Americans are flocking to British news publications – this is the reason why

The UK media have impressively exploited some gaps in the US news market – and it’s paying off

British news titles are punching way above their weight (Getty Images)

One of the few compensatory satisfactions of the decline of print – inevitable but distressing – is the rise and rise of British news brands on the web across the globe, particularly in the United States. With all the gloom about news provision, it is too little remarked upon that British titles are now read by more people in more places than ever before. In one area, at any rate, the UK is punching far above its weight, and should continue to do so after Brexit.

Why? Well, there are very obvious advantages. There’s the English language, the world’s lingo these days. Plus of course, the web, though that is available to all titles in all languages. And we producers of content – journalists to use the quaint term – don’t have to pay for the means of production and distribution.

Being a loyal reader of The Independent, I’d always try and seek out a copy when abroad. Before the internet, when on holiday in the States, Thailand, Morocco or Finland, say, I managed, with effort, to find a paper version – vastly expensive, in black and white only, a day or two out of date, and with a reduced number of pages, but I could read what The Independent editorial had to say. Now it is much easier, as we know.