The British media in the 1930s was dominated by an elite of wealthy business moguls, who used the power of their newspapers to project and influence their own political views to the wider public. By the 1930s, it is estimated that over two-thirds of the British population read a newspaper everyday, rising to almost 100% on a Sunday.

Lord Northcliffe owned, amongst other titles, both The Times and Daily Mail. By virtue of the two main titles, he was able to influence the opinions of of both the upper- and middle-classes. When he died in 1922, control of his media empire passed to Lord Rothermere (Harold Harmsworth). Politically it is fair to say that he took his patriotic zeal to a very right of centre stance and was an ardent supporter of Nazi Germany.

Lord Beaverbrook (Max Aitken) was a Canadian who owned The Daily and Sunday Express as well as the London Evening Standard; in 1940 he was appointed Minister for Production in the wartime Coalition Government.

Then as now, the Press came in for a great deal of criticism, although wartime restrictions meant they were limited in what they were able to actually report. In 1938, the Political and Economic Planning Group (a think tank) published its Report on the British Press, which concluded that an independent Press tribunal was required in order to curb the more excessive aspects of the printed media. Aspects of the Report included:

"A dangerous tendency has recently been manifesting itself by which entertainment ceases to be ancillary to news and either supersedes it or absorbs it; many people welcome a newspaper that under the guise of presenting news, enables them to escape from the grimness of actual events and the effort of thought by opening the back door of triviality and sex appeal. Such readers are left ill-informed and unable to participate intelligently in political debate."

"General accuracy of the Press is comparatively low by scientific or administrative standards,"

"... considerable public indignation against sections of the press."