Media in the United Kingdom

8/14/2019 Media in the United Kingdom

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Media in the United Kingdom - The writtenword - the press

National newspapersThere are 10 daily morning newspapers and nine Sundaynewspapers in substantial circulation in most parts of the UK.They have an average total circulation of over 12 millioncopies on weekdays and over 13 million on Sundays,attracting an overall readership of 35-40 million people eachday.

National newspapers cater for a wealth of tastes and interests Theyare often described as either 'qualities' or 'tabloids', depending ontheir format, style and content Quality newspapers - broadsheet informat - cater for readers who want detailed information on a wide

range of news and current affairs Tabloid papers tend to appeal tothose who want to read shorter, entertaining (and occasionallybizarre) stories with more human interest, and they generallycontain a larger number of pictures. That said, the tabloids play aninfluential role in guiding public opinion.

All newspapers are now printed at least partly in colour At theweekend, most produce colour supplements and separate sectionswith features on anything and everything from leisure activities,travel, books, food and wine to in depth news analysis and financialmatters This trend towards providing information on specificsubjects has even led to the launch in 1998 of two new Sundaynewspapers that deal exclusively with business (Sunday Business)

and sport (Sport First) While newspapers are almost alwaysfinancially independent of any political party, they often expresspronounced views and show obvious political leanings in theireditorial comments that may derive from proprietorial and other nonparty influences

In the June 2001 General Election, for example, mostnewspapers made it clear to their readerships who theythought they should vote for.

At one time, London's Fleet Street was the centre of the newspaperindustry, but now all the national newspapers have moved their

editorial offices and printing plants to other parts of the capital-many to Docklands, a regenerated area to the east of the citySome national newspapers, notably The Guardian (which hasstrong historical links with the city of Manchester), have begun tobuild up their regional presence.

Unlike most of the rest of Europe, the UK press receives nosubsidies and relatively few tax and postal concessions.Newspaper profits are taxed at the standard corporation rate 10percent for the first 10,000 then 20 per cent for small companiesand 30 per cent for large (those with profits exceeding 1 5 million)The income of most newspapers and periodicals derives mainlyfrom sales to readers and from advertising - indeed, the press is

the largest advertising medium in the UK.


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As the table shows, ownership of the national press lies in thehands of a number of large corporations, most of which are alsoinvolved in other parts of the publishing or communications sectorsSome have stakes in independent television and radio companies,although legislation is in place to safeguard against the risks arising

from an over-concentration of media cross-ownership. The mostprominent company, News International, controls about 35 per centof the national press (by copy sales), while Trinity Mirror ownsabout 19 per cent, Daily Mail & General Trust 19 per cent, Northern& Shell 11 per cent, Telegraph Croup 8 per cent, Guardian MediaGroup 3 per cent, Pearson 3 per cent and Independent News &Media about 1 per cent.


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top-selling quality daily newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, has abroadly-based readership in terms of sex, age and geography andis rather conservative in political direction The Guardian, with arelatively small circulation, has traditionally been more liberal inoutlook The Independent, the most recent surviving addition to the

quality market, devotes more coverage to international news thanits competitors. The Financial Times is the principal paperforbusiness and financial coverage and has a considerable andexpanding international readership. In 2000, it extended itsinfluence by launching a dedicated local edition for the Germanmarket.

The mid-market tabloid press includes The Daily Mailand TheDaily Express (and their Sunday equivalents) The Mailsells around2.4 million copies a day. Its historic rival the Express has beendeclining, and now sells just 960,000 copies a day.

A third mid-market title, Today(established in 1986, and apioneerof new production technology in the national press) was closeddown by its owner, News International, in November 1995.

The popular tabloids include The Sun and The Daily Mirror, whichhave the highest circulations among the daily national newspapersas a whole, and The Daily Star, which is a smaller competitor

The Sunday Times enjoys the strongest circulation among thequality Sunday national press - although The Observer, establishedin 1791, has the oldest pedigree Both newspapers have extensivenews, business, sport and review sections, together with colourmagazine supplements The Sunday Telegraph is similar in appeal

to The Daily Telegraph The Independent on Sundayhas the lowestcirculation of the quality Sunday press The News of the World, apopular Sunday tabloid, enjoys the distinction of selling morecopies than any other newspaper in the UK - nearly 4 million eachweek. Its closest popular rivals are The Sunday Mirror and ThePeople

Regional newspapers

Most towns and cities throughout the UK have their own regional orlocal newspaper These range from morning and evening dailies toSunday papers and others that are published once or twice a week

