Daily Mail

The Daily Mail is a British newspaper, first published in 1896. Its sister paper, the Mail on Sunday, was launched in 1982. The editorial slant of both papers is right-wing. The Daily Mail was Britain's first daily newspaper aimed at what is now considered the middle-market and the first to sell 1 million copies a day. Originally broadsheet, the Mail switched to the tabloid format in which it is published today on May 3 1971, the 75th anniversary of its founding. Its chief rival, the Daily Express, has a similar political stance and target audience, but sells fewer than half as many copies. As of 2004 the publisher of the Mail, the Daily Mail and General Trust, is a FTSE 100 company and the paper has a circulation of more than 2 million, the second largest circulation of any English language daily newspaper, and the twelfth highest of any newspaper.

Criticism

The Daily Mail is a target of satire and criticism by centrist and left-of centre media and individuals as well as certain satirical magazines.

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As a target of satire the stereotypical Daily Mail reader is characterised as a borderline-racist, homophobic, aspiring middle-class conservative who lacks the intelligence to read the broadsheet equivalent the Daily Telegraph. In fact, in recent years the phrase 'Daily Mail reader' has become increasingly used in general parlance (not just in the media) as shorthand for any person with such attitudes.

Related Topics:
Racist - Homophobic - Aspiring middle-class - Conservative - Broadsheet - Daily Telegraph

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Due to its stance on moral issues - for instance, its continuing condemnation of already-punished criminals such as Myra Hindley and Maxine Carr, and its editorial outrage at television programmes such as Jerry Springer - The Opera or Brass Eye - some left-wingers refer to the paper with nicknames such as the "Daily Wail" and the "Daily Hate". The latter is in part because - according to Polly Toynbee in The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1178434,00.html - the Mail's founder, Lord Northcliffe, said his winning formula was to give his readers "a daily hate".

Related Topics:
Myra Hindley - Maxine Carr - Jerry Springer - The Opera - Brass Eye - Polly Toynbee - The Guardian

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Another common criticism of the Mail is its treatment of asylum seekers. Several opponents (including London Mayor Ken Livingstone in a well-publicised argument) have claimed that the newspaper panders to racism in this respect. On a related note, the paper's past is also criticized, most notably the fact that the Daily Mail supported the British Union of Fascists for a while during the 1930's.

Related Topics:
Asylum seekers - London Mayor - Ken Livingstone - British Union of Fascists

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The Mail is often ridiculed for its supposed obsession with the property market. This has led to Private Eye mock-headlines such as Influx of asylum seekers cause house values to plummet and Property prices fall as asteroid prepares to wipe out life on Earth.

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Another aspect of the Mail that draws controversy is its alleged promotion of pseudoscience. Astrology is often the subject of articles, and the newspaper runs a profitable telephone astrology service through its association with Jonathan Cainer. Regular features are also run on Alien abduction, the Bible code, and other such paranormal subjects. In the same vein, the Mails opposition to the "single-jab" MMR vaccine was condemned by medical practitioners. It is, however, inconsistent in such areas, and marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of homeopathy's founder with an article calling it "Undiluted Tosh!".

Related Topics:
Pseudoscience - Astrology - Jonathan Cainer - Alien abduction - Bible code - Paranormal - MMR vaccine - Homeopathy

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The style of the Daily Mail is frequently criticised for its perceived conservatism. The Guardian, for example, referred to it as a "thick, grey tombstone of a tabloid".

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