ABSTRACT
In this chapter I want to explore some of the ways in which a newspaper might be said to construct identity; in particular, how London's sole evening newspaper, the Evening Standard, conceptualises the identity of the city and its inhabitants. In Media and Cultural Studies there exists an influential strand of argument which has suggested that in the late twentieth century we are witnessing an increasing 'interconnectedness of cultures brought about by the transnational flow of images, commodities and peoples' and that this has led to the 'formation of a global culture, dominated by transnational corporations and increasingly Americanised and commercialised' (Gillespie, 1995: 15, citing Mattelart et al 1984 and Schiller 1969, 1973). This global culture, it is argued, has been further disseminated by the digital/electronic revolution which threatens to engulf and destroy local cultural autonomy.
