Daily Mail and Mail Online CSP

Daily Mail and Mail Online analysis 

Use your own purchased copy or our scanned copy of the Brexit edition from January 2020 plus the notable front pages above to answer the following questions - bullet points/note form is fine.

1) What are the most significant front page headlines seen in the Daily Mail in recent years?

Brexit headline, Party gate, Lock down announcement.

2) Ideology and audience: What ideologies are present in the Daily Mail? Is the audience positioned to respond to stories in a certain way?

The audience are positioned to be in a patriotic way, siding with the nation however are not put in a position to vote conservative.

3) How do the Daily Mail stories you have studied reflect British culture and society?

They reflect the ideologies of British culture through the news stories about the British government, the NHS and the news stories about British celebrities and shows like Eastender's and Strictly Come Dancing.

Now visit Mail Online and look at a few stories before answering these questions:

1) What are the top five stories? Are they examples of soft news or hard news? Are there any examples of ‘clickbait’ can you find?

• Tens of thousands of top secret documents about JFK's assassination are RELEASED: All the biggest bombshells as Trump's own national security team is left stunned
• Frail NASA astronauts get health checks as they finally return to Earth after being rescued by Elon Musk having spent 286 days in space
• 'Sam will NEVER be forgiven for his snide remarks': Disgusted friends of Zara McDermott tell KATIE HIND truth about poisonous break-up - and expose Sam's 'pathetic' behaviour
• Fears Labour's £5bn benefits cuts will fail because people 'game' disability tests - as Stammer pleads for rebel MPs to get behind reforms to 'shocking' system saying 'those who can work should work'
• Major bank to shut 95 branches on British high street with 750 jobs at risk after 'difficult decision'

2) To what extent do the stories you have found on MailOnline reflect the values and ideologies of the Daily Mail newspaper?

Some of the stories are right wing such as the royal family report of Kate Middelton and King Charles however the rest are general/human interest news reports which don't really fit the right wing category.

3) Think about audience appeal and gratifications: why is MailOnline the most-read English language newspaper website in the world? How does it keep you on the site?

Visual appeals as it is jam-packed with stories on the homepage and side bar, also there are loads of pictures and videos giving a more technological appeal to the website for the audiences. Uses and Gratification - provides surveillance and diversion. Also personal relationships as audience bond with the subjects in the report 

Factsheet 175 - Case Study: The Daily Mail (Part 1)

Read Media Factsheet 175: Case Study: The Daily Mail (Part 1) and complete the following questions/tasks. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets or online here (you'll need your Greenford Google login).

1) What news content generally features in the Daily Mail?

Generally has a combination of serious journalism and entertainment. 

2) What is the Daily Mail’s mode of address? 

A method of creating a relationship between the addresser (producer) and the addressee (audience)

3) What techniques of persuasion does the Daily Mail use to attract and retain readers?

They establish a consensus in line with the political and social ideologies, which then stirs emotion up in the consumer. This gets split into 3 categories: Practical - which includes bribery e.g. coupons, improving the newspaper. Emotional - which includes hyperbole, repetition and giving a comforting or fear feeling. Association - which includes celebrity endorsement and evidence from experts.

4) What is the Daily Mail’s editorial stance?

In a YouGov pol, 81% consider The Daily Mail to be right wing, with 44% suggesting it to be "very right wing". Traditionally, The Daily Mail is considered to be supporting the Conservative party and known to be criticising the Labour party and the then Leader Jeremy Corbyn, with even them telling some readers in certain constituents to vote for UKIP as they were in competition with Labour. The paper also often criticise BBC due to its left-wing bias. 

5) Read this brilliant YouGov article on British newspapers and their political stance. Where does the Daily Mail fit in the overall picture of UK newspapers? 

81% consider The Daily Mail to be right wing, with 44% suggesting it to be "very right wing".

Seen as Britain's most right wing newspaper. A strong number of people think that the Daily Mail has a very right perceived ideology, yet have a personal belief that it is very left.

Factsheet 177 - Case Study: The Daily Mail (Part 2)

Now read Media Factsheet 177: Case Study: The Daily Mail (Part 2) and complete the following questions/tasks. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets or online here (you'll need your Greenford Google login).

1) How did the launch of the Daily Mail change the UK newspaper industry?

