The Media

Britains main newspapers and main TV channels are both in long-term decline, as the Internet gives people a further form of leisure activity and an alternative source for news Nevertheless, the main papers and channels remain a central part of everyday national life About 80% of British households have access to national papers Newspaper publication in the country is dominated by the national press- an indication of the comparative weakness of regional identity in the country The only non-national papers with significant circulations are published in the evenings (national papers appear in the morning) Most local papers do not appear on Sundays > papers that appear only on Sundays: Sunday papers Paper round: another indication of the importance of the papers in the morning. More than half of the countrys readers get their morning papers delivered to their door by a teenager

Two types of national newspapers Quality papers Popular papers Broadsheets Tabloids E.g.: The Times, The Independent, The E.g.: The Sun, The Daily Mirror, Daily Star Guardian Cater for better educated people More pictures, simpler language Devote larger space to politics & serious Instead of politics, devote larger space to the issues life of the celebrities& scandal Twice as large as other papers Large, eye-catching headline Both types devote equal amounts of attention to sport Press & politics o Freedom of speech is a constitutional right o Non of the national papers are under political control o In theory papers do not belong to a certain political party o In reality: national papers can be described as left (=Labour party), right (=Conservative party) or centre wing papers o Majority of papers are owned by Conservative Party supporters All newspapers are controlled by multinational companies Basic aim of these companies: to reach profit Papers are independent from political interference > the press is so powerful in Britain that it is often referred to as the 4th estate Main topic of press: sex & scandal > shallow. In many cases they dont even pretend to deal with serious topics Even the broadsheets are not as serious as other ones in the continent

Broadcasting media: BBC: (mother of information services) Impartionality & objectivity

Not under political influence Not a commercial channel > no advertisements Financially does not depend on the government Licence fee: income of BBC, everybody has to pay who has a TV set Government decides about the amount of licence fee, has a special right to veto programmes (in theory it would be easy for the government to control BBC) Not only exist in Britain, broadcasts also in other languages 5 national radio channels East Enders: soap opera running on BBC Radio 1: began in 1967, devoted almost entirely to pop music Radio 2: less contemporary music than Radio 1, Britains most popular radio station Radio 3: devoted to classical music Radio 4: broadcast a variety of programmes: plays, comedy shows, consumer advice programmes, in-depth news coverage Radio 5: devoted to sports coverage and news. Because of all the sport it is sometimes referred to as Radio Bloke (Bloke= male interests)

BBC radio: o o o o o -

The Archers: longest-running soap opera in the world, an everyday story of country folk, broadcast by a radio station

ITV (Independent Television): o Commercial television > gets money from advertisements o broadcasts 24 hours a day without any breaks o Consists of several privately owned companies: each company is responsible for showing different programmes in different parts of the country o Coronation Street: its soap opera Latest British TV channels: Channel 4, Channel 5 and BBC 2- broadcast several documentaries, cater for more educated people 5 main channels: BBC1 (1936) , ITV (1954), BBC2 (1964), Channel 4 (1982), Five Channel 5 (1997) Everybody with a TV set has access to the 5 main channels They have been broadcasting for the longest Their popularity is reflected in the viewing figures, in magazines with programme listings the most space is given to them

Welfare
Britain is a welfare state o Health care o Unemployment benefit The state tries to help people in need in some way British: first people to introduce a health-care system

1942: William Beveridge made a famous report about British health-care > National Health Act was passed > National Health Service was set up for the 1st time in the world Benefits system was introduced: direct payment done by the state o Unemployment benefit: dole o Maternity benefit o Sickness benefit Standard Age Pension: Above the age of 65 (retirement age) people are entitled to Standard Age Pension Only those can get money who pay national insurance while working Many people have a life insurance (a form of saving money): they get back the whole money with some bonus Pension funds: Employer and the employee could pay it Unemployment benefits (Department of Employment): o Only those can get unemployment benefit who has worked for about 10 years, but lost their job o If you lose your job, you can go to the local Job Centre and sign on, declare yourself to be unemployed o Then youre applied for jobseekers allowance o To get this money, you have to prove that youre searching for work, you have to present legal documents at the Job Centre o This situation is known as being on the dole o Jobseekers allowance = dole money is paid fortnightly into a bank account Income support: Those who are not entitled for unemployment benefit Families with lots of children or low income Child benefit: weekly amount Death grant: In case of funerals, the government gives financial help Welfare system is based on the taxes of the workers. PROBLEM: 1. Increasing number of unemployed people 2. Aging society: fewer children, increasing average life expectancy > fewer people contribute to the state financially Local government tries to help people in need as well as unemployed people: building and staffing old peoples homes provide home help for disabled people meals-on-wheels: cook food for people in need Charitable organizations: Came to exist before the welfare state was established

