1. What are the typical features of the «popular» newspapers? 2. What can you say about the two archetypal popular papers?
3. Why has the Daily Mirror become a serious rival of the
Express?
4. Whose newspaper is The Times? Is it an organ of the
Government?
5. What was The Guardian called until 1959?
6. Why was it popular among intelligent people?

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The Most Popular Daily Papers
1. The «popular» newspapers respond to their estimates of their
readers' interest. They use enormous headlines for the leading
items of each day, which are one day political, one day to do with
crime, one day sport, one day some odd happening. They have
their pages of political report and comment, thrive on sensational
stories and excitement.
2. The two archetypal popular papers, the Daily Mail and Daily
Express, were both built up in the early twentieth century. The
Express was built up by a man born in poverty in Canada. He built
up his newspaper in Britain, not only on crime and human interest
stories, but on his simple message about the greatness of the
British Empire. The circulation of the Express at one time
exceeded 4 million copies a day. Now the daily sales are not much
more than half of their highest figure. The history of the Daily
Mail, with its more conventional conservatism, is not greatly
different. Both of these papers have become «tabloids» (printed on
smaller sheets of paper) within the past ten years.
3. In popular journalism the Daily Mirror became a serious
rival of the Express and Mail in the 1940s. It was always tabloid,
always devoted more space to pictures. After 1945 it regularly
supported the Labour Party. The Daily Mirror also became the
biggest-selling daily newspaper. For many years its sales have been
above 4 million, sometimes well above.4. The Times is the most famous of all British newspapers, and
has always been the paper of the «Establishment», who use it for
announcements of births, marriages and deaths. Politically it is
independent but inclined to be sympathetic to the Conservative
Party. It is not an organ of the Government. Sometimes its
leading articles may be written after private consultation with
people in, for example, the Foreign Office; but they are often
critical of any government. The letters to the Editor, which are
printed next to the leading articles, are very influential, and may
lead to wide discussion of the views which they express.
5. The Guardian was called the Manchester Guardian until '
1959. It became a truly national paper. Later it moved its base to
London. In quality, style and reporting it is equal with The Times;
in politics it is perhaps best described as «radical». It is more
favourable to the Liberal Party than to the Conservatives. It has
made great progress during the past thirty years, particularly
among intelligent people who find The Times too uncritical of
established interests.
6. The Financial Times has recently shed its old commercial
specialism and has become a major quality paper. Its circulation
has grown enormously.