History UsefulNotes / BritishNewspapers

* Known as ''[[PrivateEye The Daily Torygraph]]'' for its trenchant support of the Conservative Party. Well known for its crossword and sports coverage (especially of cricket). Also had a major scoop when, in 2009, it exposed the [=MPs=]' expenses scandal, which was quickly picked up by all other newspapers. (More historically, it was the first to report the outbreak of UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo from Poland.) Formerly owned by Conrad Black, currently owned by [[CreepyTwins the Barclay Brothers]]. Has a traditional reputation for being close to Britain's secret services and being willing to print planted stories for them. Remains firmly wedded to the actual broadsheet format, presumably for fear of [[StronglyWordedLetter overloading the Royal Mail]] should they ever dare to change anything. Despite its editorial line and its readership's reputation for extreme conservatism and closed-mindedness, the paper's reporting is generally reasonable and rarely hysterical; it is one of Britain's two newspapers of record by reputation.

* Known as ''[[PrivateEye The Daily Torygraph]]'' for its trenchant support of the Conservative Party. Well known for its crossword and sports coverage (especially of cricket). Also had a major scoop when, in 2009, it exposed the [=MPs=]' expenses scandal, which was quickly picked up by all other newspapers. (More historically, it was the first to report the outbreak of UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo from Poland.) Formerly owned by Conrad Black, currently owned by [[CreepyTwins the Barclay Brothers]]. Has a traditional reputation for being close to Britain's secret services and being willing to print planted stories for them. Remains firmly wedded to the actual broadsheet format, presumably for fear of [[StronglyWordedLetter overloading the Royal Mail]] should they ever dare to change anything. One of Britain's two newspapers of record by reputation.

** Throughout the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books, the ''Daily Mail'' is the morning paper read by Vernon Dursley, Harry's snobby and politically reactionary uncle. (Truth be told, Uncle Vernon, although most ''Mail'' readers aren't as cartoonishly nasty as he is, in terms of his life situation--comfortable middle-middle class office drone living in the Home Counties--he's more or less the picture of the ''Mail''[='s=] readership: if he were a professional, he'd read the ''Telegraph'', and if he worked in a factory or a trade, he'd read the ''Sun''.)

** It caused a non-troversy when it apparently called for Creator/PhillipPullman's books to be burned. It hadn't, but Pullman thought it had, repeating the myth in an interview, from whence it spread.

** Throughout the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books, the ''Daily Mail'' is the morning paper read by Vernon Dursley, Harry's snobby and politically reactionary uncle.

->'''PM Jim Hacker:''' ''"Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: The ''Daily Mirror'' is read by [[GabbyCabbie people who think they run the country]], the ''Guardian'' is read by [[SoapboxSadie people who think they ought to run the country]], the ''Times'' is read by [[UsefulNotes/BritishPoliticalSystem people who actually do run the country]], the ''Daily Mail'' is read by [[{{Housewife}} the wives of the people who run the country]], the ''Financial Times'' is read by [[CorruptCorporateExecutive people who own the country]], the ''Morning Star'' is read by [[DirtyCommunists people who think the country ought to be run by another country]] and the ''Daily Telegraph'' is read by [[StronglyWordedLetter people who think]] [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad it is]]."''

National newspapers in the UK were traditionally divided by format, between the relatively respectable and intelligent broadsheets and the scurrilous, gossip- and crime-obsessed tabloids. The latter are generally subdivided into the 'mid-market' tabloids and, at the lower end, those known colloquially as the 'red-tops' after their red-background title logos. Several of the broadsheet newspapers have now adopted tabloid or 'Berliner' physical formats, but the divide in reputation between the two types remains.

* [[BlocParty Says the enemy's among us,]] [[WaxingLyrical taking our women and taking our jobs.]] Ultra right-wing, populist, nationalistic, xenophobic, isolationist often [[YouCanPanicNow hysterical]] and notoriously obsessed with the immigrants and house prices and, lately, campaigns against same sex marriage and claimants of state benefits. Infamously supported fascism in a big way in the 1930s (hence the common "Daily Heil" nickname); prior to UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, it openly advocated an alliance with UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and claimed German Jews seeking refuge in Britain were "exaggerating" the bad treatment they claimed to be getting from Herr Hitler's sound and firm government. In the Mail's opinion, they were just economic migrants taking advantage of Britain's lax generosity, (and besides we have far too many Jews in Britain as it is.)\\

** UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} or UsefulNotes/IrishTravellers won't thank you for doing so either, what with their "Stamp On The Camp" campaign that was trying to have both communities reclassified as some sort of vermin infestation or something. Nor has their treatment of refugees, women, Muslims or... *sigh* Just don't admit to liking it around anyone who isn't a white, heterosexual working-class male under the age of forty, alright?

