Not necessarily read just by the upholstered leftie middle classes (The Guardian)

Member Name: doctordarke2389

Product:	The Guardian
Date:	19/08/09 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well written and thorough analysis

Disadvantages: Too self-regarding at times?

The Guardian is mostly viewed as a left - leaning newspaper, in the highbrow 'broadsheet' category that indicates it to be a 'serious' paper.

Being in that category, the Guardian is one of those dailies that offers a series of supplements dealing with a plethora of interest areas like gardening, the arts, travel, literature, and so on. Not everybody's cup of Earl Grey, admittedly, but useful for a fairly intellectually eclectic readership with a wide variety of interests.

The Guardian's coverage of the weighty issues of the day are usually given extensive treatment, with lots of in-depth analysis and debate. This sort of acts as the paper's moral conscience, where it can explore issue of right and wrong without carrying to much in the way of ideological bias, although in mitigation that is bound to happen at some point. It's unavoidable.

The main bulk of the paper is divided into two principal parts, national and international, in which in-depth coverage of the latest news stories is offered. The journalism, as one may expect, is of a consistently high standard and detailed.

So, what about sport, I hear you say? Well, sport has its own section, but the footie does not usually cover as many pages as you will find in the tabloids, but then again if you prefer quality to quantity, then there you go.

The Guardian is not wihout its faults though; it tends towards journalistic navel-gazing from time to time, and sometimes assumes that all its readers are comfortably - off, middle - class leftie types, when that just isn't the case. Plus, its sister paper the Observer took a decidedly pro-war stance during the last Gulf War thingy, which came as a bit of a surprise. But, it's better that this paper exists than not; it was instrumental in getting the convicted perjurer Jonathan Aitken banged up, which was a victory for press freedom in one way or another.

Summary: Worth the 90 pence cash outlay