Newspapers

As a liberal-minded person without specific political party affiliations, I do not subscribe to any one newspaper.

In fact, the blogs of favoured columnists tend to answer most of my needs for journalistic commentary, augmented by the other media, according to availability and whim.

The newspaper industry faces serious financial problems, and the extreme competition between titles has led to such excesses and  illegal activity as phone-hacking.

When I do buy a newspaper, the reasons are usually as follows (I am admittedly fickle):

In Greece I buy the paper that offers the best 'free' DVD or CD. The newspaper itself is, I regret, barely scanned.

In the UK I do scan the front pages and often buy one of the 'serious' papers- whichever one offers the most interesting headlines or front page on the day, or the most comprehensive and well-designed cultural supplement and TV guide.

It's not always as simplistic as that. Reliability, objectivity, social attitudes, price and value for money have something to do with it too. I no longer care about other people's perceptions or prejudices, or what kind of image they might think I am trying to project.