1. Newspaper publication in the country is dominated by the national press — an indication of the comparative weakness of regional identity in the country (see chapter 4). There are more than seventy local and regional daily papers, but the total circulation of all of them together is less than the combined circulation of the handful of national ‘dailies’.

英国的报纸出版业主要控制在全国性的报刊媒体手中，这显示了区域性报刊在该国的相对较弱的地位。地方性或区域性日报有七十多种，但其发行量总和与少数几家全国性媒体的总发行量相比，仍相去甚远。

2. Conventionally, the national papers are divided into two distinct types. The quality papers cater for the better educated readers. The popular papers sell to a much larger readership. They contain far less print than the ‘qualities’ and far more pictures. They use larger headlines and write in a simpler style of English. While the qualities devote much space to politics and other ‘serious’ news, the popular papers concentrate on ‘human interest’ stories, which often means sex and scandal.

传统上，英国的全国性报纸主要分为两种不同类型。“高质量报纸”（quality papers）迎合受过良好教育的读者，而“大众报纸”（popular paper）的受众对象则更为广泛。文字少，图片多，使用大标题，写作风格简单是他们共有的特点。不同之处在于前者主要报道政治和其他一些严肃新闻，而后者则更多地关注能满足“人类猎奇心理”的种种趣闻轶事，例如性与丑闻。

3. Although different papers have differing political outlooks, none of the large newspapers is an organ of a political party. Many are often obviously in favour of the policies of this or that party (and even more obviously against the policies of another party) but none of them would ever use ‘we’ or ‘us’ to refer to a certain party (Papers and politics).

虽然不同报纸有不同的政治观，但在大报中却没有哪一个是隶属于某个政党机关的报刊。其中许多报纸或许会明显赞同某个政党的政策（甚至更明显地反对另一个政党的主张），但谁也不会使用“我们”一词来特指某一政党。

4. The other feature of the national press which is partially the result of its power and commercial orientation is its shallowness. Few other European countries have a popular press which is so ‘low’. Some of the popular papers have almost given up even the pretence of dealing with serious matters.

全国性报刊的另一大特色就是其肤浅性，一部分原因是其巨大的影响力和商业取向。很少有其他欧洲国家的主流报刊品味会如此之“低”。在英国更有甚者会干脆撕去伪装，放弃报道严肃新闻。

5. Complaints regarding invasions of privacy are dealt with by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC). This organization is made up of newspaper editors and journalists. In other words, the press is supposed to regulate itself.

有关侵犯隐私的投诉是由媒体投诉委员会（PCC）处理。这个组织是由报纸编辑和记者组成的。换句话说，新闻界采取的是自律的形式进行自我管理。

6. Just as the British Parliament has the reputation for being ‘the mother of parliaments’, so the BBC might be said to be ‘the mother of information services’. Its reputation for impartiality and objectivity in news reporting is, at least when compared to news broadcasting in many other countries, largely justified.

正如英国议会享有“议会之母”的美誉一样，英国广播公司可以说是“信息服务业之母”了。其公正性和新闻报道的客观性的声望，至少与许多其他国家的新闻广播相比，是实至名归了。

7. When commercial television began, it was feared that advertisers would have too much control over programming and that the new channel would exhibit all the worst features of tabloid journalism. Over the years, however, these fears have proved to be unfounded.

当商业电视开始发展时，有人担心，广告商的对节目的控制力会太大，并且这种新的媒介与通俗小报的种种低俗报道相比将有过之而无不及。然而，时过境迁，这些担心已被证明是毫无根据的。

8. Of particular importance in the ratings war are the performances of the channels’ various soap operas. These are also of interest because of what they can show about British attitudes and taste. The two most popular and long-running of these, which are shown at least twice a week, are not glamorous American productions showing rich and powerful people.

在收视率大战中，各电视频道的肥皂剧节目的表现显得特别重要。也正因为这些节目能够显示英国人的人生态度和生活品味，所以格外受关注。这其中有两套最受欢迎最长寿的剧集，它们每周至少播出两集，都没有像一些绚丽的美国制作那样去描写富豪和权贵人士的生活。

9. It became obvious in the 1960s that the popularity of soap operas and light entertainment shows meant that there was less room for programmes which lived up to the original educational aims of television.

到了20世纪60年代，有一点已逐渐明朗化，那就是肥皂剧和轻松娱乐性节目全面流行，这意味着发展以教育广大电视观众为目的的节目已没有多少空间。

10. In any case, perhaps worries about the ‘dumbing down’ of British television are unfounded. In 2002, for instance, the highest paid performer on British TV was not an actor or actress, not a sports presenter or game-show host, not even a newsreader. It was a history professor called David Starkey!

在任何情况下，对英国电视节目水准降低的担心或许是没有根据的。例如，2002年，英国电视界薪酬最高的人不是演员，也不是体育节目或综艺节目主持人，甚至不是一个新闻播音员，而是一个名叫大卫•斯塔基的历史学教授！