The Daily Mail
The Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a tabloid newspaper owned by Associated Newspapers Ltd. It is the second most popular newspaper in the United Kingdom after The Sun. The current editor is Paul Dacre who has been in post since 1992.
Reliance on PR Material and News Agencies
According to research conducted by Professor Justin Lewis at Cardiff University up to 65% of news stories published by the mail are wholly derived from PR activity, News Agencies or replicated from other media sources. Lewis' research found that that "The Mail and the Daily Telegraph appear to replicate a significantly higher percentage of agency/PR material than the Guardian, which, according to these data, is the most independent of the newspapers. While just over half the stories in the Guardian come wholly or mainly from pre-packaged sources, this compares with around two-thirds of the stories on other newspapers. By the same measure, the Guardian is also more likely to use a mix of information or to get information from other sources". Lewis' study concludes, "What is clear from this study is that the quality and independence of the British news media has been significantly affected by its increasing reliance on public relations and news agency material; and for the worse!" [1].
Controversies
Throughout its history The Daily Mail has faced allegations of racism and predjudice. Current editor Paul Dacre admits this but claims that the newspapers support for the murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence represented an editorial shift away from racism. He said “The old Daily Mail, I’d be the first to admit, was slightly racist, But we are not now and Stephen Lawrence was the turning point on that” [2]
The Daily Mail has regularly been accused of having a vendetta against immigrants and asylum seekers. Giving evidence to joint committee on human rights at the houses of parliament Alan Travis, the home affairs editor of the Guardian, accused "manifestly false" stories about asylum seekers. He also accused newspapers of stirring up tensions with repeated front page stories about immigration. "In this situation, newspapers must fuel that particular prejudice and fuel that political extremism," he told the committee.
Mr Travis presented evidence from a Mori poll that showed that Daily Express readers had an exaggerated belief in the number of immigrants in Britain. Daily Express readers believed that 21% of the population were immigrants, Daily Mail readers thought that 19% of the population were immigrants and Guardian readers thought that 11% of the population were immigrants.
In reality 7% of the population were immigrants. Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
According to The National Readership Survey 65% of Daily Mail readers belong to socio-economic group ABC1, with the other 35% belonging to socio-economic group C2DE. 52% of Mail readers are over 44 and 48% are aged between 15-44. The male-female divide amongst Mail readers is 47% male and 53% female. This data was captured over one year from October 2007 to September 2008. [3]
References
- ↑ Justin Lewis, A Compromised Fourth Estate? UK news journalism, public relations and news sources, Journalism Studies, Volume 9, Issue 1 February 2008
- ↑ Bill Hagerty, Paul Dacre: the zeal thing, British Journalism Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, 2002, pages 11-22. Accessed 22-January-2009.
- ↑ National Readership Survey Figures, NRS Figures October 2008-September 2009, Accessed 19-January-2009
