Newspaper tribes

How would you define the British newspaper tribes today?

Impossible probably. However surely all would agree: five years ago it would have been very different.

Peter Wilby had a go at some of it in Monday’s Guardian.

This is the way he put it:

• Guardian - public sector professions
• Times - the old establishment (just)
• Telegraph - the Tory heartlands
• Independent - “readers of refined sensibility, the sort who attend art-house cinemas, prefer Japanese cuisine, and abhor plastic bags”

He said the first three were tribal, the last not.

I’d say something like this:

• Guardian - public sector professions (tribe)
• Telegraph - fogeys young and old (tribe)
• Times -’the suits’ (non-tribe)
• Independent - greens (small tribe)
• FT - the ruling class (tribe)
• Mail - shoppers (non-tribe)
• Sun - lads both young and old (tribe)

The gap? A paper that’s cool. Everyone under 35 I know is trying to be cool. It’s a huge tribe without a paper.

Add comment April 17th, 2008