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Newspapers: The Daily Mirror - Coggle Diagram
Newspapers: The Daily Mirror
Industry
Reach plc (largest commercial, national and regional publisher in the UK) own the Daily Mirror
They publish more than 130 national and local media brans - Daily express, Daily Record etc.
The set text was published on Feb 1st, 2022
The Daily Mirror was established in 1903 as a tabloid newspaper and has a left wing political stance
The scandal was called 'partygate' - the suffix 'gate' was first used. in the 'Watergate' scandal in the US in the early 1970s which resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon
Has been used to suggest a far-reaching scandal related to politics
It was originally a newspaper from women 'to act as a mirror on feminine life' but quickly redesigned to appeal to a broader audience
It deals with the scandal surrounding allegations regarding parties held by the Conservative Party when they had enforced strict restrictions on England that prohibited these gatherings
First reported by the mirror in Nov 2021 saying parties were held at Downing Street, some held by Boris during the lockdown over Christmas
This led to an inquiry being undertaken by civil servant Sue Gray
Part of the IPSO - Independent Press Standards Organisation which is an independent body not backed by the government and is fully funded by the industry
It is a regulatory body that maintains press standards but is anti-Leveson
Average daily sales was 220,000 in Feb 2024
Used to be the most popular tabloid and the readership was past 4.6 million a day
The most circulated paper is the Metro free paper at 596,000 in 2024
Online media has been responsible for the downturn in print sales and TDM responded to this by creating 'Mirror Online' and establishing a presence on social media sites
This technology has given the newspaper the ability to produce up-to-the-minute national and global news and update this content regularly
Mirror Online breaks down the key stories into 'bitesize' chunks which reinforces their brand that claim to be the 'intelligent Tabloid'
There are also opinions from journalists and free-lance commentators which reinforce the left-wing agenda of the newspaper
Livingstone and Lunt: Reach plc are facing increasing pressure alongside the rest of the UK press industry to adhere to strict rules and regulations on industry practice
This pressure arose after the phone hacking scandal and subsequent Leveson enquiry into the industry
There is an underlying issue of protecting citizens from harmful material while ensuring choice and press freedom
Hesmondalgh: Reach plc is one of the UK's largest newspaper publishers and has become a horizontally integrated company with a wide range of titles to maximise audiences and minimise risks
Rather than seeing digital media as a threat the company has embraced its digital expansion and now offers digital marketing to generate additional income
They have also introduced a subscription of £6.99 for a tablet edition of the newspaper with an introductory offer of two free months
Curran and Seaton: The newspaper industry is dominated by a small number of powerful companies and there were concerns about the deal with Reach plc
The concentrated ownership model of the newspaper industry means that audiences recieve a narrow range of viewpoints
Reach plc has maintained their position in the UK despite falling sales of the daily Mirror by diversifying into regional news - The diverse pattern of ownership has allowed them to create conditions for more varied and adventurous media products
Audience
Target audience: It is predominantly C2DE, over 55 and are working class labour supporters, mainstream, mostly women
The values, attitudes and beliefs of the newspaper and the way in which they represent particular stories will resonate with like-minded readers who may have chose this newspaper because of its left-wing stance
Readers will be made to feel part of the newspapers community and that the stories and articles reflect their views- this audience will accept the preferred reading of this paper
Newspapers have have to adapt to survive and the daily Mirror has achieved this using technologies
in May 2021 it became the UK's number one website with 32 million monthy readers across all digital platforms
The platform also enable the readers to interact with the newspaper and encourages them to post comments on the stories
Distributing the publication across digital platforms which allow it to be interactive will also appeal to a younger audience
Stuart Hall: Active audiences who agree with the ideology of the newspaper will accept the viewpoint that is evident in its approach to stories
Those readers who have a different political allegiance will have an oppositional reading, disagreeing with the messages constructed by the newspaper and will not buy/red a publication that does not reflect their opinions
Gerbner: Audience exposure to repeated patterns of representation may shape and influence their views and opinions of the world around them
Newspapers function as opinion leaders and mediate the news for the readers with their political allegiance in mind. These views are then cultivated and reinforced by the newspaper and its content
The messages of the government being corrupt and elitist, need to resonate with an established belief in the audience of working-class left-wing men and women, such as that of Boris not being fit to govern
Clay Shirky: The concept of audience members as passive is no longer tenable in the age of digital technologies. This is because they have enabled the rise of the prosumer who can create their own content submitting stories as a citizen journalist, offering immediate perspective on news stories
Consumers can also actively engage and speak back to the news media as the daily mirror website offers opportunities for readers to comment on stories, giving them a voice as part of the newspaper's community
Media language
The central image of Boris Johnson dominates the front page of him smirking suggesting trepidation that something could go wrong
The newspaper reinforces this viewpoint with the inclusion of the anchorage 'I'm not going' suggesting his failure to take responsibility for what has happened, it also sounds childish and defiant which is informal
The headline is large and emotive echoing the front-page headline with repetition of the word 'shame' conveying the values and beliefs of the newspaper and its opinion
The use of the emboldened verb 'crushing' shows Starmer has attributed strength and in the secondary image of him is more serious and powerful than Boris - reinforces the papers left-wing stance
Refers to Boris as 'shameless' reflecting the values and attitudes of the paper and their political allegiance
They use of colloquialisms such as 'cops' and 'lockdown bashes' to engage with the target readership
