Our 'Free Press'

Here is some information on the four leading UK newspapers. Without social media I would be in despair.

 

THE SUN: owner Rupert Murdock, with estimated wealth of £19 billion.

A Sun headline on Jeremy Corbyn: “Is this the Most Dangerous Chicken in Britain”

The Sun has a daily readership of 2.8 million and online readers are an estimated 6.2 million.

The Sun was founded in 1964 as a successor to the Left-leaning Daily Herald, and became a tabloid in 1969 after it was purchased by its current owner, Rupert Murdock (who also owns The Times, The Sunday Times, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and on and on ….)

Since The Sun on Sunday was launched in 2012, the paper has been a seven-day operation. The Sun had the largest circulation of any daily newspaper in the United Kingdom, but was overtaken by rival Metro in 2018.

The Sun is nothing short of insulting to anyone perceived as ‘left-wing’. Michael Foot was called an ‘old fool’, Tony Benn, ‘insane’ and miners’ leader at the time of the 1984 strike, Arthur Scargill "Mine Führer". In 1987, gay men were offered free one-way airline tickets to Norway with "Fly Away Gays – And We Will Pay" 

After the Hillsborough football stadium disaster in Sheffield in April 1989, when 96 people died, The Sun blamed the crushed and maimed for their own deaths. More than 25 years later it remains unavailable in many parts of Liverpool with Liverpudlians referring to the newspaper as "The Scum".

 

THE DAILY AND SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: owners Sir David Barclay And Sir Frederick Barclay with estimated joint wealth of £2.25 billion.

A Daily Telegraph headline on Jeremy Corbyn: “Corbyn will Drag us Back to the 70s”

The Daily Telegraph has a readership of 260,000 and The Sunday Telegraph a readership of 280,000. Online readers are an estimated 500,000.

The Daily Telegraph was founded by Colonel Arthur Sleigh in 1855 to air a personal grievance against the commander-in-chief of the British Army, The Duke of Cambridge.

It has been owned by the Barclays since 2004. As well as The Daily

Telegraph and The Spectator they own retail, property and hotel businesses, including The Ritz hotels.

Sir Frederick says they reside in Monaco and Sark and Brecqhou for ‘health reasons’. The Panama Papers produced evidence that they pay no corporation tax on their business profits.

Former columnist Graham Norton called it "toxic" and "a mouthpiece for Boris Johnson" published with "no fact-checking at all".

It has been reported that the Barclays are trying to sell the Telegraph titles.

 

THE DAILY MAIL: owner Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, with an estimated wealth of £1 billion.

A Daily Mail headline on Jeremy Corbyn: “Marxist Manifesto. A radical deluge of New Taxes”

The Daily Mail has a readership of 1.34 million and the Mail on Sunday a readership of 2.61 million. Online readers are an estimated 4.2 million.

First published in 1896 it quickly became a cheerleader for Empire. Harmsworth is the great-grandson of one of the original owners.

In 1924, the Daily Mail published the forged Zinoviev letter, which claimed falsely that British Communists were planning violent revolution. This was thought to be a significant factor in the defeat of the Labour Party in that year’s general election.

Lord Rothermere was a friend of Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, and Rothermere's 1933 leader "Youth Triumphant" praised the new Nazi regime's accomplishments. Rothermere predicted that "The minor misdeeds of individual Nazis would be submerged by the immense benefits the new regime is already bestowing upon Germany". The Daily Mail was sympathetic to Oswald Mosley and an article titled "Hurrah for the Blackshirts", praised Mosley for his "sound commonsense” and encouraged "Young men” to join the British Union of Fascists.

 

THE DAILY EXPRESS: owner Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror,  and bought in 2018 from Richard Desmond, who has an estimated wealth of £2.3 billion.

A Daily Express headline on Jeremy Corbyn “Burn Your Hard-Earned Pension Funds”

The Daily Express has a readership of 315,000 and the Sunday Express a readership of 605,000. Online readers are an estimated 95, 000 worldwide.

The Daily Express was first published in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson. Its sister paper, the Sunday Express, was launched in 1918.

During the late 1930s, and under the ownership of Lord Beaverbrook, the paper advocated the Chamberlain government. appeasement policies towards Adolf Hitler.

In 2000, Express Newspapers was bought by Richard Desmond, publisher of celebrity magazine OK! and numerous porn publications. Peter Hitchins moved to The Mail on Sunday, saying working for the new owner was a ‘moral conflict of interest’. Frying pan and fires comes to mind here!

Reach plc are also owners of the Labour-supporting Daily and Sunday Mirror . Good business covers all eventualities!

 

NOTE: a billion pounds is a thousand million pounds. That is 1,000,000,000