Types of British newspapers

John: It’s a message from Betty. She had cornflakes for breakfast and now she’s putting her bowl in the dishwasher…

Dad: Oh God, I hope newspapers will survive…

In today’s lesson we are going to talk about the most traditional medium of delivering news to the people – the newspapers.

But what is a newspaper?

A newspaper is a paper that is usually printed daily, weekly or monthly that has news, articles of opinion, advertising and other features.

Nowadays with convenient reading gadgets why would anyone read, subscribe and pay for a paper newspaper?

Let’s consider the advantages of a print media versus its digital edition.

1. People prefer the printed form more because not everyone can afford an "eye-friendly" electronic device.

2. You can carry it anywhere, fold it any way you like, read while leaning back, standing, sleeping, etc. The iPad does that, but is too expensive for most of the world.

3. The printed newspaper is designed and shaped for your eyes. You don't have ads flickering or popping up.

4. Newspapers have well-ordered and detailed information on all types of news which includes business, science, law, medicine, art and etc. in a limited space. So, when you look through the entire newspaper, there is a feeling of satisfaction that you have covered all the news for the day.

5. Newspaper makes for an impromptu umbrella during a surprise rain. Can you do that with your laptop?

Now let’s have a look at a brief history of the newspapers.

The first newspaper appeared in China between 713 and 734. It was hand written on silk and contained political issues.

In Ancient Rome the important announcements were carved in stone tablets and placed in highly populated areas where citizens could read them.

In 1477 Johann Guttenberg invented the printing press. His invention led to a printing revolution.

Newspapers began circulating in the 17th century.

The first successful daily newspaper in Britain “The Daily Courant” was printed in 1702.

In 1785 The Times was first published.

1806 – the first use of illustration in The Times – the Admiral Lord Nelson’s funeral.

In 1791 The Observer was founded – the UK’s oldest surviving Sunday newspaper.

In 1833 – first recorded newspaper cartoon.

In the 19^th century newspaper reporters began to use the telegraph to send news to their newspapers quickly.

Then in 1890 The Daily Graphic became the first newspaper in Britain to print a photo.

The Daily Express was the first, to publish gossips, sport and crossword in 1900.

In 1903 the first tabloid for women and run by a woman – The Daily Mirror was launched.

Look at these British newspapers. Which of them would you like to buy? Why?

Now listen to the descriptions of two main types of British newspapers and match them with the pictures.

Broadsheet – a newspaper that used to be printed on large paper; a quality paper. It has a lot of detailed articles about national and international events. Besides they also carry financial reports, travel news and book and film reviews.

Tabloid – a type of popular newspaper with small pages which has many pictures and short simple articles, often about not serious events or about the private lives of well-known people. The language of a tabloid is much more colloquial, than that of quality newspapers.

The broadsheets are: The Times and The Guardian

The Sun and The Daily Star are tabloids.

National newspapers in the UK were traditionally divided by format, between serious, intelligent, quality newspapers – broadsheets – and the sensational, popular or red-top tabloids.

Several of the broadsheet newspapers (the Guardian, the Observer) have now changed to Berliner formats.

“Berliner” is about the same size as tabloid, but taller. This format is more economic and easy to open in public transport.

Broadsheet newspapers are: “The Daily Telegraph”, “The Sunday Times”, “The Independent”.

Tabloids are “The Daily Express”, “The Daily Mail”, “The Mirror”, “The People”.

Altogether there are about 130 daily and Sunday papers in Britain, some national, some local.

The content of the newspapers is very important. But its outlook and structure also play a big role. That’s why publishers pay so much attention to its design.

Let’s look at the front page/cover page of the newspaper and study its structure.

Here the most important articles are usually placed. Each newspaper article has a title (called the headline) that is printed in large letters. Headlines are written in a specific abbreviated style. The article consists of paragraphs.

A page of a newspaper is divided into vertical columns.

An accidental mistake in print is called a misprint.

A close-up photo is another structural element of the front page.

A short piece of text under a picture which describes the picture or explains it is called a caption.

Inside the newspaper the articles are usually split into sections: international/world news, local or national news, finance/business, science, celebrity gossip, letter page and sport.

Close to the end of the newspaper you’ll find a Classified ads section in which people and businesses advertise items for sale and post job notices.

Entertainment, travel, fashion information, comics and puzzles, reviews of movies and books are put on the back page.

Newspapers are worth reading! They are a daily source news, education and fun.

But who are those smart and brave people, who discover and describe the news events for us? I’ll give you a clue: this word is synonymous to “journalist”.

Any ideas?

If none, then do the crossword and you’ll guess the key word.

1. A newspaper report.

2. A title of the article.

3. Part of an article which starts on a new line and has at least one sentence.

4. A vertical block of print into which a page of a newspaper is divided.

5. The first page of a newspaper.

6. Information attached to image.

7. It can be either front or back.

8. An announcement in a newspaper about something such as a product, event, or job.

So, the key word is a reporter.

By the way, would you like to be a reporter and keep up with the news?

Here are the headlines of newspapers published on the same day. Match the headlines to the topics.

Look through the paragraph quickly. Guess which of the headlines above go with it.

"This, undoubtedly, is the movie that fans wanted, the movie that fans deserve. … a film about parents and children, about the effects of one generation on the next, about legacy. This movie will be viewed and passed down for many years to come."

Right, the article is about the new Star Wars movie.

Conclusion…

Many say that newspapers are dying, because the Internet is just a better place to get news. It can offer many things that papers can’t.

Others claim, that newspapers have been with us for hundreds of years. Radio, TV and now the Internet were all supposed to kill them off, but they’re still here.

Newspapers make history every day preserving important moment on their pages. On videos the moments are viewed and gone in seconds. Front pages from important events become social archives recording both the facts of the story and the feelings of the moments.

It’s the same as holding history in your hands.