Regional newspapers mainly include stories of regional or localattraction, but the dailies also cover national and internationalnews, often looked at from a local viewpoint Some regional titlesare paid for but many of the more successful newspapers aredistributed free, generating their income solely from display andclassified advertising More often than not, free newspapers aredistributed weekly, though there are high profile exceptions such asThe Metro (see below)

Following a period of rapid consolidation, most regionalnewspapers are controlled by large publishing concerns, such asTrinity Mirror (which is also owner ofThe Daily Mirrorand The

Sunday Mirror), Newsquest Media Croup, Northcliffe Newspapers,Johnston Press and Associated Newspapers (The Daily Mail's


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parent company) Examples of the top regional daily newspapers bycirculation in England include the Express & Star(179,029) in theWest Midlands, Manchester Evening News (170,346), LiverpoolEcho (151,229), Birmingham's Evening Mail(130,405) and theLeeds based Yorkshire Post (71,632) Two regional Sunday papers

- The Sunday Mercuryin Birmingham and The Sunday Sun inNewcastle upon Tyne - sell 103,653 and 100,556 copiesrespectively

London has one paid-for evening paper, The Evening Standard,which has a circulation of about 434,000 By publishing a number ofdaily editions (from lunchtime until the end of the working day), theStandardprovides Londoners with updated news and featurescovering events in the capital and of national and internationalinterest The Standardis owned by Associated Newspapers, whichstrengthened its grip on London's newspaper market when itlaunched a free morning newspaper called The Metro in March1999 The new title, which has a circulation of 360,000, is highlypopular and complements the Standard's afternoon editions Thereare also local weekly newspapers for every district in GreaterLondon, these are often different local editions of one centrallypublished paper

In Scotland, the publishing market has been dynamic since the UKGovernment began transferring key political powers to the newScottish Parliament - a process known as devolution The mainregional dailies include The Daily Record(the sister paper ofTheDaily Mirror, with a circulation of 599,574), Glasgow's EveningTimes (104,060), Aberdeen's Press and Journal(97,146), TheHerald(published in Glasgow, 93,522), The Dundee Courier and

Advertiser(90,431) and The Scotsman (90,730) The top ScottishSunday regional papers are the Sunday Herald(60,357), SundayMa/I(Glasgow), SundayPost (Dundee) and a quality broadsheetpaper, Scotland on Sunday The Observer and The Sunday Timesboth carry Scottish supplements while The Sun runs a regionaledition reflecting local concerns

The daily morning paper, The Western Mail, is published in Cardiffand circulates throughout Wales (53,474), as do The Daily Post(66,049) and Wales on Sunday(60,564) Many others give morelocal coverage of Welsh events and the weekly press includesWelsh-language and bilingual papers. Welsh communitynewspapers receive an annual grant as part of the Government's

wider financial support for the Welsh language.

Northern Ireland has two morning newspapers, one evening andtwo Sunday papers. They are all published in Belfast, withcirculations ranging from 32,000 to 111,100. They are the NewsLetter, Irish News, the evening Belfast Telegraph, Sunday Life andSunday World(Northern Ireland edition). There are just over 50weeklies. Newspapers from the Irish Republic, as well as the UKnational press, are widely read in Northern Ireland.

New technology

The regional press has always been at the forefront oftechnological innovation. The move from hot metal typesetting tohighly-sophisticated computerised systems and the increasing use


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of quality colour are two examples of the pioneering nature of theindustry. Following the exodus of the national newspapers fromFleet Street, most national newspapers are now printed undercontract on regional newspaper presses, which receive high levelsof investment. In 1998, regional publishers invested 300

million in new presses and production technology. The UK hasadvanced printing operations and colour reproduction facilities. Atits London Docklands headquarters, for example, NewsInternational - publisher of two national daily and two Sundaypapers - has one of the largest computer terminal systems installedat one time anywhere in the world. Computer-based technologyhas had a profound impact on the way newspapers are producedand printed. Presses produce newspapers at ever-increasingspeeds (70,000 copies per hour for the largest machines). Theintroduction of new technology into the production process hasstreamlined and speeded the operation and opened doors to a vastincrease in publishing activity through greater frequency of editions,special targeted supplements and new titles.

New technology has also led to major changes in working practicesthroughout the industry. Previously, large-volume productionneeded a high labour input for typesetting, and printing was done inhuge capital-intensive works. Publishers have been able to reducethese production costs in recent years by using advancedcomputer systems for editing and production processes. The 'singlekeying' system allows journalists and advertising staff to input copydirectly into a computer terminal, and then transfer it electronicallyinto columns of type.

