Newspapers: The Times - Introduction

Our second newspaper case study is The Times.

This provides an excellent contrast with the Daily Mirror. The Times is a right-wing broadsheet newspaper that generally supports the Conservative Party and is aimed at a more educated, middle-class audience. Remember, this is an in-depth CSP and needs to be studied with reference to all four key concepts: Language, Representation, Industries and Audience. We'll be covering all of those concepts over the next two weeks.

This is the front page of The Times we will be studying for the exam:

Moving with The Times

The Times is a great example of a newspaper that still embraces strong traditions but has evolved with new technology to stay relevant in the digital age.

Watch the following clip on The Times media:

The Times - Introduction: blog tasks

Read the About Us page of the Times website and answer the following questions:

1) What year was The Times founded and when did it start using the Times name?

2) What content did John Walter suggest the paper would offer in the first edition?

3) Who owns The Times today and how is editorial integrity protected?

4) What did The Times introduce in 2010 and why?

5) What was The Times named in 2018 by the Reuters Institute for Journalism at Oxford University?

6) What does the section on Editorial Standards say about The Times and newspaper regulation?

7) What does the section on Ownership say about The Times and who is the current editor? 

Finally, look at this News UK webpage with key information about The Times for potential advertisers and complete the following tasks:

8) Write down three key statistics from this page.

9) Look at the various sections of the newspaper outlined on this page (e.g. Entertainment, Announcements, Travel). What do these sections suggest about The Times newspaper's audience?

10) Click on three of the sections - your choice. Write down one key detail for each section you choose e.g. Travel - more Times readers took a holiday abroad last year than any other newspaper.

Extension tasks

Look at News UK's website page for The Times. What statistics can you find that will tell us more about the Times and its readers? 

Due date: on Google Classroom