prestigious media in englsih world?

[Guest Yau]

When i was young i was told to read Time and Newsweek all the time. It was efficient to give me a false impression that these were real prestigious magazines that provides insightful and critical analysis on news events.

Until recent years i seriously read these magazines, but none of them are really impressive. Even worse, to review them by reading the topics that i know best, i doubt if their readers can grip what really happens in another part of world.

A representatives of a prestigious chinese newspaper, 21st Century Economic Daily, once went to the headquarters of Washington Post to figure out their success. However, a report about the Rock 'N Roll band appeared on the same day and the article implied that's the sign of 'modernization' in China. The chinese newspaper envoy thought scorn to the report, asked the managing editor how he though of this report, but the answer is 'that is what our readers want'---- an excuse of making a shallow report.

This phenonomenon happened quite often among the english press. CNN, Time, Newsweek , BBC, and not to mention AP which is notorious for the frequent black-and-white mistakes.

After my comparision, i pick the Economist and Wall Street Journal now,

but what else magazines and newspapers does a well-educated reader choose in English World?

[imron]

Well, as far as online news goes, nothing beats the onion. http://www.theonion.com

:-)

Lives up to it's claim as "america's finest news source"

[roddy]

For a daily newspaper, I'll choose the UK's Guardian - for more depth, the Economist.

Roddy

[trooper]

I don't think Time and Newsweek have ever been 'prestigious magazines for well-educated readers.' I thought they have always been populist, middle-brow publications.

I'd agree with Roddy that The Guardian is the best British daily newspaper. It's far better than The Times, which is often recommended to foreign students.

I think the sunday editions of the newspapers usually have more analysis and comment than do the daily editions. So they should be better. There appears to be no sunday edition of The Guardian, but there is - it's actually called "The Observer."

I can't argue with choosing The Economist. I'd also suggest Prospect magazine. This is a monthly. Compared to The Economist, it's also a bit more right-wing and has less of a sense of humour.

[Guest Yau]

I've read Guardian probably a few times a year, and not sure about their positioning and background. Could you tell me more about this? Is it really good to offer an objective and indepth report?

Btw, the Times was much more famous in china than the Guardian. I was impressed when i read their exclusive interview with Yuan Shi-Kai, the first president and later notorious self-proclaimed emperor in 1910-1920s. This interview was reprinted a few year ago and their history is impressive.

I'm not sure if Rupert Murdoch's acquistion changes the editorial orientation of the Times but i feel that the reporters of that newspaper is getting involved in the row of tabloid. Let say, to break the news about Beckham's scandals, create a news on IT security by hacking the mobiles of MPs.

I'm not a frequent reader on this newspaper but i think they are more like the-sun, another Murdoch's weapon that makes me feel uncomfortable to read it. Is it also what a british reader complains about?

[waxwing]

'The Times' has a reputation based on its past. Nowadays it is a very poor newspaper.

The Financial Times, however, is an oustanding publication. The quality of its journalism is very high indeed, but of course it focuses more on business stories.

I rate the Independent slightly higher than the Guardian, although both are very hyper-political if that makes any sense. Some would call them 'left-wing' (not me).

I don't really know about American newspapers but I quite like the online version of the New York Times. It seems pretty good to me.

[Claw]

I agree with trooper when he says, "I thought they have always been populist, middle-brow publications."

The Economist is really good. So are the Atlantic Monthly and the New York Review of Books.

[Altair]

I agree with the earlier posts.

Additional suggestions I would have would be:

http://www.csmonitor.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/

http://www.newyorker.com/

If you really want to learn good business english, I would also suggest a good comic strip or similar material like:

http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/

Here you will see how American business managers really talk and what they talk about.

[Guest Yau]

thanks for all suggestions here, i find it highly useful for me.

And can anyone here make a brief introduction about how readers and general public think of CSMonitor (基督教科學箴言報) and NY Review of Books? Left or right wing? Credibilitly for making an critical and fair analysis? Readership is well-educated?

