Newspapers: Daily Mail case study


Daily Mail analysis: Friday 31 January 2020

Use your notes from the lesson to answer the following questions.

1) What is the front page story on the 31 January 2020 edition of the Daily Mail and how is it presented?
  • The day of official Brexit in the UK 
  • The day is presented with massive pride and patriotism.
2) From your analysis in class, what other stories and topics are covered in this edition of the Daily Mail? Address the following pages:
  • Page 2-3- monarchy,  Brexit and patriarchy. This is a double page spread completely dedicated to brexit and the monarchy.
  • Page 4-5- Brexit, Boris Johnson and the special edition of this particular newspaper.
  • Pages 6-7- An article by Sir Richard LittleJohn talking about the triumphant impact of brexit
  • Page 8-9- A article recounting all the historic leaders and events linking to leaving or remaining with the EU.The success of Nigel Farage on Brexit.
  • Pages 38-39- An advert about a cruise ship using the word 'Brexit', Gwenyth Paltrow and a Jan Moir article surrounding brexit and Madonna.
3) Media language: Write an analysis of the construction of the Daily Mail front page: Page design, font, text, images, conventions, hard news/soft news, news values etc.

  • A very patriotic and pro brexit page design honouring brexit.
  • Using sea cliffs that separate the UK from Europe to symbolise the break away and independence.
  • Use of the Daily Mail logo as a brand identity (convention)
  • Hard news
  • Using a serif font to reinforce patriotism and the traditional value of the the audience reading this paper
  • Union Jack to emphasise the independence of the UK

4) Narrative: How is narrative used in this edition of the Daily Mail? Look at the selection of news: is there an ongoing narrative? How is narrative created by the paper to engage an audience?

  • The narrative follows a heavy Brexit celebration that praises the conservative parties more and more as the pages progress.
  • The paper uses unconventional newspaper layouts to attract an audience.
5) Ideology and audience: What ideologies are present in the newspaper? Is the audience positioned to respond to stories in a certain way?

  • Patriotism
  • Traditional ideologies
  • praising the conservative parties
  • Capitalism
  • they are expected to believe that Brexit was the best decision for the UK.

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

1) Note down three bullet points from the history of the Daily Mail.

  • Established by Alfred Harmsworth, who was seen to be responsible for popular press.
  • He brought an appeal of the press to working class societies that is still promoted today.
2) What news content features in the Daily Mail?

  • The Daily Mail offers heavy right wing idealised news.
  • They are strong supporters of the conservative party.
  • They appeal to traditional views and heavily appose labour party
3) What is the Daily Mail’s mode of address? 

  • They use a heavy direct mode of address to directly connect to the reader.

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

  • practical- competitions and rewards (bribery)
  • emotional- exaggeration and or repetition
  • associations- celebrity

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

  •   heavily conservative where they promote as much Conservative ideology as possible

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

  • In the overall picture of newspapers in the UK, The Daily Mail sits on the far right side whereby the audience and content is majority right wing

7) What is the Daily Mail’s view of the BBC? What are the possible reasons for this?

  • The Daily Mail are supportive as their audience and the BBC's are similar.

8) Why are Richard Littlejohn and Jan Moir controversial columnists? You'll need to Google this to find out more and research. 

  • Richard Littlejonn is controversial for his opinions on ethnic groups such as Muslims where he once stated the phrase 'jolly jihadi's'
  • He is heavily right wing and very traditional which has been proven with his heavy homophobic opinions.
  • Jan moir is controversial for her response to Stephan Gately's death where she was very insensitive.
  • "Moir's article said Gately's death in Mallorca after a night out "strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships"


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

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


  • It paved the way for layouts 
  • It also introduced the ideas for smaller articles that other newspapers have mimicked 
2) What is the 'inverted pyramid of journalism' and why was it important in the way the Daily Mail presented news?

  • An idea created to ensure that the most important news stories were included in the newspaper. 
  • This attracted audiences 

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

  • (Daily Mail and General Trust PLC)
  • Mail on Sunday
  • Mail Online & Mail Plus
  • Metro & metro.co.uk
  • Mail Today & Mail Travel
  • Wowcher
  • Jobsite
  • This is Money

4) Between 1992 and 2018 the Daily Mail editor was Paul Dacre. What does the extract from Dacre’s speech on the freedom of the press tell us about his ideological position?

  •  Dacre was a strong believer of "publicly shaming" Those who did wrong in society.

5) What is Dacre’s view on BBC news?

  • He enjoys the BBC but believes it has too much power.
6) Look at the right-hand side of page 4. Why is the editor of a newspaper so important?

  • The way content is presented and layed out can heavily impact its readership and circulation which is why an editor is very significant 

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

  • Dacre has an extreme impact on The Daily Mail and Brexit campaigns meaning his influence can be easily suspected by others. 
8) How does the Daily Mail cover the issue of immigration? What representations are created in this coverage?

  • The presented in a very negative way.
  • They are seen as the predators and antagonists in the UK. 

9) How did the Daily Mail cover the murder of MP Jo Cox?

  • They lessoned the neagtive impact of the murder to its readers

10) What was Dacre’s position on Brexit?

  • He is heavy Pro-Brexit

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