“Fundamental British Values”: the Reaction of the British Quality Press

For citation: Kutsepalova N.K. (2018) «Osnovnyye britanskiye tsennosti»: reaktsiya kachestvennykh izdaniy Velikobritanii ["Fundamental British Values": the Reaction of the British Quality Press]. Mediaskop 3. (in Russian). Available at: http://www.mediascope.ru/2471

DOI: 10.30547/mediascope.3.2018.7

© Nadezhda K. Kutsepalova

PhD student of the Chair of Foreign Journalism and Literature, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia) n.k.budanova@gmail.com

Abstract

The article is scrutinizing the attempts of modern British government to promote "fundamental British values" among citizens and how quality newspapers – The Guardian and The Independent – react to these attempts. The first part of the article describes the history of the term "fundamental British values". The second part is devoted to the analysis of this term in the articles published online in The Guardian and The Independent in 2005, 2011 and 2014 respectively. We analyzed how many eligible articles were published in the newspapers; what topics the journalists were interested in; which speakers were represented in the newspapers; whether or not the periodicals supported the idea of creation of "fundamental British values" definition and endorsed government policy. The analysis demonstrated that these newspapers have different strategies. The Independentalmost ignores the fundamental British values topic although the newspaper makes it obvious that they do not support neither the government actions nor the idea of introducing such a term itself. The Guardian, on the contrary, actively tries to create its own list of British values since it advocates the idea of unification but at the same time the newspaper does not see the government as a possible creator of such definition.

Keywords: unifying concepts, press, value regulation, Great Britain, "fundamental British values".

Notes

Blair Defines "British Values". BBC, 2000, March 28. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_politics/693591.stm

Brown G. (2004) The golden thread that runs through our history. The Guardian, August 8. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jul/08/britishidentity.economy

Bunting M. (2014) My British identity is in Scotland's hands now. The Guardian, July 21. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/21/british-identity-scotland-independence-english-scottish-no

Cameron D. (2014) British Values. GOV.UK, June 15. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-values-article-by-david-cameron

Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015. P. 5. Ch. 1. Section 29. Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/6/section/29/enacted

Henley J. (2005) French angry at law to teach glory of colonialism. The Guardian, April 15. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/15/highereducation.artsandhumanities

Michael Howard's Speech. The Guardian, 2005, January 28. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jan/28/conservatives.uk

Peinster C. (2017) Britain would be a colder place without Christianity. The Guardian, March 9. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/mar/09/britain-christianity-religion-society

Prevent Duty Guidance. HM Government. Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2015/9780111133309/pdfs/ukdsiod_9780111133309_en.pdf

Prevent Strategy. HM Government, 2011, June. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/97976/prevent-strategy-review.pdf

Racism is learned behavior and we have to unlearn it. The Guardian, 2005, March 21. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/21/election2005.uk1

Sambrook R. (2011) BBC World Service must be reinvented after the pain of cuts. The Guardian, January 31. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/31/bbc-world-service-richard-sambrook

Sandbrook D. (2011) Royal wedding: How Britain fell in love with the royal family all over again. The Guardian, April 30. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/30/royal-wedding-monarchy-british-people

School Inspection handbook. Handbook for inspecting schools in England under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Ofsted, 2016. P. 35. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-from-september-2015

This is my country. It welcomed us both. What do you say to that, Mr Howard? The Independent, 2005, January 30. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/this-is-my-country-it-welcomed-us-both-what-do-you-say-to-that-mr-howard-488829.html

Tony Blair Speech on Terror. BBC, 2005, August 16. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4689363.stm

Wintour P. (2014) Michael Gove wants 'British values' on school curriculums. The Guardian, June 9. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/09/michael-gove-british-values-curriculum

Young P. (2014) What politicians should know about being British... The Independent, June 17. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/what-politicians-should-know-about-being-british-9542615.html

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