The headline 'Zero Shame' is brief and dramatic, typical of the paper's style. The large, bold and bright yellow of 'zero' is an accusatory tone and the language is dress - this can create binary opposition with the casual appearance and lack of accountability of Boris
Also the composition of highlighting the numbers makes 'zero' seem factual and the statistics make it seem true
The strapline 'Gray report fallout' sums up the context of the story with negative connotations and makes it seem like a major catastrophe
The layout and design are conventional which is generally image led than text led
The masthead is bold and recognisable as a red top, tabloid newspaper
The typography is strong, and the name of the newspaper conveys messages about how the paper may 'hold a mirror' up to what is taking place in society
The plug of the Platinum Jubilee is reinforcing the cultural heritage of the UK
The page is split between the political story and the plug with the political story taking prominence
The slogan with the masthead 'Heart of Britain' suggests the role the newspaper has in society and that it cares about what is happening to the people of the UK
It also suggests that it stands up for the ordinary person
The DPS is busy and eye-catching and incorporates a range of different newspaper features including the editorial, a letter, personal direct quotations, a cartoon, and large images as well as the central story
Unusual to have all these features on one page, suggesting the story's significance
The tone of the paper is supported from ordinary people telling their own tragic Covid-19 stories
The pull quotes in this section, emphasised using large quotation marks, use language that conveys the feeling of the newspaper - 'continues to lie' and 'mockery'
The central images in the DPS are emotive and dramatic, juxtaposing the scene from the hospital ward with Boris Johnson smirking, looking furtive and holding a glass of wine
The selection of these particular images reinforces the point that members of the government broke the rules while people were suffering portraying him as evil and hypocritical
The branding of the paper continues in the DPS with the use of the colour re linking to the 'red top' masthead
The subheading, pull quote and Keir Starmer's name are also in red palette, connoting the political allegiance of the newspaper
Binary opps are used in the DPS to reinforce the point - 'quiet dignity' set against 'lying bombast'
The editorial 'The voice of the mirror' is more opinion led, which can be seen in the standfirst: 'Boris Johnson is prepared to destroy everything and everybody around him to survive at all costs'
Levi Strauss: Binary opps in the DPS between the government and 'the people' which feeds into the 'us vs them' ideology of populism
The newspaper uses signs that are recognisable to audiences and connote meanings - the wine glass connotes a party suggesting the 'partygate' scandal
Representation
Boris Johnson: The front page is dominated by Boris, anchored by a dramatic headline and subheadings. The choice of the image of him focuses on his 'smirk' expression which he has previously been criticised for - reinforced by the caption 'I'm not going' connoting a seemingly uncaring attitude
This selection of images and text conveys the beliefs and attitudes of the newspaper who is left-wing and is suggested by the secondary image of Keir Starmer and the anchor 'crushing' referring to the way he dealt with Boris in the house of commons
Keir Starmer: He is in the secondary image below Boris which is mediated to make him look strong as he was a lawyer too and they want the people of society to see him as a potentially powerful leader
Keir is presented as more serious than Boris who is presented as careless which puts forward the support of Starmer
The sub-headings use numbers to highlight the misdemeanors that Johnson was said to be involved in along with the evidence to support this- '300 pictures handed over...'.
The inclusion of the ellipsis constructs a dramatic pause before 'and still' suggesting the weight of the evidence against him should be enough but he does not take responsibility
Hall: The Daily Mirror uses stereotypical reps of the prime minister to convey its left-wing agenda and raise awareness of inequalities in society
This is particularly pertinent with this story through which the inequalities in power are highlighted- those in power have flout the rules they set whilst the 'ordinary person' conformed to the restrictions and suffered
The sign of the glass of fizz in Boris' hand connotes a party and is juxtaposed against the signs that suggest the 'critical care' ward, leading the audience to draw negative conclusions about his behaviour
DPS: The use of the direct quotations and inclusion of individual stories and reps of ordinary people personalises the story by making it about the experiences of society, rather than a complicated political progress involving subjects distanced from the newspaper's readers
This technique is used by the news media to help audiences build emotional engagement with political stories and is a technique used by tabloid papers.
DPS: The use of emotive and declamatory language such as 'disgraced country's highest office', 'fiasco' and 'stain on our great nation' creates a negative rep of Boris
The use of 'our' encourages the audience to join in with the newspaper in condemning these actions
The choice of the image of Boris Johnson, accompanied by the anchor 'Rule Breaker', directly contrasts with the image from the hospital and that of the 'voice of reason' Keir Starmer with the anchor 'he should do the decent thing and resign'
This constructs a representation of the issue from a left-wing perspective
5th July 2024
Front page: 'Keir we go'- pun engages a less intellectual audience by launching soft news
Strong body language and sense of purpose- pun and anchorage suggest a convinving win
The positive representation of Keir engages labour supporters into accepting the messages
The plug links to the audience- reinforces the landslide
Democracy DPS: Opinion leader- celebs- influence opinions
News values of elite persons. Soft news of human interest/anecdotal - stories marries with tabloid brand
Left wing influence of Gary Neville shows Mirror as an opinion leader
Holly Willoughby DPS: Celebrity gossip and hard hitting- engage less educated and women
Moral panic is likely to be accepted
Reflects social move of protecting women from incel culture
Tattoo women DPS: Reflects audiences desire for social interaction. Unfavourable rep of Rishi Sunak (conservative)
Continuity- popular all over media
Image led rather than text led- less educated audience
It mediates content to make Rishi Sunak look uncomfortable- juxtapose secondary image of Keir
The good the bad and the ugly: Mediation of Nigel Farage in a negative light
Intertextual film reference (1960s) so likely to have a preferred reading of physical/politically unattractive
Tesco ad: Pun and content of advert chimes with entertainment of Mirror
Engages working class audience by saving money