* The ''FramleyExaminer'' - a parody of English local newspapers, based in the fictional town of Framley and its surroundings (with names like Whoft, Effing Sodbury and others) A very British equivalent of ''TheOnion''.

** Former editor [=Kelvin McKenzie=] (the one responsible for the above-mentioned Hillsborough article) conveniently summed up the average ''Sun'' reader: "He's the [[BritishPubs bloke you see in the pub]], [[GodwinsLaw a right old fascist]], [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain wants to send the wogs back]], [[CouncilEstate buy his poxy council house]], [[RedScare he's afraid of the unions]], [[DirtyCommies afraid of the Russians]], [[HeteronormativeCrusader hates the queers and the weirdos]] and [[DrugsAreBad drug dealers]]. [[ViewersAreMorons He doesn't want to hear about that stuff (i.e. serious news)]]".

** On the other hand, [[NoTrueScotsman not everyone agrees that the Guardian is actually left wing]]: "When will the hacks stop saying that the Guardian is left wing? It's more of a lifestyle magazine for people on the centre right who occasionally Tippex their [[ThePoppy Remembrance Day poppy]] because they want to celebrate peace not war and who own kitchens whose colour scheme must match the dish of the day." - Robin Ince

** Other notable gaffes involved [[FawltyTowers "mentioning the war"]] before England's Euro 96 semi-final against Germany. Then again, that's standard operating procedure in the gutter press whenever England play Germany. Nonetheless, on this occasion the Mirror contrived to go unusually far even by those standards, going off on an extended riff about "Declaring Football War" on Germany.

The ink comes off on your hands. Has been responsible for some of the most famous (or infamous) headlines of recent times, such as "Gotcha" (the sinking of ''General Belgrano'' in 1982 during TheFalklandsWar, although the original story merely thought it had been damaged), "It's The ''Sun'' Wot Won It" (after backing Major's Conservatives to a surprise 1992 General Election victory), and occasional superlatively convoluted PunnyHeadlines such as the football-related [[Film/MaryPoppins "Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious"]]. Uses BoldInflation a '''LOT'''. Has recently created a free Polish-language edition, ''Polski Sun'', for the duration of Euro 2008. The last time time they endorsed Labour they did it by blowing red smoke out of a chimney. You see, this Ratzinger fellow had received a [[UsefulNotes/ThePope promotion]]... To mark the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby boy in July 2013[[note]]HMTheQueen's great-grandson and third in line to the British throne[[/note]] the paper's logo was chanced to The Son for one day only.

-->''-- Series/YesPrimeMinister'' ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M&feature=player_detailpage#t=54s Watch the video]], and note that [[DoubleEntendre PM at the time was]] UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher.)[[note]]This joke actually predates ''Yes, Prime Minister'' by several years, but it refers to the Sun's "Page 3 Girls" in particular[[/note]]

* Another Murdoch paper, formerly published weekly on Sunday. Known as "News of the Screws", and usually thought of as the "Sunday ''Sun''" (whose content it was ''exactly'' like). Its reputation was [[EngineeredPublicConfession utterly destroyed]] within a matter of days in July 2011 when it emerged that they had [[MoralEventHorizon hacked -- it was claimed deleted at the time, an allegation later withdrawn -- the voicemails of (among others) murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler]], giving her parents the [[HopeSpot illusion of hope that she was still alive]].[[note]]Albeit after the ''Guardian'' had been plugging away at the story for a number of years with no real recognition -- it was only when the Milly Dowler story came out that public revulsion set in.[[/note]] This resulted in it ceasing publication and a mess of controversy for Murdoch, who saw his bid to acquire the [=BSkyB=] network scuttled in the aftermath -- and the resignation (and in some cases, criminal indictment) of several high-ranking officials in the Cameron government and the London Metropolitan Police who had been associated with the paper. Eventually replaced with an actual Sunday ''Sun''.

*** Infamous for its misleading headlines. For instance: "JORDAN IN NEW CANCER SCARE! Shock Diagnosis for [[KatiePrice Kate]] and her Family!" From this, one might infer that Ms Price had cancer? Err, no. The "CANCER SCARE" was in fact this: Her boyfriend Alex Reid uses fake tan, which ''might'' cause cancer. Other examples: JORDAN CELEBRATES HOT BABY NEWS, JORDAN'S BABY BOY, (notice a theme here), TERROR AS PLANE HITS ASH CLOUDS (illustrated using an image from a documentary and not hinting that the whole thing was fictional) and ROYAL BABY ON WAY (the startling revelation that William and Kate, being married, might choose to conceive a child).

