The press of Great Britain: between paper past and digital future

The article is devoted to the perspectives of development of English newspapers in the situation of coexistence of two platforms – print and digital (online). It registers a crisis in the state of the traditional print form and a continuous growth of a new, digital one; it also stresses a qualitative change, renewal and growth of the newspaper's audience especially the audience of quality press whose position has become firmer due to the growth of digital platforms. It analyses the state of the newspapers in social networks as a factor of estimation of their influence on the audience. In connection with transformation of media nature it claims the necessity of developing objective and independent parameters of estimation of the online newspapers position as well as complex analysis of different forms of the newspaper as a whole.