Meet the Media in London & Paris

The People

England Demographics—Emma Gregerson

England’s population was last measured at just over 53 million residents. There are a few more women in the country then men but the difference is not great enough to make much of a difference, both were measured in at just over 26 million of each sex.

The average age of person living in England is 38 years old. As far as ethnicity is concerned the majority of England identifies as white. The largest minority group in England seems to be Asian or Asian British followed by those identifying under a category of “black”.

92% of England speaks English followed by a little more than 1% speaking Polish. Over 71% of England’s population identifies as Christian with Muslim being the next most commonly found religion. 

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France Demographics​-- Evie Sweeten

France has an interesting demographic mix that is growing each day. The current population of France is estimated at 66 million, making it the 21st largest country in the world. 

The birth rate is 12.38 which is higher than the death rate of 9.16 per 1,000. Life expectancy is 81.75. There is a large population under 14 and over 65, but a majority of the population within 25-54. Around 80% of the country is urban. 

The main population hubs in France include Paris, the capital of France, Lyon, Marseille-Aix-en-Provence and Lille.

French is the official language of the country with regional dialects such as Catalan and Flemish quickly declining. 

Immigration rates are very high with 331,555 coming into the country as of 2014. 

France passed a law in 1872 to promote secularism so the state is not technically allowed to collect information about religious beliefs.

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England Media—Matt Ess

There are several different types of media in the United Kingdom: television, radio, newspapers, magazines and websites. The country also has a strong music industry. The United Kingdom has a diverse range of providers, the most prominent being the state-owned public service broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The BBC's largest competitors are ITV plc, which operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, and News Corporation, which holds a large stake in the satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting and also operates a number of leading national newspapers. Regional media is covered by local radio, television and print newspapers. Trinity Mirror operates 240 local and regional newspapers, as well as national newspapers such as the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Mirror.

France Media—Abby Hendricks

France’s media have a long and rich history. France was home to one of the world’s first periodicals, La Gazette, founded by Théophraste Renaudot in 1631. France was also home to the first news agency founded by Charles Louis Havas in 1835 and the first mass circulation paper, Le Petit Journal, founded by Moïse Millaud in 1863. The paper was printed on a rotary press developed by the engineer Marinoni, who gave his name to a whole generation of presses that came to symbolize mass circulation. There are many regional newspapers and radio stations. The television channels are divided into Main Networks, 24/7 News Channels, Musical Channels and others.

Transportation

Paris Transportation—Kasey Kerlick

The Metro is the name of the underground public transportation in Paris, France. There are 16 lines, these are all color coded and numbered for convenience. One ticket for the Metro is valid for any continuous trip, basically one ticket is valid as long as you do not come back out on the street. A day ticket is called Ticket Mobilis and gives you unlimited rides for one full day. Each line has two stations that go both directions, both directions run all day, and a train arrives at each station about every 3 to 10 minutes depending on the time of day. The Metro runs from 5:30-00:40 (5:30am-12:40pm) Sunday thru Thursday and 05:30 – 01:40 (5:30am-1:40am) on Fridays, Saturdays and on days before a holiday.

Once on the Metro there are a few things you need to be aware of, one is that for most of the trams the doors have to be opened manually, they are not automatic, usually all it takes is a push. When you are ready to head back out to the street look for blue signs that say “Sortie” these are you exit signs. You can also just follow the crowds, if you are at a lost for what to do look around and just do what everyone else is doing.

Buses in Paris are identified by a number and which direction they are currently heading. Bus stops are indicated by either a ‘Bus Shelter’ or a bus sign. Tickets for the bus can be purchased on the bus, but it is better to acquire a city bus pass if you will be frequently using the bus during your trip. Be aware that buses run from 5:30(AM)- 20:30 (8:00pm). 

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England Transport-- Lyndsey Dickerson

England has a dense and modern transportation infrastructure. The Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network.

Rail

The British Rail network is largely based on services originating from one of London's rail termini operating in all directions. Internal intercity services include: Abellio Greater Anglia, Virgin Trains East Coast, Virgin Trains, Great Western Railway, South West Trains, c2c, Southern, Southeastern, Chiltern Railways, Grand Central Railway, and East Midlands Trains. Short distance travel that doesn't pass through London is generally referred to as cross country travel. Most services are operated by CrossCountry and often terminate in South East Wales or Scotland. The Oxford to Cambridge or Varsity Line is due to be rebuilt to enable journeys avoiding London and Birmingham.

Regional train services are also operated by these, and other, train companies, and focus on the major cities, several of which have developed commuter and urban rail networks.

Many cities in England have rapid transit systems. Most well known is the London Underground (commonly known as the Tube), the oldest and longest rapid transit system in the world. Also in London are the separate Docklands Light Railway (though this is integrated with the Underground in many ways), and the London Overground. Outside of London, there is the Tyne and Wear Metro, focused on Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland, and Merseyrail, which operates in and around Liverpool.

Trams and light rail

Tram systems were popular in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, with the rise of the motor bus and later the car they began to be widely dismantled in the 1950s. By 1962, only Blackpool tramway remained. However, in recent years trams have seen a revival, as in other countries, as have light rail systems. Examples of this second generation of tram systems and light rail include:

Docklands Light Railway in east London.

Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester.

Sheffield Supertram in Sheffield.

Midland Metro in the West Midlands.

Tramlink in Croydon.

NET in Nottingham.

See also: Category:Tram transport in the United Kingdom, Trams in London, and Trams in Europe

Motorways

England contains a vast majority of the UK's motorways, dating from the first built in 1958 (part of the M6) to the most recent (M6 Toll). Important motorways include:

M1, M11, M20, M23, M25, M27, M3, M4, M40, M42, M5, M56, M6, M6 Toll, M60, M62, M65, M69, A1 (M).

Bus transport

Buses play a major role in the public transport of England, as well as seeing extensive private use. While rail transport has increased over the past twenty years due to road congestion, the same does not apply to buses, which have generally been used less, apart from in London where their use has increased significantly. Bus transport is heavily subsidised, especially in London. In 2014/15, there were 4.65 billion bus journeys in England, 2.4 billion of which were in London.[1]