Within days of living here the ads and commercials that I would see on my phone and computer automatically shifted to show UK focused content. From this point I started to pay more attention to the media here in London. In general, I have noticed a very big difference in the way that the media is conducted as opposed to the United States. The way the media advertises upcoming movies or plays is more prominent throughout London. For an upcoming movie I could see a poster for it several times a day. From the side buses to smaller and larger versions of the same poster throughout the tube station, and not to mention in the newspaper as well. Newspapers are one of the main takeaways that I have noticed a surprising difference here in London as opposed to back home. I originally was not aware of the popularity of newspapers in the UK since the newspaper industry seems to be declining and there are fewer daily newspaper outlets. Since the main way of transportation around is either taking the tube or riding the bus the most common way to pass the time is by reading the newspaper. I normally do not read the newspaper, but since living in London, I find myself not only reading the newspaper to stay informed, but just as entertainment as well. I would have to say that reading the newspaper is interesting because it was one of the earliest forms of media and the time limit in which a writer must write a story about an important event is also important. As for the televised form of the media in the break room at my internship there is a television that is set on the BBC news channel. One day I decided to watch a segment and I noticed that they had the main anchor delivering the news, as well as a sign language interpreter that was reciting what the new anchor was saying in real time. It is nice to see a major news channel be inclusive to their audiences since this is something that in the United States one would usually see during an emergency. From noticing these differences, I still plan to observe more differences throughout the media and will continue to share them in both my classes and internship as well.