 The columns were smaller and advertisers took a lot of the room which gave a new layout for newspapers, the inverted pyramid - the lead story which has the most critical information having the most room, then the helpful but not critical information so facts and details which had some room and then followed by nice, but not essential which the least important information and the least room. 

2) What company owns the Daily Mail? What other newspapers, websites and brands do they own?

Owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT) - owns and publishes: Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, MailOnline, Mail Plus, Metro, Metro.co.uk, Mail Today, Mail Travel, wowcher, Jobsite and This is Money.

3) Between 1992 and 2018 the Daily Mail editor was Paul Dacre. What is Dacre’s ideological position and his view on the BBC?

Dacre's ideological view is more left-wing and liberal as he supported a Labour MP who was also the Foreign secretary, Jack Straw, supported liberal politics, covering student sit-in protests, gay rights and drug use. Dacre does not not support the BBC as he believes that it is a free service providing news and so is taking the market for radio, other news services both nationally and internationally and is also now effecting the newspaper industry and suggests that "Lines must be drawn in the sand." "It destroys media plurality" and "imposes liberal leftish monoculture that is destroying free and open debate in in Britain."

4) Why did Guardian journalist Tim Adams describe Dacre as the most dangerous man in Britain? What example stories does Adams refer to?

He suggests how he covered the immigration story multiple times in one month and also another news story which was about a man who was a violently extreme advocate for the "Britain First" killed his wife. He makes patriots of Britain seem crazy.

5) How does the Daily Mail cover the issue of immigration? What representations are created in this coverage?

Immigrants are made to look destructive and are put in the stereotypical light as they usually are as criminals. The headline reads "EU killers and rapists we've failed to deport." 

Factsheet 182 - Case Study: The Daily Mail (Part 3) Industrial Context

Finally, read Media Factsheet 182 - Case Study: The Daily Mail (Part 3) Industrial Context and complete the following questions/tasks. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets or online here (you'll need your Greenford Google login).

1) What do Curran and Seaton suggest regarding the newspaper industry and society?

That anyone should be able to set up a newspaper and that it should maintain liberal ideology. However newspaper can be used for propaganda and they have become industrialised. Internet has made newspapers more affordable and cheaper.

2) What does the factsheet suggest regarding newspaper ownership and influence over society?

That the more readership newspapers had, they were more influential for political gain.

3) Why did the Daily Mail invest heavily in developing MailOnline in the 2000s?

They thought that if they invest in more content and "grow traffic" then it would become a bigger business than the daily mail.

4) How does MailOnline reflect the idea of newspapers ‘as conversation’?

There would be multiple people voicing there opinion, with it being informative and also having places for entertaining, political and reflecting social identities.

5) How many stories and pictures are published on MailOnline?

1000 stories but around 10,000 pictures.

6) How does original MailOnline editor Martin Clarke explain the success of the website?

that they "cover the waterfront" and that they provide you with every type of news story you need. He suggests that he spends time making the homepage engaging and interesting

7) How is the priority for stories on the homepage established on MailOnline?

That they let the audience choose what they want to read, and the story with the highest click count makes the homepage/main story.

8) What is your view of ‘clicks’ driving the news agenda? Should we be worried that readers are now ‘in control of digital content’? 

In my opinion, we shouldn't be concerned since, as viewers, we should have control over what we read and watch. Therefore, if a news article is becoming more popular, it is something that the majority of people would like to see.

A/A* extension task

read this Guardian column by Media veteran Peter Preston on a row between the Guardian and the Mail over the controversial MailOnline (ex-) columnist Katie Hopkins. You could then answer the following questions if you wish:

1) Why does Preston suggest that the Daily Mail and MailOnline should be considered to be basically the same publication?

As it is part of the same company and pretty much has the same readership, demographic and psychographic and the same/similar news story.

2) How does Preston summarise other newspaper websites?

That the websites and just more exaggerated and fancier design of the actual newspaper.

3) How many readers does the online-only Independent now boast?

19 million readers

4) Do you feel the Daily Mail and MailOnline have a different ‘world view’?

No, as they are part of the same company so have the same beliefs, values and ideologies. 

5) Do you see a future for the paper version of the Daily Mail or will it eventually close like the Independent?

As the media becomes more technologically sophisticated, I believe that the Daily Mail will continue to exist as a print daily since it is the most read and because a niche market will eventually enjoy owning a physical copy of the newspaper, similar to the Gentlewoman.