The Sun
The Sun is the red-top (downmarket tabloid newspaper; the label comes from the mastheads these papers typically bear, with white letters on a bright red background) par excellence, although it’s comparatively new on the scene, being founded in 1964. It’s infamous for its sensational headlines such as “Gotcha!” (on the sinking of the Argentinian destroyer General Belgrano during the Falklands War) and “Phew! What a scorcher” – and its Page Three pictures of topless girls.
Originally launched as a left-of-centre broadsheet, it switched to tabloid format upon Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of the paper in 1969, and moved to the political right during the course of the 1970s, providing strong support to Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives throughout her leadership of that party and, indeed, to John Major in the 1992 election. However, it’s supported Labour in the last three general elections, although the support has been fairly lukewarm (some might say opportunist).
It’s reviled by many on the left as often verging on the xenophobic, the sexist and the boorish. It’s also attracted a good deal of criticism in various parts of the country for its controversial coverage of locally sensitive issues; for instance, it’s unpopular in former mining districts for its support of the Thatcher government during the 1984-85 miners’ strike, and many Liverpool newsagents refuse to stock it because of its allegations that Liverpool fans caught up in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster urinated on the police and robbed the dying.
Website: http://www.thesun.co.uk/
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