The Daily Mail - audience

Question 1

What are the two different types of news and what news does the Daily Mail include?

Answer 1

Hard news- reporting on current affairs, economics, politics and wars
Soft news: reporting on stories related to entertainment, sport celebrity gossip and scandals. The Daily Mail has a mixture of both, but often has far more soft news

Question 2

When was the Daily Mail founded?

Answer 2

1896

Question 3

Who founded the Daily Mail?

Answer 3

Alfred Harmsworth

Question 4

What are some of the ideological viewpoints of the Daily Mail?

Answer 4

They are largely right wing, so are anti-immigration and anti-EU, often backing up the Conservative party

Question 5

Is the Daily Mail a reliable newspaper?

Answer 5

No- often uses sensationalism- IPSO have twice adjudicated it as inaccurate

Question 6

Who did the paper first appeal to and why?

Answer 6

The Elemental Education Act (1870) introduced compulsory education aged between 5-13, creating a new literate lower-middle class

Question 7

How did the Daily Mail appeal to its initial audience?

Answer 7

It initially appealed to the lower-middle market through a low cover price, competitions, prizes and promotion

Question 8

Which gender is the Daily Mail predominantly aimed at?

Answer 8

Females

Question 9

What is the class of those buying the Daily Mail?

Answer 9

ABC1(C2)

Question 10

What is the age of the majority of Daily Mail readers?

Answer 10

65+

Question 11

What is the circulation and readership of the print Daily Mail?

Answer 11

Circulation: 1.4 m
Readership: 3 million

Question 12

What are some examples of the topics of articles in the Daily Mail?

Answer 12

-those concerning women (health, family, fashion and celebrity gossip)
-Royal Family coverage
-Outspoken columnists (such as Richard Littlejohn)
-attacking Labour, the EU and immigration
-‘patients betrayed’ ideology of the NHS
-critical of the BBC

Question 13

What is the mode of address of the Daily Mail?

Answer 13

-outspoken
-hyperbolic
-express the frustrations of the reader
-Sensationalism
-simple language- few complex sentences
-numerous images

Question 14

What are the three different techniques of persuasion used by the Daily Mail?

Answer 14

Practical persuasion
Emotional persuasion
Associations

Question 15

What are some of the Practical techniques of persuasion used by the Daily Mail?

Answer 15

-Bribery: rewards, coupons, incentives
-newness
-longevity: remind consumers of their childhood/ create nostalgia
-ease of use: simple solutions to complex problems
-inexpensive
-luxury: abundant content

Question 16

What are some of the emotional techniques of persuasion used?

Answer 16

-exaggeration or hyperbole
-repetition
-comforting the reader
-fear: war or financial instability
-humour: satire

Question 17

What are some techniques of association used by the Daily Mail?

Answer 17

celebrity endorsement and experts, e.g. Boris Johnson

Question 18

What is an example of a headline that shows their anti-EU stance?

Answer 18

‘Take a bow, Britain!’ was published the day after the Brexit referendum was announced as a leave result
The caption to the photo read ‘the quiet people of Britain rose up against an arrogant, out-of-touch political class and a contemptuous Brussel’s elite’

Question 19

What are some examples that show the Daily Mail’s anti Labour and pro-conservative ideologies?

Answer 19

‘Corbyn’s plan to bankrupt Britain’
‘Today, you MUST brave the deluge to go to the polling station and back BORIS’

Question 20

What is an example of a headline showing the NHS in tatters?

Answer 20

‘Winter crisis cripples NHS’

Question 21

An example of a headline created by an outspoken columnist?

Answer 21

Putin’s interview… was straight out of Hitler’s playbook
This was written by Boris Johnson in February 2024

Question 22

What is an example of the Daily Mail using hyperbolic language?

Answer 22

‘an electrifying human drama and a seismic election creating shockwaves both sides of the Atlantic… Trumpquake’
Published the day after Trump won the election

Question 23

What’s an example of a advert directly appealing to women?

Answer 23

‘The definitive guide to anti-ageing treatments. What works, what hurts… and what’s a waste of money!’

Question 24

What made way for ensuring one single style and tone across the paper?

Answer 24

Because advertisements took up a fair bit of space, due to demand for more space for the same amount of pay (due to declining readership) the news that arrived had to be internally edited to fit space available using the inverted triangle method

Question 25

What is the inverted triangle method?

Answer 25

it forces the editor to prioritize key facts in descending order of importance, with key information at the top of the article with additional information to follow.

Question 26

What are the benefits of the inverted triangle method?

Answer 26

-allows the reader to consume info quickly and allows for skim reading
-reader can quickly identify if they are going to like an article
-for online news, including keywords in the opening sentences of the article boost the SEO, ensuring more readers see the article

Question 27

What are the disadvantages of the inverted triangle method

Answer 27

-information can become reductive and simplistic
-readers don’t understand the complexity
-readers may not read the full article
-articles ‘run out of steam’ towards the end
-Encourages clickbait with fake news often exploiting this type of reporting

Question 28

What shows the high numbers of readership of the Mail Online?

Answer 28

The Mail Online attracts more readers around the world than any other English language newspaper website

Question 29

What are 2 examples of headlines with anti-immigration sentiment?

Answer 29

‘migrants spark housing crisis’
‘Britain’s wide open borders’

Question 30

What’s an example of the newspaper making themselves look good and helping the country to sell more papers?

Answer 30

They encouraged readers to donate to the NHS so they could buy more PPE… people then donated and the Daily Mail used this to their advantage to promote themselves as a pro-Britain company doing good for the reader

Question 31

How many unique users does the Mail Online have per month?

Answer 31

218 million

Question 32

How many unique users per month does the Mail + have?

Answer 32

34,000

Question 33

What are some examples of controversies the Daily Mail has been involved in?

Answer 33

Pro-nazi stories
Accused Ed Milliband’s Jewish Father of plotting against Britain- he was a refugee who had escaped to Britain from the Nazis
Meghan Markle sued them in 2019 after they published private letters she sent to her dad

Question 34

What is the psychographic of a Daily Mail reader?

Answer 34

Traditionalist

Question 35

Who is the current editor of the Daily Mail, who replace Paul Dacre?

Answer 35

Geordie Greig

Question 36

What gratifications does the Daily Mail offer- Blumler and Katz? How can other theorists relate to this

Answer 36

surveillance- tells readers what is going on in the world (moral panic theory and mean world syndrome)
Personal identity- relate to the reader’s frustrations (Gauntlett)
Personal relationships - familiarity of the columnists (hypodermic needle theory and cultivation theory)
Diversion- escapism from real world e.g. crosswords and puzzles. Could be argued the paper creates a hyperreality

Question 37

Discuss Stuart Hall’s reception theory in relation to the Daily Mail?

Answer 37

Preferred- They relate to the frustrations and believe what the articles say. Likely to have similar ideologies
Negotiated- you might believe what they’re saying but feel like the article is sensationalized and hyperbolic e.g. Winter crisis cripples NHS’
Oppositional- the reader doesn’t agree with the paper whatsoever- they may think it’s sensationalized and be more left wing

Question 38

If asked the extent to which readers were influenced by the paper, what theorists could be used?

Answer 38

Hypodermic needle theory
Cultivation theory and mean world syndrome
Moral panic theory
Two step flow of communication
Bandaura
vs
Hall’s decoding theory