Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: the Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.

Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?

Bernard: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits.

"A Conflict of Interest" from Yes, Prime Minister (31 Dec 1987).

The British television sitcom, Yes, Minister and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister, are amongst my favorite television shows. The humor and political insight of the series written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynch remains as fresh and sharp today as it did twenty five years ago.

The exchange above between Prime Minister Jim Hacker, Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby, and his private secretary Bernard Woolley is a treat. The setting for this scene is the Cabinet Room at No. 10 Downing Street.  Hacker is vexed by his poor press and is worried that the situation will become worse as there are rumors of a scandal in the City (London's financial hub). Sir Humphrey advises him not to act unless the rumors turn out to be true, while Bernard counsels the P.M. not to worry about what the newspapers say. This advice was foolish, Hacker responds, launching the set piece about the prejudices and readership of the British press.

Twenty five years later these stereotypes largely hold true. Perhaps a modern version would drop the Communist Party newspaper The Morning Star -- the joke being they want another country, the Soviet Union, to run Britain -- not being relevant today. A modern retelling, however, could insert The Independent in its place, with the joke being the Independent is very keen on the European Union.  Not as good a joke as the original, I concede.

The place of the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph might also be swapped -- with the Mail being the more conservative -- or cranky -- of the two.

To understand the joke a viewer would have to understand that the British press is cheerfully biased. Each paper holds strong editorial positions and its news coverage is often driven by its editorial line.  Taken as a whole, this is not such a bad thing.  When one is able to read the coverage in the Guardian alongside that of the Times, Telegraph and others a thoughtful reader gets a well-rounded view of events.

Here lies one of the differences between the U.S. and U.K. media market.  The New York Times is as driven by a left-liberal political agenda like the Guardian -- yet there is no Telegraph or Times to balance its coverage.  Speaking in very broad terms, the closest U.S. analogy might be the Washington Post v. Washington Times rivalry -- yet the Washington papers have such unequal resources, circulation and influence they do not quite fit the bill.

However, when the British press are good, they are very very good -- I would say the best in the world when the advocacy format seeks truth and moral virtue -- and delivers a great story. But when they are bad, the British press is dreadful -- with advocacy gone wild.

An example of a truly awful advocacy article can be found in the Daily Mail's coverage of the service at St. Paul's Cathedral for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Now I enjoy beating the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, about the head and shoulders with a stick as much as the next man -- an Amelkite to be smote hip and thigh. But there is a difference between disagreement and vilification -- and the Daily Mail story is cruel.