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?

"Mrs Brown deserved the last laugh over comedy snobs", "Outrageous, provocative, unapologetic, as he clears out his Brussels Bunker, a final glorious blast from Mr Brexit", "Now you can really take a bow, Britain - for a triumph of democracy", "Tonight's the Night", "... and the Palace is flying the flag too", "A New Dawn for Britain" 

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

Ideology - patriotic, Conservative 
audience response - they are positioned to respond with enthusiastic patriotism 

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

It reflects British culture and society to be tied to the Union Jack, television, the Monarchy, as well as food and politics. 

 

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?

- "Trump is considering ordering US troops to seize or blockade Iran's Kharg Island but risks 'irrevocable damage to global economy' - as Netanyahu also hints at putting boots on the ground"

- "Saudi Arabia threatens to attack Iran as US launches strikes to reopen Strait of Hormuz"

"How Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz could devastate global supply chains: Stimulation reveals how the blockade could affect exports up to $1.2 Trillion"  

- "Luisa Zissman 'to spend £25K' flying her six horse back to the UK after offering free private jet flight to get her pet dog out of war-torn Dubai"

- (EXCLUSIVE) "Last moments of reality star Jordan Wright panicked TOWIE star sprinting through hotel grounds before he was found dead in Thailand" 

All mostly hard news, no examples of clickbait. 

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

Their last 2 top stories are human interest stories, reflecting their humanitarian/working class approach 

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?

"the side-bar of shame" - with it's social media style it's able to to keep you on the site 

Has something for everyone i.e. politics, UK/International, or gossip, cooking etc. 

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?

women's concerns i.e. family, health, fashion, celebrity focus

royal family coverage 

politics - international, Brexit, EU

British interests - food, agriculture, terrorism risks/ plots/ acts

of...)

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

The mode of address used is often outspoken, hyperbolic with a strong sense of the newspaper attempting to express the frustrations of their readers.

Hyperbolic, Simplistic, language, Reliance on images, Female interest, Outspoken

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

Sensationalism and simple language are used with little complex sentence structures. Often, online news content is accompanied by numerous images which are captioned in some detail; a

reader could get the gist of the news report from looking at the images/ captions alone.

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

- YouGov poll (Feb 20-22, 2017), of those questioned “81% considered the [Daily Mail] to be right-wing to one degree or another” with 44% considering it as “very right-wing”.

- Traditionally Conservative, having supported the party in all recent general elections.

- known for criticism of the Labour party 

- often critical of the BBC, seeing it as an institution biased to the left.

- a pro- Brexit, consumerist stance that supports traditional Britishness.

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? 


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?

In 1896 Harmsworth introduced new technologies into the production process. He raised revenue from carefully targeted marketing and developed national distribution on a larger scale than previously

existed, news was also presented in shorter articles with clear headlines.

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

- owned by the British Media company DMGT (Daily Mail and General Trust plc)

- thye manage a "balanced multinational

portfolio of entrepreneurial companies, with total revenues of almost £1.5bn.”

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

He says the BBC “has crippled commercial radio, is distorting the free market for internet newspapers and now, with its preposterous proposal for 65 ultra-local websites, is going for the jugular of the local newspaper industry. Lines must be drawn in the sand.”

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

Adam’s described Dacre as the most dangerous man in Britain because of his editorial control which enables him to influence readers. 

Example stories: 

- “EU killers and rapists we’ve failed to deport”

- “one-legged Albanian double killer”

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

They usually present immigrants in a negative light

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?

They argue that the newspapers have to reflect the needs and desires of the readership and society 

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

They have a wide ranging influence over society 

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

To counter declining print circulation, diversify revenue streams away from traditional advertising, and capture a young, global, and digital audience 

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

Martin Conboy  sees contemporary newspapers as providing a daily conversation in an environment where other forms compete to provide a communal voice. Conboy considers the way that newspapers are adapting their language in order to compete for this voice, and argues that language is multifaceted.

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

Around 1000 stories and 10,000 pictures 

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

Clarke says, “we let the readers decide what they’re

interested in, that’s why MailOnline is so sticky and why it’s so addictive and why people love it so much.”

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

If they have a high click count 

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

I think readers should be in control of digital content and institutions should no longer have such untapped control, it’s refreshing to the news agenda

A/A* extension task

If you'd like to go the extra mile on this CSP, 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?

2) How does Preston summarise other newspaper websites?

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

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

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