Whether you’re an expat, live in Britain or travel to the UK from time to time, what for you is your favorite British printed newspaper that you read and why?
When I was a teen growing up in Wales, my favorite newspaper was The Daily Mail. Why? I suppose there were a few different reasons. One, the paper was easy for me to read and above the gutter press such as The Sun and Daily Mirror. And two, the size of the newspaper was convenient to read at the breakfast table because it was tabloid rather than a broadsheet.
But as an adult, whenever I visit the United Kingdom, I find myself routinely picking up The Guardian. My familiarity with the writers because of their online presence is definitely one reason. But everything from the design of the newspaper to the quality content give me several reasons why it’s my preferred choice.
When I do visit the UK, I feel a bit overwhelmed by the newspapers there, though. Part of the reason is because the papers – especially the weekend editions – are huge, filled with free giveaways shrinkwrapped inside the newspaper as well as tons of supplements. But I also feel overwhelmed because there are so many wonderful articles to read that it ends up taking me hours to go through an entire paper.
Without a doubt, it’s a rare treat for me to have so much time to actually read a newspaper. But when I’m taking a nine hour flight from London to Miami, it’s a joy to read.
What’s your favorite British printed newspaper and why? Post your comments below.
Shall we just rule The Sun out now or…?
Why not, brain dead idiots surely don’t read this blog, do they?
I will miss the papers when I go back to Australia.
On a Sunday I find I have to get a Sunday Times for the news and a ‘News of the World’ or some similar paper to get the football news. The times is a Rugby/Cricket paper more than a football paper!
Being a United supporter I go onto the Manchester Evening Times site a few times a day.
I am a fan of the UK Telegraph. I like their online content and the layout of their site is very user friendly and easy to navigate.
There are not many to choose from. The rubbish ones are: The Sun, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Express and perhaps the worst paper in Britain (yes worse than the Sun) the Daily Mail. Sorry mate, but it’s disgusting as a paper.
The decent ones are around four. If we base it on including their Sister sunday papers and the internet versions, than we can get a good rating.
The Independent 7/10: Decent enough, but not enough supplements however the paper is very good if you want good views on politics. The website is very weak as well.
The Times 7/10: A decent small paper, the best one under Muroch’s name. The website is brilliant and has a great section on PC tips. However the political views are poor, as you would expect.
The Daily Telegraph 8/10: Up until a about 10 myears ago would have been a 10, however it’s political talk has become so poor that it’s going the same way as the other “daily” papers. Good website, however nicknamed “the Torygraphy”, so enough said really.
The Guardian/Observer 10/10: Absolute best paper in Britain and one of the worlds best papers. Has the best website, the best columnists, great political views as it doesn;t force views on you, great supplements (Film & Music, Technology, Family, Sport etc…) and overall I have been reading it for decades now and it has grown and grown and is the best newspaper money can buy. Enough said.
Being American and reading on-line I like the The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Times and probably in that order. I read the BBC for news, news, but I like looking at those papers’ websites for their football content.
Guardian/Observer reader, then The Times, then the Telegraph.
The Daily Mail’s web site is fantastic, brilliant pictures and entertaining lists. The Guardian’s website is sharply designed and easy to navigate. The Times is great for cricket coverage but the Guardian OBOs cannot be beat.
In general, the newspapers in the UK, from the highest brow to the lowest gutter, are light years ahead of the US in design and content. So many US dailies are cheap-looking and mostly full of generic wire (mostly AP) content with perhaps one local curmudgeon columnist.
I also appreciate that many UK papers have either abandoned the broadsheet format (in literal terms of design, not content) or offer a tabloid-sized alternative. As a commuter who reads the paper on trains and buses, I find the tabloid format far more preferable.
I now live in L.A., and I find it mind-boggling that the LA Times insists in publishing on the broadest of sheets in a city where people spend a lot of time outdoors. Good luck reading the Times outside the slightest breeze will send all 4 sections flying about.
Gotta be the Guardian just for the Fiver… cmon!
Thing I don’t like about The Guardian is their exaggerated article titles. They always seem to blow small soccer events into huge “stories,” and that just annoys me. I know the British press is generally very much like that, but it’s irritating when people applaud the paper for being a quality production when it resorts to such unclassy tactics.
This is all with regards to the online edition – I don’t know if the hardcopy of the paper is any different.