NY Review of books and Atlantic Monthly aren't actually well-known here. The former one is, however, famous in the cultural circles in hongkong and some critics feel obsessed with their claim of 'the best magazine in the world'.

Another magazine or journal my company subscribe is Foreign Affairs. Any idea about their readership and how readers feel about it?

Btw, financial times is highly famous. They recently launched the biggest ad banner in asia on the tallest building in hongkong and it's well-known that Richard Li, the son of a hk trillionare and boss of the largest telecom company, loves to leak a breaking news to this newspaper.

[sheik]

Most people I know in the UK that want to kept abreast of current affairs tend to use multiple sources, to try and eliminate media bias. Media outlets which are woefully biased are still worth reading, as the bias itself is interesting...

So, BBC News (which is on the whole very good in my opinion), CNN, Sky News and the infamous Fox News are all used by me fairly regularly.

If you want to see what people on the Internet think about things, then USENET is an invaluable resource:

The easiest way to read USENET is via the interface at:

http://www.google.com/grphp?hl=en&tab=wg

/dam

[geraldc]

I've read Guardian probably a few times a year, and not sure about their positioning and background. Could you tell me more about this? Is it really good to offer an objective and indepth report?

It started off a regional paper and was based in Manchester. Third most popular broadsheet in the UK after The Daily Telegraph and The Times.

Left wing paper, traditionally supports Labour. In the past was famous for its spelling mistakes, so it's also jokingly known as the "grauniad". It's also where large number of public sector, and teaching jobs are advertised, so it attracts a lot of readers from people who work in related areas.

If you believe The Sun columnist Richard Littlejohn, Guardian readers are sandal wearing, Volvo driving, vegetarian hippy types

[beirne]

Left wing paper, traditionally supports Labour. In the past was famous for its spelling mistakes, so it's also jokingly known as the "grauniad". It's also where large number of public sector, and teaching jobs are advertised, so it attracts a lot of readers from people who work in related areas.

If you believe The Sun columnist Richard Littlejohn, Guardian readers are sandal wearing, Volvo driving, vegetarian hippy types

This makes sense. Last week I was at a conference where Jello Biafra spoke. Jello was formerly with the punk rock band the Dead Kennedys and his speech was full of shrill leftism. He complained a lot about the media, but pointed to the Guardian is a good source of news.

[Claw]

And can anyone here make a brief introduction about how readers and general public think of CSMonitor (基督教科學箴言報) and NY Review of Books? Left or right wing? Credibilitly for making an critical and fair analysis? Readership is well-educated?

NY Review of books and Atlantic Monthly aren't actually well-known here.

I don't know much about CS Monitor since I don't really read it, but NY Review of Books may be regarded as a bit left-wing, though it seems to me that these days, people regard anything that even presents the side that is against the current U.S. administration to be left-wing, which is sad. Atlantic Monthly is also considered in the same boat.

The former one is, however, famous in the cultural circles in hongkong and some critics feel obsessed with their claim of 'the best magazine in the world'.

You mean it isn't!?!?

[xuechengfeng]

I usually only find BBC to hold no bias. All American media is terrible.

[Guest Yau]

I usually only find BBC to hold no bias.

not always, with the reference to this post

http://www.chinese-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1997&highlight=BBC

[filipu]

First and foremost this is not meant to be contentious - just a personal and quick overview of the UK daily press. I haven't covered Sunday papers or magazines (but I'd recommend the satirical magazine Private Eye in the latter category or Viz. These are a real insight into the British Media and as a bonus they might make you laugh !! )

The mainstream daily press in the UK falls broadly into three categories:

(And yes, I do know that some of the broadsheets are available in tabloid versions but I'm trying to keep this straightforward)

小報 Tabloid (Mass Market):

----------

Daily Sport

Try and find the news amongst the naked women.

Daily Mirror

Quite left wing and should be applauded for its stance on the Iraq invasion.

