From the Ukraine Thread, I’ve got a question.
@aceplace57 posted a quote from the Express, a British paper.
Later on, I posted a question:
@EddyTeddyFreddy followed up with:
Then I posted:
Then @What_Exit said that the tiger was straying too far from the Ukraine base.
So following mod instructions, I’ve come here, to IMHO, to start a new thread.
What sort of reputation does the Express have as a news source? Reliable? Sensationalistic? First to press, but accurate?
Comments welcome.
Wikipedia describes it as a middle-market newspaper, which it defines as follows:
Thank you. That’s helping put it in context for me.
From the wiki article on the Express, they’re apparently owned by the same company as the Mirror, so make of that what you will.
Personally, I learned almost everything I know about British newspapers from Yes, Minister.
The Express is a sensationalist, right wing rag, catering to people who think all our problems are down to the EU and immigrants. It’s not a paper to be taken seriously on any level, except for the damage it adds to our public discourse.
Think of it as the downmarket version of the Daily Mail, if you can imagine such a horror story.
That is a very generous view of the Express. Maybe once upon a time it might have been a middling sort of news source, but I can’t remember when that might have been.
For the record, whilst it revolts me that our press is so dominated by right wing Brexiteers, I don’t feel quite as much disgust for, say, The Times, even though it’s owned by Murdoch and peddles similar stories. It at least tries to factcheck occasionally.
The Express is also known for its unhealthy obsession with Princess Diana, publishing stories about her virtually daily before and long after her death. It was just creepy (although not as creepy as Piers Morgan’s obsession with Meghan Markle).
Indeed. And they seem to run daily articles side by side, about how awful Meghan is and how plucky Kate is. There’s a classic example on today’s cover.
I didn’t post that link or comment on it. @Casparlatete did.
It claims 80% losses in Russian units. I haven’t seen that attrition reported anywhere else.
The British press does focus more on the war. They often are the best source for war news. I usually link to The Guardian or BBC News. Google may have lead me to the Daily Express. It’s not a web site that I normally read.
This is still a fair summary 35 or so years on.*
I completely agree with the above. If they are occasionally accurate, it’s probably by accident.
The Express (a right-wing rag) is indeed owned by the same company as the Mirror (a left-wing rag). It may be their content will converge over time, but I don’t think it’s happened much yet (except probably in non-political areas such as Sport).
*ETA: The Sun no longer features topless women on page 3, so there has been a tiny amount of progress.
Quite right. Sorry for the misattribution.
It is about as reliable for news as the Toronto Sun. Like that paper, it has mostly conservative opinion columns, a paucity of big words, some degree of sensationalism, ample celebrity and sports news and sometimes a populist, right-wing, traditional tilt. I would deem its news reasonably reliable but concise and so simplified. Its news is more reliable than its editorials.
I just counted 14 stories dealing with royals or ex-royals on the Express website’s “front page”.
There must still be a thriving market for that stuff.
Being careful here not to reveal myself and risk possible industry retribution, I worked briefly for a company owned by the same people who ran the Express, and housed in the same building. It was a wing of the media business. It was by the far the worst culture I’ve ever worked in - the management (all male) would hug the female staff inappropriately and issue directives down the chains without understanding what was going on. At one point one of the execs walked past a work experience boy who had the temerity to be eating crisps (potato chips) at his desk and attempted to fire him on the spot. Disgusting people running a rag of a newspaper. The owner at the time BTW made his fortune in porn.
Which tells you a lot about its readership
Wikipedia also describes it as generally unreliable.
Is that like an intern?
Yes. Or at least I would assume.
Sort of. Schools in the UK encourage their older pupils to get experience of working at a company for a week. The school gives them the week off and it is (hopefully) at a company in an industry they are interested in. It’s typically unpaid, and the company basically shows the student around and gives them some light tasks so they get a taste of what work is like. When we get them at my company they spend each day sitting with a different department so they get a really good overview.
The Express used to aspire to being a paper of record in the days when it was owned by Lord Beaverbrook, but since his death in 1964 it has moved downmarket through a succession of owners. The Daily Mail was its rival for the same audience, owned by Lord Rothermere.