First we can read the gentility in the lines of The Times which is one of the most prominent features in British culture. British are famous for its gentlemen who are always elegant, polite and cultivated. This gentility is originated from noble spirits and the cultural values of the middle class. In modern times, gentlemen are more eminent for their modesty, calmness and sportsmanship in public. According to Windholz (1999), the ideal of the gentleman became institutionalized in British society. Generally, most British won’t vent their feelings to others and don’t show their emotions. Although the owner of The Times has changed a lot, its gentle and elegant styles have never been changed. The issue of The Times has symbolized as the beginning of the British popular media. However, with the development of the popular newspapers, the newspapers with serious content lost its dominating status in a very short time including The Times. And The Times was challenged by the cheap pence presses with respects to its seriousness and elegance. When The Times was owned by H. Astor, The Times succeeded to keep its gentle styles under the guidance of G. Dawson, the then editor-in-chief. When The Times was purchased by Murdoch, many British were worried that he would recklessly publish many vulgar pictures and scandals just like what he did to the Sun he bought earlier. However, it has proved that though they have made some changes to cater to modern readers, it’s almost similar with that past in the traditional styles. Therefore, you can still feel the gentility which is characterized to be elegant, serious and polite.
For another, The Times is often conservative in politics which is influenced by British culture. It can be seen in its reports home and abroad. Another prominent feature in British culture is their conservativeness. Most British are reluctant to receive new things, which the best and most righteous in their eyes. Instead of employing the Metric System, British still use the unit mile. It didn’t use the Decimal System until the year of 1971. According to The Lancet (1992), even the British doctors are reluctant to use newly-introduced medicines and write prescriptions compared with other European countries. And British is one of the few monarchy countries in the world. Generally speaking, The Times is conservative in politics and social development. There is no domestic reform which has been achieved under the support of The Times. On the contrary, The Times will never stop resisting against these reforms until it has no hope to stop their success. There are such examples as the liberation of Catholics, reforms of parliamentary bills, Corn Laws and the abolishment of stamp tax and paper tax. Each time when the reform supporters guarantee the victory, The Times will slip away from its opposed sides and makes its way to stand up with the victors together at the critical juncture. Even in terms of international news, The Times will make some unfair and one-sided reports for its conservativeness. Take the American Civil War for an example. The Times initially supported the southern traitors and attacked the northern legal government. The Times is generally conservative in its political intentions. In its history of over 200 years, The Times is always the supporter of the British government on significant domestic and international affairs. It covers 40 versions which can be separated into two parts. One part includes news around the world, comments, culture and arts and book reviews which another part is about business, finance, sports, radios and TVs
