I often happen upon a copy of the Daily Express at work and am constantly as baffled and amused by the tagline "The World's Greatest Newspaper" as I am disgusted by the constant scare stories about health, the EU and immigration.

Can anyone enlighten me as to how they came to claim this accolade? Did they ever win some sort of global award or have they - my theory - just decided amongst themselves that compared with say, El País, The Times, The New York Times etc. that, yes, there is no doubt that The Express is the finest.

I think they just decided to start calling themselves that. It's about as significant as me starting to sign myself off as "The World's Greatest Stud".

I certainly can't find anywhere the Express has won that award

Remarkable, isn't it, that of all the untenable and demonstrably untrue claims they make on the front page, that's the one that irks the most?

They start off with the biggest lie of all and then work it from there.

It's a bit like saying "Here's a massive whopper. Expect more inside"

I can't work out whether making that statement is in fact telling the truth.

"Peter Hill actually believes the Express is the 'world's greatest newspaper'"

http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/2009/ ... ss-is.html

I reckon this is the right place for this.

I'm just watching "Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman story" about a WWII double agent. The British needed to convince the Germans that he had carried out his mission for them (blowing up an aircraft factory). In order to do this they needed a British newspaper to write a bogus report. They first approached The Times whose editor rejected it saying "Nothing untrue has ever been printed in The Times". They then approached The Express who had no such qualms and agreed to print the bogus story immediately.

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That subtle admixture of the absurd and the surreally plausible...

Was it ever the biggest seller?

From the very good ShoutingAtCo.ws blog: The Daily Express: The World’s Greatest Newspaper

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The upper hand is on the other foot now.

Very good - especially the last paragraph.

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Mailwatch. Love us or leave us.
http://www.coalitionofresistance.org.uk/

In the 1940s it appears to have been.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ne ... irculation

Since 2000, though, it seems to have lost a third of its readers, about the same proportion as the Guardian (whose days must surely be numbered) and Telegraph. Only the Mirror have lost more.

It would be interesting to see the website traffic they get as well. The Graun, despite moonies objections, is one of the more popular newspaper websites (along with, ironically, the Mail). The Express however is a pretty poor website, it looks and feels cheap compared to those two, which do at least appear structured and able to engage their readers.

It's not often I will praise the Mail but MailOnline is one of the best websites from a usability and aesthetic point of view. The Express is somewhere near the bottom with the Mirror and the Sun.

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"Even when you're a super-computer with an IQ of 2000 it's brown trousers time."

Reclaiming "methinks" for the nation

Latest blog post - 2011 - a review (updated 07/10)

Some figures here. I find the mail's traffic levels quite surprising given their circulation figures have remained strong as well according to the wikipedia article, so it's not simply a matter of people choosing a different delivery method. Perhaps their high level of showbiz gossip type articles is paying off in attracting new people who wouldn't be interested in the political stories. Also I do notice the mail quite high in the search listings quite often when I'm looking for information on recent news stories.

The challenge, of course, is turning this traffic into revenue as fewer people buy tradtional newspapers.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/no ... ic-records