Originally from “Yes, Minister”, but now translated across the Atlantic:
Who reads what?
1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The New York Times is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The Washington Post is read by people who think they ought to run the country.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don’t understand the Washington Post.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country, if they could spare the time.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who’s running the country, as long as they do something scandalous.
9. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure there is a country, or that anyone is running it.
10. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country.
Original version (now of course dated – this was in the days when the Independent hadn’t yet started and the Soviet Union hadn’t yet stopped):
| Hacker: | Don’t tell me about the press; I know exactly who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country. The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country. The Times is read by the people who actually do run the country. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial Times is read by people who own the country. The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country. And the Daily Telegraph is read by people who think that it is. |
| Humphrey: | Oh, and Prime Minister, what about people who read the Sun? |
| Bernard: | Sun readers don’t care who runs the country as long as she’s got big tits. |
Who would have thought that a series that started out as space opera should lead to a comedy of manners?