THE PRESS IN A NUTSHELL

TV News: In the UK, television is the most preferred way to find out what’s happening in the world. TV stations broadcast regular news programmes as well as quick newsflashes to cover important breaking news. Rolling news channels broadcast news 24 hours a day. With the advent of the ‘digital age’, new correspondents can make live broadcast from anywhere in the world using just a laptop and a satellite phone.

Online news: With the spread of fast communication, many people prefer to subscribe to online editions of newspapers or to download the whole newspaper onto an eBook reader. Another recent development is ‘citizen journalism’, in which ordinary people report and spread the news. They do this by means of news blogs (web pages updated regularly with the news), Twitter, and eyewitness accounts of important events posted online, often with photos and videos. Citizen journalists can play an important role in countries where there is strict censorship of the press.

Newspapers: There are basically two types of mass-circulation newspaper in Britain: broadsheet newspapers, that carry ‘hard’ – meaning ‘serious’ – news and analysis, with articles on topics like economics and politics; and popular tabloids that have some news but are more interested in gossip and entertainment and are full of human-interest stories. All newspapers have editorials, which give opinions and reflect the paper’s political point of view, and regular columns (written by the same person). They all try to attract readers with exciting or important front-page stories and snappy headlines.