In the UK there are national newspapers that are published daily (some of which still report news) and local papers that are published weekly and focus purely on local events. Here in the US there is only one true national paper, the tabloid US Today. There are a few papers tied to large cities that are available across the country, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, but these papers will still have sections that focus on local news.
One of the consequences of the lack of national dailies is that many local papers are published daily. The city of Fairfield, with a population very similar to that of Slough in the UK, supports the Daily Republic. The city of Vacaville (pop 89,000), some 5 miles North of Fairfield, has a daily newspaper; The Reporter. Vallejo (pop 117,000), 7 miles to the South of Fairfield, has the Times-Herald. I have no reason to assume that these cities, which are far from vast metropolises, are unusual in supporting daily papers.
The Daily Republic reports on council deliberations, road accidents, and events; much like a UK local papers. It also includes regional, national and international news. A typical front page may have a story about Iraq, a story about the California state budget, and coverage of rodeo triumphs for a team from the local air force base. The roots of the paper date back to 1855 and it claims the distinction of being the first paper in the country to run an editorial supporting Abraham Lincoln as a candidate for President of the US.
I know that there are some daily local papers, such as The Liverpool Echo, but these are published only in the largest cities.
While on the subject of newspapers, I shall moan about an annoying habit of US journalists. They create newspapers that do not exist when writing about UK papers, they will say that a story was carried by The London Times; which implies that the word “London” is part of the title, which is not the case. I know that using the The Times would be confusing as in the US that name implies The New York Times. However, I wish the form The Times of London would be used.
