Introduction to Newspapers

1) A tabloid newspaper would typically consist of soft news, e.g. showbiz gossip, celebrities, sports and lifestyle - primary sources of entertainment. They tend to include more photographs and headlines as opposed to a broadsheet newspaper.

2) A broadsheet newspaper usually contains articles about more serious and important national and international issues. They are much more formal and traditional with less use of photos, more advanced language, smaller fonts and tend to focus on more solemn news.

3) A left-wing person would likely support the Labour party, which promotes social democracy, and read newspapers such as the Daily Mirror which focuses more on socialism.

4) A right-wing person would support the Conservative party, which promotes British conservatism and unionism, and would read The Times newspaper - which is biased towards these views and influences their readers to share these same ideologies.

5) There has been an immense decline in newspaper sales within the past 20 years due to news now capable of being accessed through TV programmes and, more recently, due to the growth of digital news on websites and on social media.

6) In a democracy like the UK, free press is essential in providing accurate and non-biased information without being limited and controlled by the government. This is because democracy has been challenged due to the decrease in trustworthy news sources and the rise of fake news and misinformation.

Extension tasks:

1) Many newspapers suffered at the expense of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some of the most notable being City AM, JPI Media, the MK Citizen in Milton Keynes and the News Guardian in North Tyneside. The Metro, Britain's biggest newspaper, was also badly hit - with 2/3 of its audience disappearing.

2) The Daily Mail and The Sun are encouraging their readers from print to digital in more recent times, due to the changing ways in how news and information are received by the public - with social media being a fundamental part in the process.

3) Over the next decade, I believe that newspapers will gradually be printed and used less and less, due to the ever-growing development of social media and digital reading and how it will only continue to increase. This is because more people may move to consuming news online rather than through newspapers.