They still run a counter which runs along the lines of 403 days and no Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) found.

Sun

Political allegiance varies according to who's doing well.

Star

Slightly more up market than the Sport. 'Nuff said.

小報 Tabloid (Middle Class)

--------------------------

Daily Mail

Alledgedly the choice of"Middle England" whatever that means. Able to fill pages with incredibly lightweight stories that appear interesting. Political allegiance is right of centre.

Daily Express

Aspiring Daily Mail.

大報 Broadsheet

-------------------

Daily Telegraph

Good home and foreign news coverage but (maybe unfairly) regarded by many as the "ToryGraph" and the mouthpiece of the Conservatives. It's just been sold so this may change. (He who pays the piper calls the tune)

The Times

Once known as "The Thunderer" and with massive public influence amongst the great and the good. Now that Murdoch owns it some people question its editorial independence.

Financial Times

No politics just money. And it is the most expensive daily paper so they know what they're talking about! It is also the only pink daily newspaper and therefore aesthetically pleasing.

The Guardian

Sometimes labelled left wing but tries hard to be impartial.

The Independent

Has arguably succeeded The Guardian as the most non-partisan paper.

Questions welcome!

Filipu

[Guest Yau]

left-wing again.

It seems to me that most newspapers in the world are left-wing, though right-wing is the prodominant in economic policy.

In hongkong, The Next Magazine (toppest selling), Appledaily(second largest) and Hong Kong Economic Journal (most reputed newspaper) are all right-wing in economic policy.

Are there any real right-wing newspaper in english world?

[Claw]

left-wing again.

...

Are there any real right-wing newspaper in english world?

In the US, the Wall Street Journal is considered by some to be slightly right wing. If you want a really right-wing papers, there are the New York Post and the Washington Times, though their readership is substantially less than their counterparts, the New York Times and the Washington Post (which some people consider left-wing).

The way I see it, most normal papers don't try to be left-wing but end up being considered that way because they try to report every single side possible, including liberal views -- this causes conservatives to immediately bash the media as being left-wing or liberal. Granted, the US media 20-30 years ago was rather liberal, and conservatives were probably right in their objections, but it isn't really that way anymore. However, they've been repeating "liberal media" so often that the charge has now stuck without much basis. The US media is probably pretty conservative now and mainstream papers like the NY Times end up getting stuck with the "liberal" label.

[Guest Yau]

In the US, the Wall Street Journal is considered by some to be slightly right wing. If you want a really right-wing papers, there are the New York Post and the Washington Times, though their readership is substantially less than their counterparts, the New York Times and the Washington Post (which some people consider left-wing).

no wonder that financial paper tends to be right-wing. An american economist once weighted the politicial and economic stances of major newspaper in US, and interestingly, he found that even WashTimes is left-wing.

The nature of media, in fact, is left-wing. When there's a news issue, the most easy piece of so-called news angle is to study whether the gov't does enough to avoid it. They urge the gov't to give hands on everything. The voice of small is usually bigger to fulfill the reader's expectation that the world is unfair. Social worker and journalist belong to the same faculty in many universities. They are natural born right-wing.

[wushijiao]

For me:

Always: I read the NYTimes and the Washington Post daily. I read the Economist and The Onion weekly. I used to subscribe to the South China Morning Post, which is great, but too expensive now.

Sometimes: LATimes, China Daily (to see how they spin), Far Eastern Economic Review (great, but not free), the Atlantic, and the New Yorker.

To see spin on events: Weekly Standard, www.bartcop.com , www.rushlimbaugh.com (sadly America's most powerful single political voice) www.alternet.org and others.

Time and Newsweek are okay, but they have just way too much fluffy background info of you're a news junkie.

The business press is always great. Noam Chomsky and Michel Houellebecq both have stated that the business press (ie. The Wall Street Journal, minus the editorial page) is the most objective. Business people can't afford to listen to bs idealism and spin.