* The nickname "Rommel" for Montgomery stuck. Fast. Had one editor (Piers Morgan) [[http://web.archive.org/web/20041012123314/ sacked over faked pictures of abuse in Iraq]], then few months later ran the "Bush states have lower [=IQs=]" hoax as genuine. Has been in decline a long period of time. Also known as the "Daily Moron", after Piers Morgan - [[InsistentTerminology always named]] some variant on Piers Moron by ''PrivateEye''. Everyone in Britain was rightly relieved when {{CNN}} brought him to America to replace LarryKing (leading to a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' parody of him played by Taran Killam that seems to have built on the ''Eye's'' characterisation).

-->''-- Series/YesPrimeMinister'' ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M&feature=player_detailpage#t=54s Watch the video]], and note that [[DoubleEntendre PM at the time was]] MargaretThatcher.)[[note]]This joke actually predates ''Yes, Prime Minister'' by several years, but it refers to the Sun's "Page 3 Girls" in particular[[/note]]

Its other main line is in publishing Christian apologetics, and it publishes several notable articles in this vein. These are usually fairly good, with occasional anti-atheist HitlerAteSugar screeds letting the side down. Dislikes what it seens as "commercialized" festivals, especially Christmas (it hates Halloween for this reason, plus a perceived anti-Christianity) Has little tolerance for "cafeteria Catholics", which it sees as [[FoxNewsLiberal National Secular Society Catholics]]. Has a StopHavingFunGuy attitude to the holidays, hence the Morris spoof.
** Its political affiliation was generally Conservative, but since DavidCameron's "I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative" speech, and with no credible right-wing alternative, it has abandoned them for a new political position that can best be summarized as "fuck you all."

** It caused a non-troversy when it apparently called for PhillipPullman's books to be burned. It hadn't, but Pullman thought it had, repeating the myth in an interview, from whence it spread.

** Supported Generalisimo FranciscoFranco during the SpanishCivilWar, and became infamous during that period for yellow journalism relating to the elected Republican government's policies and conduct of the war.

* The Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mail''; while still staunchly conservative, it's far less alarmist and far more credible. Has journalists and columnists such as staunchly Anglican conservative and enemy of television Peter Hitchens (brother of the famous atheist/antitheist Creator/ChristopherHitchens). Tends to be read by conservatives who like reading a newspaper without hysteria (although Peter Hitchens can sometimes seem a little bit out-there; he regularly bashes the Conservative Party for being too left-wing and strongly criticises what he perceives as the modern right's idolisation of MargaretThatcher).

* Also known as "The Currant Bun" in one of the better known pieces of Cockney rhyming slang, or "The Scum" if you're not feeling as kind. Famously, home of the PageThreeStunna, although it's not the only tabloid to do so. Also known for [[SexSells using topless women]] to [[http://www.bloggerheads.com/page_3.asp sell propaganda]]. Solidly conservative-right when it comes to politics, its populist working-class stance means this position is usually dressed-up as standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the common man, often unconvincingly. Supported the Conservatives under MargaretThatcher and JohnMajor before deciding to back Labour in 1997, 2001 and 2005 (in spite of spending much of this period attacking Labour Party policy in its editorials), it now supports Cameron's revitalised Conservatives. One theory for the paper's changing party allegiance (unusual in a British newspaper) is that the paper doesn't want to be seen to back a loser -- or rather, Murdoch is trying to get UK media ownership regulations relaxed. It may also have something to do with the Labour party's hard swing to the right during Blair's leadership.\\

* ''PrivateEye'' - a fortnightly satirical magazine edited by Ian Hislop of ''HaveIGotNewsForYou'' fame. Notable for having better investigative journalism than most of the proper papers, with the twin results of breaking many scandals earlier than anyone else, and being the subject of countless libel suits (Hislop frequently publishes the letters threatening legal action, and occasionally describes himself as "the most-sued man in British legal history"). It also uses the anonymity of its journalists and its status as a "not-quite-proper" news magazine to insert plenty of little teasers about stories the ''Eye'' ''doesn't'' have enough to support in a court of law, usually in the hope of spooking the subjects or getting more informants. Slightly split personality as the news pages tend to be quite left-wing while the cultural coverage tends to "all modern art is a con trick and all pop culture is trash" conservatism. More generally, it can be seen as anti-Establishment, which in political terms means anti-right and in cultural terms means conservative.

*** Maxwell sued PrivateEye in 1986 for £225,000 (a fortune now, and an even bigger fortune then[[note]]It's about half a million in 2013 pounds[[/note]]) and won it. PrivateEye editor Ian Hislop famously said: [[DeadpanSnarker "I've just given a fat cheque to a fat Czech."]] (Maxwell was born in Czechoslovakia).

* The Anarchist wekly paper ''Class War'' had a miniscule circulation, but did manage one brilliant headline that earnt it national notoreity and quintupled its circulation. On the birth of the current heir to the throne, Prince William, it patriotically celebrated the joyous day with the banner headline: '''ANOTHER FUCKING ROYAL PARASITE IS BORN!'''

