Re: The things you hear.
 

Is the Mail much worse than this one?

Aktuelle Nachrichten - Bild.de

Re: The things you hear.
 

Actually, I don't know! I've never read Bild. They seem to have Beyoncé summed up neatly.

Apart from its soft-porn and s'leb content, does Bild promote racism and paranoid national chauvinism? If so, it probably is as bad as the Daily Fail.

Re: The things you hear.
 

No. I think you'd need actual words to do that.

Re: The things you hear.
 

:rofl:

Re: The things you hear.
 

Do you have some evidence for that statement?

Re: The things you hear.
 

They have those articles and surveys on the BE home page which always have overwhelming numbers of people in favour of moving (sponsored by moving companies and the like).

http://www.theexpatsurvey.com/wp-con...06/Page-15.pdf

Re: The things you hear.
 

and they call it 'the current news', its the UK 'Daily Star & the US 'National Enquirer' all rolled into one

Its an interesting paper, it is....

including the ad on the front page, something that would never appear in the DM

'Find high-class partner for discrete Intimacy'

Re: The things you hear.
 

Does Bild have the same grip on the national psyche though?

Re: The things you hear.
 

Only the stupidest parts, a bit like the US Fox TV.

My point, to the extent that I have one, is that most people in every country are as thick as two short ones.

This truth is manifested slightly differently in different countries.

Re: The things you hear.
 

I don't know if the DM "has a grip on the national psyche". It's circulation is only 1.8 million (less than the Sun at 2.2 million) and I imagine at least 1 million of those readers are more concerned with the side ok Kim Kardashian's butt than politics. It's a convenient whipping boy for these of a more moderate disposition.

Stupidity in the population is a concern, however. You only need listen to some of the phone-in shows on LBC to realise that not everyone has mastered the command of logic and reason. It is a bit if a concern if an EU referendum emerges as there are many that are incapable of understanding the complex issues that underlie such a decision. Just how many is the question.

Re: The things you hear.
 

I really think it does have that grip.

The "ain't it awful/Britain going to the dogs/foreigners milking benefits" stuff is constantly fuelled by it.

Re: The things you hear.
 

In the US, it manifests as overpowering belief in the greatness of their country, in the UK the opposite seems to be the case. I haven't been in Germany for so long, I don't know how it plays out there.

Re: The things you hear.
 

Yeah Brits tend to have a fairly negative view of their country, I guess it comes down to not being insecure so not needing to 'sell' the country to others. A huge number of Brits return to the UK and go on to be very happy with their choice, others don't but that's OK as nowhere is for everyone. My advice would be totally discount 50% of the stories expats tell you and take the other 50% with a grain of salt :)

Re: The things you hear.
 

It's not just about circulation though.

The rubbish printed is visible on the front page to anyone in a newsagent or somewhere that papers are sold. There are shared copies at work and what people say to each other.

"Did you see that in the paper today?"
"No, what was it?"

People who appear to believe "Christmas" has been banned and that there are floods of immigrants and all the rest of it number an awful lot more than circulation figures.

Re: The things you hear.
 

Yes, that's a fair comment, but I really wonder how large the contingent of influenced people are? It's only a newspaper, and at worst it's exaggerating issues, but the issues exist. The current immigration issue is a case in point. Many of the outlandish things the DM was saying two years ago are now become more mainstream issues that the politicians are accepting as genuine issues.