Many newspapers arrange page layouts on screen and output full

pages to photographic paper bromides or film that are then used tomake plates for the printing press. Some newspapers still outputcolumns in bromide format from the computerised typesettingoperation; these are then pasted up into pages before being sent tothe camera room for negatives to be produced from which theplates are made. Increasingly, computer-to-plate systems that arenow being introduced dispense with the intermediate stage ofpaper or film altogether. Most newspapers are printed by offsetlithography, a method in which the printed image is transferred, oroffset, from the printing plate to a rubber blanket (cylinder) and thenon to the paper.

The advent of the internet is having a profound impact. In May

2000, the regional press launched AdFast, an internet deliverysystem that allows advertisers and their agencies to provide copyquickly and efficiently to publishers. Publishers are also investing inelectronic ventures, including internet sites, audiotex, teletext andother electronic services. There has been a growth in strategicalliances such as classified advertising website Fish4 and a rapidrise in the number of national and regional newspaper websites.Popular national newspaper sites include the Financial Times site,the Electronic Telegraph and Guardian Unlimited.

Magazines and periodicals

A glance around any newsagent's shop will give an idea of thehuge range of magazines and periodicals available in the UK.Sport, cookery, fashion, gardening, music, religion, computers,


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cinema, pets - whatever your interest, there is usually a magazinethat covers it. Many appear weekly, others monthly or bi-monthly.

There are about 3,174 consumer magazines that carryadvertising as 'consumer' magazines provide readers with leisure-

time information and entertainment. These contrast with 'businessand professional' titles, which provide material relevant to work.

In addition, the UK has seen rapid growth in customer magazines.Often produced by specialists known as publishing agencies, thesetitles are produced on behalf of retailers,

car manufacturers, airlines, the public sector or utilities, which wantto talk directly to customers, business contacts and staff. The besttitles in this sector often have huge circulations. They share thesame editorial and production standards as traditional consumermagazines and are just as well read. In 2000, this industry was

worth around 360 million a year.

Within the consumer category, there are general titles that have awide appeal, and specialist titles, aimed at groups of people withparticular interests, such as motoring or classical music. A range ofliterary and political journals, appearing monthly or quarterly, catersfor a more academic readership.

As a general rule, consumer titles have a cover price of 1 to 3 aswell as raising revenue from advertising. The weekly magazineswith the highest sales are those which carry details of theforthcoming week'; television and radio programmes, includingcable and satellite schedules. What's on TV, TV Times, Radio

Times, TV Choice and TV Quicksell between 550,000 and 1.7million copies. Reader's Digest, which covers just about anysubject, has the highest circulation (1 million) among monthlyconsumer magazines.

Women's magazines still enjoy large readerships but have beenslipping for much of the last decade. The exception is top-sellingtitle Take a Breakwith a weekly circulation of over 1.1 million. Oldfavourites like Woman's Weekly, Woman's Own, Woman, WeeklyNews (which sells mainly in Scotland), Woman's Realm and MyWeeklyhave circulations ranging ; from 250,000 to over 600,000.Several women's magazines owned by overseas publishing houses

have attracted large followings; Prima and Best, launched byGermany's Cruner & Jahr before being sold to a UK subsidiary ofthe US Hearst Corporation, each sell around 400,000 copies. Bellaand Hello!are also widely read, though the latter has beenovertaken by Northern & Shell's OK!magazine (586,000).

Something of a recent phenomenon has been the upsurge in themarket for men's general interest magazines - for example,Loaded, CO, FHM, Men's Health, Maxim, and Esquire. Emap'sFHMnow leads the pack by a wide margin with a monthlycirculation of about 720,000.

Another sector that has seen a resurgence of activity is children's

and teenage publishing. Younger children are well served with anarray of comics while magazines like Smash Hits, TV Hits, CD:UK,


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Reuters, Associated Press and United Press International. Themain agency that gathers news inside the UK is the PressAssociation (PA), which is predominantly owned by UK newspaperpublishers. A number of other UK and foreign agencies and newsservices have offices in London (for example, UK News and

Agence France Presse), and there are smaller agencies based inother UK cities.

The Press Association employs 400 journalists to provide acomprehensive UK news service 24 hours a day, 365 days ayear. PA delivers a continuous stream of news, pictures, alerts anddata into the newsrooms of all national and regional newspapers,most UK broadcasters and digital publishers. Breaking news andin-depth specialist reports on a range of topics such as politics,showbiz, science, TV listings, share prices and sport can bedelivered either by PA news wires, or through the searchable, web-delivered database, NewsFile. All told, around 1,500 stories and100 pictures and graphics are transmitted each day by satellite andtelecommunications links.

