International Newspapers Trivia Quiz

Answer: United Kingdom

"The Guardian" was born in 1821 as "The Manchester Guardian". As also outside Manchester a newspaper was needed to get news and wrap fish and chips, Manchester was dropped from the name in 1959. Notable scoops that "The Guardian" can claim include the News International phone hacking scandal, which led to the downfall of the leading tabloid "News of the World" in 2011. In 2016 there was also the investigation into the so-called "Panama Papers", which led to trouble for quite a lot of prominent figures, including the then British prime minister David Cameron. Despite all this he is now Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton, PC (Privy Council).

In 2014, the British press award was won for the fourth time.

Answer: USA

As you might have guessed, this newspaper calls Washington D.C. home. The first paper was printed in 1877. In 1974, it was the nemesis of president Richard Nixon - do you remember "Watergate"? Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward set the ball rolling in 1972, which would eventually end the Nixon presidency in 1974. Quite a lot of its other journalists have earned a Pulitzer prize too.

Answer: Israel

Originally named "Ḥadshot Haaretz" (News of the Land), it is over a century ago, having started its history in 1918, just at the end of World War I. It was first sponsored by the British Military Government although in 1919 Zionists with socialist tendencies took over. So the newspaper was already "old" when the state of Israel came into being in 1948.

You can choose between an edition in Hebrew or in English, and there is also an online edition available, and a weekly edition published in the USA. The main Haaretz Building is in Tel Aviv, although at the start it was based in Jerusalem.

Answer: Belgium

Some Belgian newspapers merged into "Het Belang van Limburg - "The Interest of Limburg" in 1933 in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium.

It deals with local, national or international news. The news of the beginning of 2024 is the same as in 1933: the horrors of war, but this time in Ukraine and in Gaza. And sport is about cycling. Omnia mutantur, nihil interit.

Answer: Hungary

The Hungarian newspaper "Magyar Nemzet" can be translated to "Hungarian Nation", and started in 1938 as a conservative newspaper. It was forbidden at the time of the German occupation between 1944-45, and somehow survived the socialist regime after the war.

In 2018 the last one, which was more than just a regional newspaper, which was not controlled or owned by president Viktor Orbán, gave up due to "financial reasons". In 2019 a newspaper closer to the heart of president Orban, the "Magyar Idők" (Hungarian Times), was renamed to "Magyar Nemzet".

This was called a "re-launch". Same name, different paper.

Answer: The Netherlands

"Trouw" - or "True" in English - is a Dutch newspaper appearing in a compact size. It started in 1943 as an underground newspaper while World War II was still raging, and the Netherlands were still occupied by their German neighbours. "Trouw" received the "European Newspaper Award" in 2012.

Answer: Germany

Rheinische Post, also called RP, which translates as Rhenish Post, has its headquarters in Duesseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It started in 1946, after the end of WW2, and was partly funded by the British occupation officials. One of the people who founded it then was Karl Arnold, a former convict under the National Socialist regime.

He later became minister-president of North Rhine-Westphalia. At the end of the last century, the RP swallowed a few local newspapers and is still partly family-owned.

Answer: Cyprus

"Phileleftheros" - in English translation "The Liberal" - was the largest newspaper by circulation in Cyprus at the start of the 21st century. Established in 1955, it is also the oldest Greek-language daily newspaper in circulation on the island. Like a lot of newspapers today, it offers an online edition, so if you are able to understand Greek and master the different alphabet, you can read it in Philadelphia.

Answer: Barbados

This newspaper has been around since 1973, dealing with national and international news. There is also a weekly edition released in Canada, to keep the expats informed about what is happening in a sunnier climate.

The company behind this newspaper is the Nation Publishing Company, which is One Caribbean Media Limited (OCM) based in the country of Trinidad and Tobago.

Answer: Spain

"El País" - translated as "The country" - first dropped from the printing press in May 1976. This was just six months after the death of Franco, the dictator who wasn't a friend of democratic newspapers, so the time was ripe for a new one. Just two years later, in 1978, El País was the victim of a far-right terrorist attack in which several people were injured and one died.

In 2017, it was the second most circulated newspaper in Spain.