kalel wrote:This bit I disagree with. You just don't know. The tabloid tone has evolved over centuries. The Sun is the most popular paper. Now the idea that you can just change it, and it won't affect the readership, that people don't prefer the more right wing stuff - well you really don't know. As I said editors pick stories and tones that they think chime with their readership.macmurphy wrote:This is a chicken and egg thing though surely. You've been saying all along that the readers of The Sun are more interested in a light approach to the news, spirt and boobs. Is there really going to be outrage is The Sun were to simply stop being slightly xenophobic and right wing?
As I said the paper panders to what people want, the Sun reflects poplulist demands. I'm not defending it, I just think it's inevitable.
That's where the accusations of an agenda come in. The Sun would probably not lose a single reader if it were to take a more liberal position, or even just float like The Independent or whatever.
Is some of their readership the type that will appreciate headlines like 'Bender it like Beckham'. Of course. Do I personally defend that? Of course not.
I'm not saying the Sun is perfect. What I am saying, once and for all, is that it is the bestselling newspaper in the land. You might find that sad, you might hate it's politics, or morals, or tone. But it reflects people. I like to understand what people are reading, so I read the Sun.
