This article examines the four daily newspapers which made up the British `quality press' in 1985. Beginning from the fact that the readers of these newspapers are made up largely of people who use some sorts of intellectual skills in their daily lives, the article considers whether these newspapers may have some form of `servicing function' with respect to what Bourdieu calls `cultural capital'. The content of the papers is analysed in detail to determine the nature of the `inscribed reader' supposed by the total material offered. The evidence suggests that the sharpest differentiation is in the advertising copy, but that there are also important differences in editorial material.
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