the Daily Mail and Express are rags. Steering clear of them!

[Ironing Man]

3. Mail, Express, Sun et al

while i'd agree with the above about both the standards of journalism and, frankly, hateful attitudes to be found in the rags, its important to understand that the Mail and Sun extremely popular, with readers numbering more than all the broadsheets put together - they do shape/reflect attitudes, and in truth if either come out forcefully for any of the main parties on the day of the election, then that will effect the outcome.

if you don't read them, or at the very least the Op/Ed peices, you won't really grip UK politics.

the Express however is a comic. its front pages are only ever occupied by headlines about extreme weather, Princess Diana (still!), and how immigrants cause cancer and make house prices drop. it doesn't have political clout.

[ailsagirl]

4. Thanks for your thoughts, Ironing Man

I appreciate it.

[LeftishBrit]

5. The Observer is the Sunday edition of the Guardian...

I would say that the Guardian is the best of the bunch, followed by the Independent. But contrary to the stereotype that the Guardian is very left, it is at best centre-left: it has generally supported Lib Dems/ Liberals over Labour, and, though it has some excellent writers, it also has some writers who are quite right-wing (especially on economic issues) and like all papers, some who are just egocentric wafflers. The news is much more reliable than in many papers, but again as in all papers, it tends to be disjointed, with topics coming up one day and being dropped the next, depending on what the current reporters' current focus of attention is.

The Independent is similar to the Guardian, but tends to be to its right on economic issues (it's currently owned by a Russian oligarch!). Similar on reliability but disjointedness of news.

The Daily Telegraph is often known as the 'Torygraph'. It used to be very British-Establishment-Tory, but very reliable on news. It has gone down dramatically in recent years; is far more biased and unreliable in its news reporting; is a vehicle for the British Christian Right; and seems, since it went online, to be aimed in part at the American Republican constituency. VERY anti-Obama.

The Times is owned by the Murdoch crowd. It is sometimes OK but when it is bad, which is quite often, it is horrid!

The tabloids are dreadful; you may wish occasionally to look at the Sun (also Murdoch-owned) and Mail as they are wide-circulation papers and give a worrying insight into what the British public is being fed; but you should never take them seriously on any matters of fact or opinion. America has the RW talkshows; Britain has the RW tabloids! The Express is even worse, but lower-circulation than the others. The Mirror is the only left-of-centre tabloid, but is just as unreliable for news, and just as unethical in its approaches to getting hold of information, as the other tabloids.

The best British media source, despite its own faults, is probably in fact not a newspaper but the BBC. It may not be long for this world, however, if our government gets its way.

[Starboard Tack]

6. Good post.

It is really sad how few people seek out reliable journalism. Let us hope that the Beeb survives.

[forest444]

7. I've been asking myself the same thing!

[ailsagirl]

8. Many thanks, all, for your input

[Donald Ian Rankin]

9. Just measure the size of the paper it's printed on.

Some of the UK broadsheets - the Telegraph and increasingly the Times - take right-wing editorial stances, while others - the Independent and the Guardian - are left wing, but in general they all have at least moderately high journalistic standards.

By contrast, the tabloids - the Sun, Mail, Express, Mirror, Star, etc - are all worthless rags.

Never believe anything in the British press until you've seen it on paper at least 18 inches wide.

[ailsagirl]

10. "...the tabloids - the Sun, Mail, Express, Mirror, Star, etc - are all worthless rags"

That's for damn sure!! Some of the stories-- true or no-- make my hair stand on end!!

Yes, I've been leaning toward The Independent and The Guardian.

Many thanks!