The Daily Mail - audience Flashcards
What are the two different types of news and what news does the Daily Mail include?
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
When was the Daily Mail founded?
1896
Who founded the Daily Mail?
Alfred Harmsworth
What are some of the ideological viewpoints of the Daily Mail?
They are largely right wing, so are anti-immigration and anti-EU, often backing up the Conservative party
Is the Daily Mail a reliable newspaper?
No- often uses sensationalism- IPSO have twice adjudicated it as inaccurate
Who did the paper first appeal to and why?
The Elemental Education Act (1870) introduced compulsory education aged between 5-13, creating a new literate lower-middle class
How did the Daily Mail appeal to its initial audience?
It initially appealed to the lower-middle market through a low cover price, competitions, prizes and promotion
Which gender is the Daily Mail predominantly aimed at?
Females
What is the class of those buying the Daily Mail?
ABC1(C2)
What is the age of the majority of Daily Mail readers?
65+
What is the circulation and readership of the print Daily Mail?
Circulation: 1.4 m
Readership: 3 million
What are some examples of the topics of articles in the Daily Mail?
-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
What is the mode of address of the Daily Mail?
-outspoken
-hyperbolic
-express the frustrations of the reader
-Sensationalism
-simple language- few complex sentences
-numerous images
What are the three different techniques of persuasion used by the Daily Mail?
Practical persuasion
Emotional persuasion
Associations
What are some of the Practical techniques of persuasion used by the Daily Mail?
-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
What are some of the emotional techniques of persuasion used?
-exaggeration or hyperbole
-repetition
-comforting the reader
-fear: war or financial instability
-humour: satire
What are some techniques of association used by the Daily Mail?
celebrity endorsement and experts, e.g. Boris Johnson
What is an example of a headline that shows their anti-EU stance?
‘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’
What are some examples that show the Daily Mail’s anti Labour and pro-conservative ideologies?
‘Corbyn’s plan to bankrupt Britain’
‘Today, you MUST brave the deluge to go to the polling station and back BORIS’
What is an example of a headline showing the NHS in tatters?
‘Winter crisis cripples NHS’
An example of a headline created by an outspoken columnist?
Putin’s interview… was straight out of Hitler’s playbook
This was written by Boris Johnson in February 2024
What is an example of the Daily Mail using hyperbolic language?
‘an electrifying human drama and a seismic election creating shockwaves both sides of the Atlantic… Trumpquake’
Published the day after Trump won the election
What’s an example of a advert directly appealing to women?
‘The definitive guide to anti-ageing treatments. What works, what hurts… and what’s a waste of money!’
What made way for ensuring one single style and tone across the paper?
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
What is the inverted triangle method?
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.
What are the benefits of the inverted triangle method?
-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
What are the disadvantages of the inverted triangle method
-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
What shows the high numbers of readership of the Mail Online?
The Mail Online attracts more readers around the world than any other English language newspaper website
What are 2 examples of headlines with anti-immigration sentiment?
‘migrants spark housing crisis’
‘Britain’s wide open borders’
What’s an example of the newspaper making themselves look good and helping the country to sell more papers?
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
How many unique users does the Mail Online have per month?
218 million
How many unique users per month does the Mail + have?
34,000
What are some examples of controversies the Daily Mail has been involved in?
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
What is the psychographic of a Daily Mail reader?
Traditionalist
Who is the current editor of the Daily Mail, who replace Paul Dacre?
Geordie Greig
What gratifications does the Daily Mail offer- Blumler and Katz? How can other theorists relate to this
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
Discuss Stuart Hall’s reception theory in relation to the Daily Mail?
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
If asked the extent to which readers were influenced by the paper, what theorists could be used?
Hypodermic needle theory
Cultivation theory and mean world syndrome
Moral panic theory
Two step flow of communication
Bandaura
vs
Hall’s decoding theory
