UK Newspapers Move Online
There are many newspapers in the UK that have gone online, using a website as a supplement to their print publications. While eventually the future of newspapers will move to online newspapers exclusively, for now UK online newspapers tend to take a back seat as ways of leading readers into print newspaper sales and to provide expanded advertising opportunities.
There are a number of popular online newspapers in the UK, which include:
Times Online – The website of the British national daily newspaper, The Times. It has a mostly conservative bent to its reportage and is one of the most popular black-top newspapers.
Telegraph.co.uk – The website of The Daily Telegraph, the best selling black-top newspaper in the UK. It is one of the highest quality news websites in the UK, winning the UK Consumer Website of the Year in 2007, issued by the Association of Online Publishers. The Daily Telegraph is politically conservative, being widely associated with the Tories.
Guardian.co.uk – The website of The Guardian, one of the other leading quality newspapers. It is not as widely circulated as The Daily Telegraph or The Times, which could be due to its more liberal political affiliations. Left-leaning newspapers normally have a younger audience, which could mean more of its readers are online-only than would be found for the conservative broadsheets. The Guardian.co.uk website is one of the most popular online news sites, having been the first British newspaper to achieve more than 25 million unique users in a month. It won the British Press Awards Website of the Year award and Digital Journalist of the Year award in 2008.
Mail Online – The website of the Daily Mail, one of the UK’s biggest selling mid-market newspapers. Not as well-regarded as the broadsheets, but with a better journalistic reputation than the tabloids, the Mail Online site sees a standard array of stories, from political and international news to celebrity gossip and sport. It is quite solidly right wing in its views, being against the BBC for an apparent left leaning agenda of the government broadcasting body.
The Scotsman – The website of The Scotsman is a reasonably successful news website, especially considering the low circulation of The Scotsman compared to the big national dailies. It has no particular political allegiance, remaining in the centre on most issues, though it was started as a liberal newspaper and may still have occasional traces of that past. While The Scotsman has previously been the preeminent quality Scottish newspaper, it has diminished in status somewhat.
The Independent – The website of The Independent is one of the more content rich UK online newspapers. With regular podcasts on many different subject areas in the news, as well as video news bulletins and an extensive blog network, The Independent has a strong online presence.
DailyRecord.co.uk – The website of the Daily Record, a Scottish tabloid newspaper, which is purportedly centrist and heavily supporting of the Scottish Labour party. The site has a balance of international news, Scottish news, sports news and entertainment news.
News of the World – The website for the News of the World newspaper is as sensationalist as one would expect. One of the most outrageous tabloids in the UK, the News of the World site is mostly focused on entertainment news and celebrity gossip, with a special interest in scantily clad female celebrities and sex scandals.
The Sun – The UK’s biggest selling tabloid newspaper and possibly the world’s most famous. Celebrity gossip is certainly part of The Sun’s website, but it is also plastered with the most sensational headlines of the day. Not as interested in glamour models and sex scandals as some other tabloids, but still definitely interested in them.