Staffed by unpaid volunteers, especially women Get financial contribution from the public Some well-known charities: 1. The Samaritans: free counselling by phone with anonymity guaranteed to anybody 2. Bernardos: Provide home for children, help children in need 3. The Salvation Army: Various kind of help to the most desperate and needy, e.g.: overnight accommodation in hostels for the homeless 4. MENCAP and MIND: help the mentally handicapped and campaign on their behalf The National Health Service Jewel in the crown of the welfare state Set up in an un-British manner: took most of the hospitals run by charities (instead of entering into partnership with them) Organized by the state, theres little intersection with the private sector Medical insurance is organized by the state and is compulsory (national insurance contributions are deducted from peoples salaries) The system is very simple: there are no forms to fill in, no payments to be made which are later refunded. All that anybody has to do is to register with the local GP in order to get medical care. Then the GP arranges for whatever tests, surgery or medicine are considered necessary Exception to free medical care: teeth and eyes Private treatment for surgery is becoming very popular. This is not because people think that it is any better than NHS treatment, but it is widely recognised as more convenient and comfortable. Another benefit: people can choose to have the operation whenever they want, dont have to wait for months. Private patients can go to pay beds which are in separate rooms. The medical profession: Doctors have the same high status in Britain that they have throughout the world. Specialist doctors have greater prestige than original GPs, but the difference in status is not as marked as it is in other countries. Specialists are allowed to work part-time for the NHS and spend the rest of their time earning big fees from private patients. Most GPs work in group practice = work in the same building with several other GPs. They can share facilities: waiting room, receptionists. Each patient is registered with just one doctor in the practice, but the system means that if his or her doctor is unavailable, the patient can be seen by any of the doctors in the practice.

GPs are paid by the government on the system of capitation: their money depends on the number of their patients, not on the number of consultations

Housing in Britain
1. Detached house The most desirable home Traditional building material: brick and slate Irregular, non-classical shape with little corners making the house feel cosy Large front garden with trees and bushes > evoking the countryside, giving greater privacy The garage is hidden directly away > doesnt spoil the rural feeling Front door is hidden > privacy 2. Semi detached house One building with two separate households Each house is the mirror of the other, inside and out These houses can be found street after street, in the suburbs of cities and the outskirts of towns all over Britain Separate front- and back gardens for each house The most common building material is brick Typical semi detached houses have two floors and three bedrooms 3. Terraced house Has no way through to the back except through the house itself Each house in the row is joined to the next one, houses at the end of the row are a bit more desirable- theyre the most like a semi detached house Has two floors and three bedrooms Before the 1960s Britain had millions of such houses, most with no inside toilet or bathroom > in some areas theyve been gentrified thus became quite desirable Great variety in design and use of terraced houses Town houses: found in good areas, in the in the centre of cities, highly desirable, often have three or more floors (including a basement or semibasement). Many have been broken up into flats or rooms for rent Self-contained flats: they have washing and cooking facilities and it is not necessary to walk through anybody elses flat to get to your own Bedsits: bedsitting rooms- residents have one room to themselves and share washing and cooking facilities with each other 4. Flat Not having separate entrance to the outside world does not suit British tastes Although it is densely populated, Britain has the second lowest proportion of flat-dwellers in the EU Less than 20% of the countrys households live in flats

Interior: the importance of cosiness o British houses have the reputation for being the coldest in Europe o British people seem to be ridiculously keen on fresh air > the reputation is exaggerated o Fact: houses are older than theyre in other countries and are not so well insulated o Houses have central heating o Windows are designed so that they can be opened to a great variety of degrees > air can be let into the house in winter without freezing the inhabitants o Important thing is to feel cosy and create a warm atmosphere o British also have reputation for bad taste: rather buy several items of cheap than one more beautiful and more physically comfortable item, + if you want to be cosy, you have to fill the room up with ornaments o Not everybody sees the comforts of modernity as automatically good, to many people: cosiness is the feeling of tradition- theyre surrounded by old, but not necessarily comfortable or beautiful items of furniture o In Britain it is regarded as very desirable to have open fire (not just for the warmth, but also because it suggests age) o Most houses are not allowed to have open fire because they cause too much pollution >many homes have imitation of open fire (with plastic coal which glows red when it is switched on) o Privacy is an element of cosiness o Most older houses have two general living rooms (reception rooms) o Modern smaller houses are built with just one living room, and in some older houses the two reception rooms have been converted into one o Privacy must be preserved so these houses often have a hall o It is rare for the front door to straight open onto the living room o Some houses have a tiny porch, through which people pass before getting to the hall o The back door is for the family and close friends only Owning and renting British people are not usually content to rent their accommodation, they like to have their own house The desire to own the place where you live is universal in Britain <> house prices are high Solution: mortgage system: almost all of the houses that are owned by the owners were bought with mortgage (people have borrowed 80% of the price, and now theyre paying this money back) The normal arrangement is for the borrower to pay back the money over a period of 20-25 years Building societies: financial institutions, originally set up to organize mortgages (but these days all the high street banks offer mortgages) People are happy to take out mortgages because house prices increase a bit faster than the increase in the general cost of living > make a profit when they sell the house

First-time buyers can only afford a house up to a certain price, but around 10 years later when some of the mortgage has been paid off, they can sell their house at a profit and move up the property ladder into a more expensive house When prices are increasing fast, some people buy to left: they buy the house and pay the mortgage on it by renting it out, which drives up prices even more More and more of people who dont own a house, cant get their feet on the ladder Although everybody wants to own their house, it is only in the last quarter of the 20th century that the majority of people have done so. Before that time: working-class people lived in rented accommodations In the 1950s and 1960s, millions of homes were built by local government authority, and by 1977 two third of all tanents lived in these council houses In the last quarter of the 20th century owning was made easier by government policies which offered financial help to people > tenants were allowed to buy their council house + councils sold many of their properties to housing associations Number of people living in council houses dropped Housing associations are organizations which run their properties for social benefit Each local council keeps a waiting list of households who want to move into a rented council or housing association property