British newspaper readers
British newspaper readers
Read this article about British newspapers and practice your English language reading skills.
Who reads what
British newspapers are often categorised according to what is perceived to be their intellectual readership.
The Telegraph, Guardian, Times and Independent are often referred to as ‘quality‘ newspapers or more colloquially, ‘the heavies‘, or even ‘the posh papers‘.
The Mail and the Express are referred to as mid-market newspapers.
The Sun, the Mirror and the Star are called ‘tabloids‘ or ‘red-tops‘ (you can see some red print on the band behind their titles at the top of their front page).
Between 21 and 27 million UK adults read at least one national daily newspaper on an average day. In 1992, 59% of adults read one or more national daily newspapers, compared with 45% in 2006.*
Currently the Sun has the biggest daily circulation of about 3 million readers; the biggest-selling quality is the Daily Telegraph with a circulation of about 900,000; the Times has a readership of around 640,000, about 360,000 readers buy the Guardian and the Independent sells around 240,000 papers daily.
What their political leanings are
The newspapers have different political leanings which reflect sectors of opinion in the general population. Among the ‘qualities‘ the Telegraph is generally viewed as the most conservative / right-wing, the Guardian as the most leftish / liberal (left-liberal), the Times and the Independent are more centrist, occupying the political centreground.
The Mail and the Express are usually viewed as representing the more conservative section of middle England. The Daily Mirror has traditionally been viewed as a newspaper of the left, loyal to the Labour Party, while the Sun is a populist newspaper that has recently supported the Labour Party, but is widely thought by people on the left to be essentially right-wing.
*figures from a National Readership Survey commissioned by the House of Lords communications committee.