PA also supplies up-to-the-minute news, including live coverage ofParliament, the courts and major international events with a UK orIrish interest, to Teletext, online information providers and internetsites. There is a design department that tailors news, sport andlistings information for delivery to internet publishers. PA has arange of joint ventures that complement the agency's core work.These include PAWeatherCentre, a joint venture between PA andMeteoConsult, Europe's leading independent weather company,and PA Sporting Life, a joint venture between PA and Trinity Mirror,which operates an online sports news and betting service.

Press institutions

A number of organisations represent the interests of newspaperowners and editors, journalists and print workers. These includethe Newspaper Publishers Association, whose members publishthe national newspapers, and the Newspaper Society, whichrepresents UK regional and local newspapers. The Scottish DailyNewspaper Society looks after the interests of daily and Sundaynewspapers in Scotland; the Scottish Newspaper PublishersAssociation acts on behalf of the owners of weekly and bi-weeklynewspapers; and Associated Northern Ireland Newspapers is madeup of proprietors of weekly newspapers in Northern Ireland. The

Periodical Publishers Association includes most independentpublishers of business, professional and consumer journals.

The National Union of Journalists, with about 30,000 members,and the Chartered Institute of Journalists, with around 1,500,are the main bodies in the UK representing the interests ofjournalists. The main printing trades union is the 200,000-strong Graphical, Paper and Media Union (CPMU)

The Guild of Editors is the recognised professional body fornewspaper editors and their equivalents in radio and television.With a membership of 500, it exists to defend press freedom and to

promote high editorial standards. The British Association ofCommunicators in Business (formerly the British Association ofIndustrial Editors) is the professional organisation for editors of


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house journals, while the Association of British Editors representsthe whole range of media.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) helps the correspondents ofoverseas newspapers based in the UK. It arranges press

conferences, briefings and many other services and facilities. TheFPA has 700 members representing over 1,000 newspapers, TVand radio stations, news agencies and media organisations from70 countries. It is politically independent, run by foreign journalists.It aims to support the work of the international media and facilitatecontacts with the British media, politics, business and culture. Anycorrespondent who is fully accredited to a foreign newspaper,periodical, news agency, radio or television organisation canbecome a full member of the FPA. Any one who works for the UKpress, as an embassy attach, as a freelance journalist or publicrelations/press officer, can become an associate member.

Training and education

A range of training courses are accredited by the National Councilfor the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). Magazine courses areaccredited by the Periodical Training Council (the training arm ofthe Periodical Publishers Association). Courses for regionalnewspapers in such subjects as newspaper sales, advertising andmanagement are provided by the Newspaper Society's trainingservice. Some newspaper publishers like Johnston Press andTrinity Mirror carry out journalist training independently of theNCTJ. The Newspaper Society is the lead body for thedevelopment of National Vocational Qualifications in the newspaperindustry.

The press and the law

There are no specific press laws in the UK. Certain statutes,however, include sections that apply to the press. There are lawsgoverning the extent of newspaper ownership in television andradio companies (see page 18), the transfer of newspaper assets,and the right of press representatives to be admitted to meetings oflocal government authorities.

There are no specific laws governing the behaviour of thepress. Instead it is monitored by an industry body called the

Press Complaints Commission.

There are also restrictions on reporting certain court proceedingsand on publishing material that could incite racial hatred.

It is illegal to transfer a newspaper or newspaper assets to aproprietor whose newspapers have a total paid for daily circulationof 500,000 or more, including that of the newspaper to be takenover, without the consent of the Government.

There is a legal requirement to reproduce the printer's name andplace of publication on all publications Copies of all publicationsmust also be deposited in the British Library.

Laws covering contempt of court, official secrets and defamation


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are relevant to the press. A newspaper cannot publish commentson the conduct of judicial proceedings that might prejudice thecourt's reputation for fairness before or during the proceedings, norcan it publish anything that might influence the result of a trial Theunauthorised acquisition and publication of official information in

areas like defence and international relations, where suchdisclosure would be harmful, are offences under the OfficialSecrets Acts 1911 to 1989 Most legal proceedings against thepress are libel actions brought by private individuals.

Publications of advertisements is governed by wide ranginglegislation, including public health, copyright, financial services andfraud legislation Legal restrictions are imposed on certain types ofprize competition

Copyright

Original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works (includingphotographs), published editions of works, computer programmes,films, sound recordings, broadcasts and cable programmes(including online information services) are automatically protectedby copyright in the UK, there is no registration system Thisprotection is also given to works from countries party tointernational copyright conventions.

