# Hey Brits: Why Are Scandal Mags So Popular? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205 "2011-07-07T17:14:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Profound\_Gibberish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Profound\_Gibberish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profound_Gibberish)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/1 "2011-07-07T17:14:30Z")
Sure we have them here, but they really seem to go over the top across the pond, not only in GB, but elsewhere in Europe. What gives? ---
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/2 "2011-07-07T17:35:01Z")
Could you explain what you mean by “scandal mags”? I vaguely suspect that this question may have been inspired by the news of the sudden death of British newspaper the News of the World but, while that publication has certainly been scandalous at times, it is not a “mag”. ---
**Author:** ![Profound\_Gibberish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Profound\_Gibberish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profound_Gibberish)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/3 "2011-07-07T17:45:29Z")
Is “Rag” better? A publication that primarily reports on celebrity and elected offical scandals. ---
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/4 "2011-07-07T18:01:34Z")
“Rag” is good, but I think there is more of a spectrum here, from serious newspaper to total scandal sheet. The bigger-selling British tabloids do actually include real news and political comment alongside the gossip, but there is a spectrum, ranging from the mildly titillating end of the serious broadsheet market (I’m looking at you, inner pages of the Daily Telegraph) to the really trashy Daily Star (tits, gossip, no news). Private Eye, a hard-hitting satirical magazine that regularly exposes scandals, may be more what you mean, but while well-known and respected it sells in relatively small numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/5 "2011-07-07T18:44:29Z")
> [@dbx820](#): > > Sure we have them here, but they really seem to go over the top across the pond, not only in GB, but elsewhere in Europe. What gives? Do you mean daily papers like the red tops and to a slightly lesser extent the middle-market tabloids or do you mean the weekly gossip magazines? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/6 "2011-07-08T14:56:50Z")
If I can offer my own angle on this, in the US there are popular tabloids such as the National Enquirer and the New York Post, also a Murdoch newspaper. But when the media covers the media, we hear a \*lot \*over here about the London tabloids, the Page Three Girls, and whatnot, giving the impression that the tabloids are a much bigger draw there than over here. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/7 "2011-07-08T15:27:56Z")
The British seem to delight in knocking people down to size. That rich supermodel? She picks her nose. That Royal? He cheats on his wife. For those who are not famous, it is sufficient just to be perceived as rising past your station. Gordon Ramsay, Simon Cowell, and that bitch from Weakest Link make Americans uncomfortable, but Brits seem to revel in it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/8 "2011-07-08T15:31:45Z")
I think this is better suited to IMHO than GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/9 "2011-07-08T21:57:11Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > National Enquirer This is a joke and if you read it you’re seen as a joke. > [@](#): > > New York Post This isn’t much better, but at least it doesn’t usually make stuff up outright. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/10 "2011-07-09T07:14:13Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > The British seem to delight in knocking people down to size. That rich supermodel? She picks her nose. That Royal? He cheats on his wife. For those who are not famous, it is sufficient just to be perceived as rising past your station. Gordon Ramsay, Simon Cowell, and that bitch from Weakest Link make Americans uncomfortable, but Brits seem to revel in it. Sometime I get this feelingthat \*everything \*in the UK is about the class system. “Past your station”? How British. ---
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/11 "2011-07-09T08:05:14Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Sometime I get this feelingthat \*everything \*in the UK is about the class system. “Past your station”? How British. Eh, the “rising past your station” comment is just **sh1bu1** ’s opinion. I don’t think the British taste for scandal and "knocking people down"is anything to do with class. Plenty of other countries seem to revel in it too. It’s human nature. I can’t help noticing that the three people mentioned as referees of keeping people in their station came from modest backgrounds. Well maybe not Cowell, according to Wikipedia, but he is still not exactly nobility. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/12 "2011-07-09T08:12:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Sometime I get this feelingthat \*everything \*in the UK is about the class system. “Past your station”? How British. Sometimes I get this feeling that the only people obsessed with the British class system are foreigners. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/13 "2011-07-09T08:19:17Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Sometimes I get this feeling that the only people obsessed with the British class system are foreigners. Well, yeah. Asking the British to think about the class system is like asking fish to think about water. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/14 "2011-07-09T08:31:18Z")
> [@BDoors](#): > > Eh, the “rising past your station” comment is just **sh1bu1** ’s opinion. I don’t think the British taste for scandal and "knocking people down"is anything to do with class. I concur. I think the opinion is a stereotype and largely an incorrect one. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/15 "2011-07-09T08:42:02Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Well, yeah. Asking the British to think about the class system is like asking fish to think about water. What a daft comparison. And more peddling of a really tired stereotype. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/16 "2011-07-09T11:42:02Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Well, yeah. Asking the British to think about the class system is like asking fish to think about water. That is nonsense. Perhaps you don’t know too many British, clearly you don’t know a wide spectrum of British people. In any country, anywhere in the world you will find those who inherit their wealth and position, those that aspire to such a lifestyle, and the vast, vast majority remaining who seek to improve their lot by whatever means open to them. There is nothing peculiar to the UK “Class” system that stands in the way of that latter group. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/17 "2011-07-09T11:57:46Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > There is nothing peculiar to the UK “Class” system that stands in the way of that latter group. I never said there was, and I appreciate the fact that modern-day Britain has as much economic mobility as anywhere and more than in most places. It’s just that my impression of Brits is that they tend more to \*think \*in terms of class than other nations do, which colours their social discourse. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/18 "2011-07-09T12:58:47Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > If I can offer my own angle on this, in the US there are popular tabloids such as the National Enquirer and the New York Post, also a Murdoch newspaper. > > But when the media covers the media, we hear a \*lot \*over here about the London tabloids, the Page Three Girls, and whatnot, giving the impression that the tabloids are a much bigger draw there than over here. Sadly you are correct. The tabloids are by far the most widely read newspapers in the UK. According to [this wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newspapers_in_the_United_Kingdom_by_circulation), the top 4 dailies and top 3 sunday papers are all tabloids, and all bar the Mirror have a right wing bent. Depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/19 "2011-07-09T13:08:01Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I never said there was, and I appreciate the fact that modern-day Britain has as much economic mobility as anywhere and more than in most places. It’s just that my impression of Brits is that they tend more to \*think \*in terms of class than other nations do, which colours their social discourse. I’m not sure what you mean here. Do you have any examples? ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205/20 "2011-07-11T11:13:21Z")
I think it might be because they pass themselves off as reliable news sources. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-brits-why-are-scandal-mags-so-popular/588205.md?page=2)