* Known as ''[[PrivateEye The Daily Torygraph]]'' for its trenchant support of the Conservative Party. Well known for its crossword and sports coverage (especially of cricket). Also had a major scoop when, in 2009, it exposed the [=MPs=]' expenses scandal, which was quickly picked up by all other newspapers. (More historically, it was the first to report the outbreak of WorldWarTwo from Poland.) Formerly owned by Conrad Black, currently owned by [[CreepyTwins the Barclay Brothers]]. Has a traditional reputation for being close to Britain's secret services and being willing to print planted stories for them. Remains firmly wedded to the actual broadsheet format, presumably for fear of [[StronglyWordedLetter overloading the Royal Mail]] should they ever dare to change anything. One of Britain's two newspapers of record by reputation.

* [[BlocParty Says the enemy's among us,]] [[WaxingLyrical taking our women and taking our jobs.]] Ultra right-wing, populist, nationalistic, xenophobic, isolationist often [[YouCanPanicNow hysterical]] and notoriously obsessed with the immigrants and house prices and, lately, campaigns against same sex marriage and claimants of state benefits. Infamously supported fascism in a big way in the 1930s (hence the common "Daily Heil" nickname); prior to WorldWarII, it openly advocated an alliance with AdolfHitler and claimed German Jews seeking refuge in Britain were "exaggerating" the bad treatment they claimed to be getting from Herr Hitler's sound and firm government. In the Mail's opinion, they were just economic migrants taking advantage of Britain's lax generosity, (and besides we have far too many Jews in Britain as it is.)\\

* Pure MaleGaze. Home to even more topless women and also owned by a pornographer. Equivalent to the US ''National Enquirer'', in a way. Superficially resembles the ''Sun'', ''Mirror'' and ''Star'', but notable for containing almost [[LuridTalesOfDoom nothing that is normally thought of as news]]. Including a double-decker bus encased in an Antarctic ice sheet, a WorldWarII bomber found on the Moon, a kebab house with an [[ImAHumanitarian unconventional ingredient]] and a half-horse, half-human baby. Squeezed in, with extreme difficulty, around the porn.

The nickname "Rommel" for Montgomery stuck. Fast. Had one editor (Piers Morgan) [[http://web.archive.org/web/20041012123314/ sacked over faked pictures of abuse in Iraq]], then few months later ran the "Bush states have lower [=IQs=]" hoax as genuine. Has been in decline a long period of time. Also known as the "Daily Moron", after Piers Morgan - [[InsistentTerminology always named]] some variant on Piers Moron by ''PrivateEye''. Everyone in Britain was rightly relieved when {{CNN}} brought him to America to replace LarryKing (leading to a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' parody of him played by Taran Killam that seems to have built on the ''Eye's'' characterisation).

The ink comes off on your hands. Has been responsible for some of the most famous (or infamous) headlines of recent times, such as "Gotcha" (the sinking of ''General Belgrano'' in 1982 during TheFalklandsWar, although the original story merely thought it had been damaged), "It's The ''Sun'' Wot Won It" (after backing Major's Conservatives to a surprise 1992 General Election victory), and occasional superlatively convoluted PunnyHeadlines such as the football-related [[Film/MaryPoppins "Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious"]]. Uses BoldInflation a '''LOT'''. Has recently created a free Polish-language edition, ''Polski Sun'', for the duration of Euro 2008. The last time time they endorsed Labour they did it by blowing red smoke out of a chimney. You see, this Ratzinger fellow had received a [[ThePope promotion]]... To mark the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby boy in July 2013[[note]]HMTheQueen's great-grandson and third in line to the British throne[[/note]] the paper's logo was chanced to The Son for one day only.

*** Told Americans not to vote for UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush's second term (as if British citizens should really care), and encouraged their readers to write Americans in the "swing" area of Clark County, Ohio to this effect, even if the American voters in question were complete strangers. This dredged up unfortunate (and otherwise forgotten) historical memories of British diplomat Sir Lionel Sackville-West urging an American friend to vote for Democrat GroverCleveland in the 1888 U.S. presidential election because of Cleveland's sympathy for British free-trade policy (the U.S. Democratic Party being much more friendly to Big Business in the late 19th century), and so it caused a major backlash from Americans that resulted in Clark County voting Republican; the ''Guardian'' wound up publishing some of the hate mail that they received under the headline [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/oct/18/uselections2004.usa2 "Dear Limey assholes"]]. Although, as many of their commenters noted, that reaction was entirely predictable, and some accused the ''Guardian'' of cynically stirring it up so they could publish a decent "Look how boorish and stupid Republican voters are!" article. It later emerged that most Americans (surprise surprise) had simply ignored them, and those that ''had'' written back had been overwhelmingly polite.
*** And Londoners not to vote for BorisJohnson as mayor.