Media Differences Between London and the U.S.

Three months ago, I was studying across the pond in London, England. While there, I picked up a newspaper a few times a week and did my best to read as many of the newspapers (yes, tabloids included) as possible. While reading, I noticed many differences between the media (particularly newspapers) in the UK and the ones in the US.

One of the main things that I noticed about British newspapers is, to put it simply, how vicious they are. Tabloids aren’t the only guilty ones, though. Broad sheets (traditional newspapers) tear people apart on the daily, as well. There are some people that the press worldwide likes to pick on, but the press in the UK is relentless, and has no standards as to who and how they are going to rip apart these poor people.

Also, in the US, our newspapers pride themselves on being neutral. They aren’t supposed to make it hugely apparent which political party they support and they certainly aren’t supposed to be geared towards a certain social class. In England, that’s not so much the case. I learned early on that each newspaper is affiliated with a particular political party and they are not afraid to broadcast where they stand. Additionally, I was told by one of my professors in London to take note of what people were reading on the Tube (London’s Metro) because you can tell what social class they’re in based off of what newspaper they’re reading.

Basically, there aren’t any rules in England. Newspapers can be as cruel as they want to innocent people. They can also be as open as they want. There’s no such thing as neutral in the UK.