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The British are the third largest consumers of newspapers in the world (after the Japanese and the Swedes). Each day about 80 % of all households buy one of the main national newspapers.
Great Britain's national papers can be bought everywhere in the UK on the same day, including Sunday. They have higher circulation than the local/regional ones (Centralisation of the press). On Sunday the national newspapers are much fatter than the dailies and the circulation is higher, too. The press ownership in Britain is very concentrated. 80 % of the national and Sunday papers belong to three conglomerates (Mirror Newspaper Group, United Newspapers and News International).
Freedom of the press:
č no state control
č no major newspaper is owned by a political party
č long tradition of freedom and independence
Nevertheless most of the national newspapers are influenced politically because the companies have extended into commerce and finance. The owners are not just interested in money but also in political power.
The difference between 'quality press' and 'popular press' depends on content and formant.
'Quality press' also known as 'broadsheets' (large size) are serious papers. They contain hard news and information and are aimed at better educated readers. 21 % of the adult male population and 12 5 of the females read them.
'Popular papers' are called tabloids (half size of broadsheets), too. Their content is more about entertainment than about information. Human interest stories, sports news, famous personalities, half naked people and horoscopes have the main part. They are aimed to the less well educated readers and have larger readership than the 'qualities'.
By the way, there is a huge range of magazines in Britain, too. The two best-selling magazines are 'The Radio Times' and 'The TV Times' published by the BBC. Next to the television guides there are a lot of other magazines about each subject and for every age.
Some facts:
č Nine of the best-selling eleven national daily and Sunday papers in Western Europe are British
č Britain's ten national dailies sell 14.5 million copies a day
č The UK's nine national Sundays have a circulation of 15.5 million
č Around 35 million read the dailies and 40 million the Sunday papers
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