The Sun Newspaper?

[stevie_c2it]

Do you think 'The Sun' newspaper is targeted at those people in our society who are: incapable of independent thought, and unable to reach an opinion on news events without being told what to think by' The Sun Says'? Or, does reading 'The Sun' eventually make you that way?
I guess what I'm asking is, do you think it's 'dumbed down' to appeal to thick people because they wouldn't buy a newspaper that challenged them, or has reading 'The Sun' made them thick?

[Gef]

No, no . no and no in answer to the original questions.

I don't read newspapers.

[kingelvis]

stevie....i find your question deeply insulting......i read the sun and i have an iq of 138.....not particularly high but enough to make my own mind up over issues of the day....be it in the papers or through other types of media.....i also come into contact with people of various backgrounds, from white van drivers to middle management to higher management to self made millionaires....all having different tastes in reading material....infact the self made millionaire...approx 4 million reads the sun and mirror....would you say he's thick....or would you say in your condecending way he's the exception.....because i wouldhave to say he would be the exception of any newspaper reader...also would you say the average guardian reader has a better life be it economical, social or healthwise.......

pleasetry to be more tollerant to others tastes....because your no better a person for spending an extra 40p each day on a different newspaper

[surfer mike]

I don't read the sun but surely the sun is not alone in having editorials, all newspapers try to influence their readers on the issues..and its incredibly condescending to generalise that sun readers have no independent thought patterns and are thick...during the thatcher years when the sun was a cheerleader for her policies.. 40% of their readers voted labour so much for brainwashing its readers....as for dumbed down well it is a tabloid..and not all people want to read some clever arsed left wing or right wing know it all' like george monbiot or peter hitchens, telling how we are all doomed, they much prefer to be entertained with juicy gossip about some third rate soap actor or a talentless pop wannabee..but that says more for the banal therorising claptrap you sometimes read in the broadsheets than it does tabloid readers..maybe its the tabloid readers that are clued on..

[the>one]

that says it all?.....oh....

[stevie_c2it]

Wow, people so much hostility, Jasper Carrot never had to put up with this much abuse.
But, kindly allow me to retort.
Elvis � sorry you found my criticism of �The Sun� insulting, but the fact remains that the publishing group that prints it, carefully edits its content to appeal to a specific demographic audience. Its primary aims are clearly to sell copy and make money, but additionally its important to note that this highly popular paper, more than any other, exploits its opportunities to attempt to influence its readers opinions in line with its own political agenda. That�s what I think is really condescending?

To set matters straight, I have never said what paper/s I read, and find it very revealing that the majority of �Sun� defenders automatically assume it must be some �high-brow� broadsheet. i.e. because I don�t like to be patronized must mean I�m a literary snob. Surely this says more about there prejudices than my own.

Where possible I want the opportunity to hear different opinions on an issue, and then be able to make up my own mind. I don�t want �The Sun� to do it for me, because it considers me to �Thick� to do it myself.

[dorothywilso]

Some people in this thread ARE downright patronising ,condescending and insulting and they know who they are !I agree with Buddy .

[WaldoMcFroog]

The Sun uses the vocabulary of a 9 year old, actuallly. Or at least that was always the editorial policy in the past. Maybe they've dumbed down since.

[ICEMANSAV]

I occasionally read the sun, say occasionally as I prefer to look at news websites rather than purchase a paper. The Sun is good for light reading about sport etc. A broadsheet is not required to tell me who scored last saturday and what the final result ended as. It may be dumbed down but a generalisation about its regular readership being thick is a bit extreme. If I wanted to read " a sublime and deft swooping shot off the chalice of Mr. Rooney's foot delivered a cruel blow " then I would read a broad sheet, but I prefer " Rooney smacked it t'in top corner!"

[mastadon]

The Sun is a rag which prints scandalous lies.

http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/history/media.shtm< /p>

[Buddy]

mastadon- cmon give us an example.

I happen to know whether it is a rag or not every story which could potentially be libellous is run by a crack team of lawyers.

Rupert Murdoch is no mug.

[Buddy]

Oops - cant get into your link but can just about guess what it is.What can I say - I know that Liverpudlians wont buy it because they dont agree with comments made.

This is a contentious issue in which you are entitled to your opinion.I personally will graciously bow out of this.

[stevie_c2it]

I guess this thread has just about run its course, so I just wanted to say thanks to the contributors who�ve taken the time to put forward there thoughts and comments (positive and negative).
I�ll come clean, and confess I owe some people an apology, I knew by posing the question �are Sun readers thick?� that it would clearly cause a degree of offence, and is an outrageous generalisation (it got the response I thought it might though!). So, to those people who�ve felt insulted by the provocative way I put it (particularly you Buddy), I�m sorry, genuinely.
Before you think I�ve gone soft though, I make no apology to �The Sun� newspaper, or for my opinions on it, which I stand by.
In addition, although I�ll put my hand up to the accusation that my question has insulted some people and say, guilty as charged. I�m pleading innocent to the charges of being condescending, I think if you�ve taken the time to read my posts you�ll see I�ve put my thoughts forward as articulately and as intelligently as I�m capable of, and not tried to patronise peoples intelligence (Something I�ve argued that �The Sun� newspaper is guilt of).

[stevie_c2it]

One final thought to perhaps consider. I�ve come in for some stick (rightly in some cases) for suggesting that �Sun� readers are �thick�, however no-one has disputed that the �Sun� has an editorial policy of assuming it�s readers are �thick�, or at least not capable of understanding any words that a nine year old child couldn�t. Contrary to what people might expect I don�t have a problem with that, (Just because someone might have a low reading ability doesn�t mean they should be denied access to news and information). By making it accessible and capable of being read by anyone �The Sun� is both popular and economically successful. However, because its views reach so many people it has a power to influence that could be abused (and I believe is).
As someone once said �With great power, comes great responsibility�. So, does power corrupt, or are they using it wisely?
The difference with Answerbank, (unlike �The Sun�) is that here you have the opportunity to decide for yourself.

[eupraxia]

I don't read any news papers. they are all the same. The only thing they got going for them are the funnies and the puzzles and I wouldn't spend money on a rag for that alone.I explained to some one once about he death of priness Diane. She blamed the papers and in her bag had a copy of the Sun, If people didn't buy the papers to see the pictures the paprazzi would not have been chasing her that night (if u believe in that theory). There for she was as much to blame for Di's death as any one. I always believed it's not the goverment that rules the country, it's the likes of Rupert Murdoc.