Copyright owners have rights against unauthorised reproduction,public performance, broadcasting and issue to the public of theirwork, and against people dealing in unauthorised copies of theirwork In most cases the author is the first owner of the copyright,and the term of copyright is the life of the author plus 70 years For

films, the term of copyright protection lasts for 70 years after thedeath of the last surviving author involved (that is the director,scriptwriter, screenplay author or composer of the music) Soundrecordings are protected for 50 years after their publication, andbroadcasts and cable programmes for 50 years from the end of theyear in which the first broadcast or transmission is made.

The Press Complaints Commission

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was set up in 1991 todeal with complaint from members of the public about the editorialcontent of newspapers and magazines The Commission's

formation followed an independent report on privacy and the pressthat had been commissioned in response to growing publiccriticism of press standards Allegations of unjustified invasion ofprivacy and inaccurate and biased reporting resulted in calls forgovernment regulation of the press.

In 1995 the Government rejected proposals for statutory regulation,and for legislation to give protection to privacy Instead, it endorsedself regulation under the Commission, and recommended toughnew measures to make self regulation more effective At the root ofthis decision was a belief that legal controls would be useless tothose members of the public who could not afford legal action - andwould mean delays before complainants received redress By

contrast, self-regulation provides a quick and effective remedy TheCommission's membership is drawn from both the public and thepress It operates a code of practice agreed by editors covering


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such failings as inaccuracy, invasion of privacy, harassment anddiscrimination by the press. In 1999, the PCC completed theinvestigation of 2,445 complaints - of which six out of ten wereabout accuracy in reporting. About one in eight related tointrusion into privacy.

The industry and the Commission have introduced measures toreinforce voluntary regulation These include an increase in thenumber of independent members of the Commission to ensure alay majority, the incorporation of the code of practice into thecontracts of employment of most editors and journalists, and theappointment of a Privacy Commissioner with special powers toinvestigate complaints about invasion of privacy

On the Commission's 10th anniversary, its chairman claimed thatthe system had the support of the main political parties There areno serious commentators now who believe statutory controls are

desirable or practical - and the Human Rights Act 1998, with itsemphasis on freedom of expression, means that it would be almostimpossible to introduce such a system'.

Advertisements in newspapers are regulated by theAdvertising Standards Authority, which ensures that advertsare legal, decent, honest and truthful.

Advertising Standards Authority

Advertising in all non-broadcast media, such as newspapers,magazines, posters, sales promotions, cinema and direct mail, isregulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that was

formed in 1962. Television advertisements are regulated by theIndependent Television Commission and radio advertisements bythe Radio Authority.

The ASA is an independent body that sees that everyone whoprepares and publishes advertisements conforms to the BritishCodes of Advertising and Sales Promotion. The Codes are writtenand enforced by the advertising industry through the Committee ofAdvertising Practice (CAP). They require that advertisements andpromotions:

are legal, decent, honest and truthful;

are prepared with a sense of responsibility to theconsumer and society; and

respect the principles of fair competition generally

accepted in business.

The Authority monitors advertisements to ensure theircompliance with the Codes and investigates anycomplaints received. CAP'S copy advice team provides pre-publication advice to assist publishers, agencies andadvertisers. If an advertisement is found to beunacceptable because it is misleading or offensive, theASA Council can ask the advertiser to change or remove it.

Failure to do so can result in damaging adverse publicityon the ASA's website, in its regular printed reports and inthe media, as well as the refusal of advertising space by


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publishers. The ASA can also refer misleadingadvertisements to the Director General of Fair Trading, whohas the power to seek an injunction to prevent publication.

The ASA's self-regulation complements the UK's tough consumer

protection laws. The system's strength is that it is more flexible thanlegislation and can adapt quickly to new forms of advertising andchanges in public attitudes.

The ASA's work is funded by a small levy on display advertisingand direct mail expenditure. Its budget for the year 2001 is justover 4 million.

The ASA has a Council of 12 people who decide whether or not anadvertisement breaks the Codes. The Chairman is appointed bythe Advertising Standards Board of Finance (ASBOF). TheChairman and most of the Council members are drawn from

outside the advertising world and the ASA's Chairman advertisesfor new lay members from a wide diversity of backgrounds. Aminority of the members work in advertising and can offer practicalguidance on how the industry conducts itself. All members serve asindividuals and do not represent any interest group or sector.

Most national newspapers have moved out their traditionalhome in Fleet Street. Some are now based at One CanadaSquare, Canary Wharf, at 244 metres the tallest officebuilding in London.

Documents

Media in the United Kingdom