After 40 years we've nearly ticked off every post box in Britain

[escape_goat]

I'm struck by the particular concern with which the authors details the marital status of their interviewees. We learn that Ms. Jones is "unmarried but with a partner," that Misters Young and Vaughan-Winter are married, and that the former has two children; we may infer that Ms Jones and Mr. Vaughan-Winter are childless, that Thomas' mum Margaret is divorced, and that Thomas has passed his piano recital... is attention to such detail a happenstance, is it particular to the Telegraph, or is it just of relevance to the British press in a way that North American text news simply does not reflect?

[etrevino]

> is attention to such detail a happenstance, is it particular to the Telegraph, or is it just of relevance to the British press in a way that North American text news simply does not reflect

When waiting in the train station in Oxford I could buy bottled water and get a newspaper for free. Every week the newspaper changed. The UK has a lot of newspapers with a large range of reporting styles. I discovered that this is very typical of middle of the pack reporting in the UK (like that found in the Telegraph).

[cjrp]

I wouldn't say that level of personal detail is normal for British press. Perhaps it's to show that the group's not just made up of 60+ year old, single men.

[somabc]

I'd expect the Telegraph to say what kind of house they live in and whether they went to private school as well.

[DrScump]

I first read "ticked off" as in the American vernacular sense (= annoyed/angered); potential readers should note that "ticked off" means "tallied/recorded" in this case. I was curious what would anger a mailbox, perhaps besides a urinating dog.

Interesting read.

[chris_wot]

Urinating dogs won't annoy a mailbox. They will, however, annoy the postman.

[karamazov]

That's dedication. I wonder why they're going around aggravating mailboxes, though.

[chris_wot]

They have no dog and don't want the postman to miss out.