The dark world of the Daily Mail
What kind of people buy the Daily Mail newspaper? That's a rhetorical question, by the way. If you know your British tabloids, the Mail is the one that provides the same sensationalism and Bingo games as the other tabloids, whilst flattering its readers that they are somehow better than those who plump for The Sun, The Mirror, and the Star etc.
The Daily Mail has always tried to target women readers, but in general it's packed with received wisdom, hearsay, and prejudice, knee-jerk hatred of anything reeking of socialism or fairness, and the love (of jackboots and uniforms) that dare not speak its name.
The Mail's headline today trumpets that it is deadly bird flu that killed the parrot, and it is "in the UK" in spite of the fact that it's not, because the bird died in quarantine, which is the place that astronauts and pets have to go before they are allowed official entry.
The Mail is, naturally, keen not to over-emphasise the fact that it's still bird flu, and that the 60 people in Asia who are supposed to have died from it had very intimate relations with the birds they caught it from, and that cross-infection from human-to-human is not yet possible.
If it happens that this virus mutates and becomes a deadly flu epidemic, no amount of tabloid headlines in advance of it happening will prevent it. If it doesn't turn into a deadly human epidemic, then all these avian flu stories are only of interest to the poultry industry.
On another subject, the Daily Mail tries to be feminine and sensitive, wherever possible. Frank Bruno's got a book out. The Guardian reports on it with the headline (on the front page of the web site), The battle to be happy. The Daily Mail handles the story with a great deal more compassion and empathy: BRUNO: MY DESCENT INTO MADNESS.
You can see where they're coming from. If you read the Daily Mail, this is what buying that newspaper says about you. In no particular order, you are:
I was going to add "Ugly" to the list, but that would just be a guess.
The Daily Mail has always tried to target women readers, but in general it's packed with received wisdom, hearsay, and prejudice, knee-jerk hatred of anything reeking of socialism or fairness, and the love (of jackboots and uniforms) that dare not speak its name.
The Mail's headline today trumpets that it is deadly bird flu that killed the parrot, and it is "in the UK" in spite of the fact that it's not, because the bird died in quarantine, which is the place that astronauts and pets have to go before they are allowed official entry.
The Mail is, naturally, keen not to over-emphasise the fact that it's still bird flu, and that the 60 people in Asia who are supposed to have died from it had very intimate relations with the birds they caught it from, and that cross-infection from human-to-human is not yet possible.
If it happens that this virus mutates and becomes a deadly flu epidemic, no amount of tabloid headlines in advance of it happening will prevent it. If it doesn't turn into a deadly human epidemic, then all these avian flu stories are only of interest to the poultry industry.
On another subject, the Daily Mail tries to be feminine and sensitive, wherever possible. Frank Bruno's got a book out. The Guardian reports on it with the headline (on the front page of the web site), The battle to be happy. The Daily Mail handles the story with a great deal more compassion and empathy: BRUNO: MY DESCENT INTO MADNESS.
You can see where they're coming from. If you read the Daily Mail, this is what buying that newspaper says about you. In no particular order, you are:
- Selfish
- Ignorant
- Uncaring
- Greedy
- Deluded
- Gullible
- Nasty
- Oafish
I was going to add "Ugly" to the list, but that would just be a guess.
posted by Anonymous at
Monday, October 24, 2005
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