Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Friday, July 15, 2011

UK media briefing

Melody Dickison sent me a link to an Atlantic article about the brouhaha over journalists' phone hacking in the UK. (Thanks again, Melody.) This is a good outline of the recent events (but not the coming investigations -- the government and the police investigating themselves ought to be interesting).

The most useful takeaway is a wonderful chart describing the British print media. The major newspaper publications are graphically shown by type of newspaper and political leanings. Even after the current scandal has been forgotten, you can use this chart to supplement your textbook's description of newspapers in the UK. (Except you'll get to explain why the News of the World headline in the illustration says, "Thank you & goodbye.")

A Primer on British Media After the 'News of the World' Scandal

The newspapers of Great Britain face strict libel laws, but many of them make stories up anyway. Some are obviously right-wing; others fall somewhere to the left of center. And then there's the issue of the Murdoch family itself. Rupert Murdoch, who also owns the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and dozens of other media properties, has a stranglehold on the British press…

At about the same size as Minnesota, and with a developed infrastructure that makes transportation and delivery simple and affordable, Great Britain is home to many national newspapers -- something that most Americans, who are used to supplementing their national papers with local reporting, find unusual. But that's not the only thing that's different about the British press. For the majority of media outlets based in Great Britain, where the most popular newspapers are The Sun and The Daily Mirror, both mass-market tabloids (and bitter rivals), political affiliation is displayed proudly and editorial standards are lax…

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Labels: media, politics, UK