Newspapers: Daily Mirror case study

Our first newspapers case study is on the Daily Mirror.

Remember, this is an in-depth CSP and needs to be studied with reference to all four key concepts: Language, Representation, Industries and Audience.

Notes from the lessons

GLow Words

• Left-wing (Socialist): in favour of social equality and reform.
• Right-wing (Conservative): prefer the traditional way things are and usually not in favour of social equality (for instance Capitalists)
• Agenda: issues brought to the attention of the people through news.
• Elitist: for the good of a few people, usually the upper classes or most educated.
• Political Bias: when an industry supports a certain political view.
• Hard news: information on topics like business, politics and international affairs.
• Soft news: blurs line between information and entertainment so may be centred more on gossip, celebrities or lifestyle issues.
• Tabloid: smaller, popular and tends to focus on sensational stories and softer news. 
• Broadsheet: larger, more niche and tends to focus on serious, harder news.

Historical, social and cultural context

The ‘Press’ is a collective term for the newspaper industry.  The name comes from printing presses. 

Newspapers are still popular media products for audiences to get their news, be entertained and informed.  There are a range of national (Daily Mail), regional (Birmingham Mail) and specialist newspapers (The Racing  Post). 

Whilst still popular, since the 1950s, there has been a gradual decline in newspaper sales due to the rise of TV ownership (and news programmes) and, more recently, the growth of digital news through websites and social media.

The importance of a free press

A free press implies that journalists (those that write for newspapers) and newspaper editors can edit content free of intervention from Government influence.  

In more than a 3rd of a world’s population live in countries there is no press freedom. Journalists are often imprisoned if they disagree with the Government, social media channels are not allowed, non-democratic countries often control access to information and employ state-run news organizations.

Tabloids and broadsheets

There are generally two classifications of newspapers – tabloids and broadsheets.

Tabloids tend to be easier to read, shorter articles and include more photographs.  They report on major news, but also include a lot of showbiz gossip, entertainment and sport.  They tend to be the better sellers.

Broadsheet newspapers tend to be larger (printed on ‘broad sheets’). They tend to be more serious, have smaller fonts, more advanced use of language and less photographs (although they have included more over the last 20 years to be more popular).  They tend to have lower circulation figures than tabloids.

Daily Mirror: Audience

The Daily Mirror audience is older with almost half the audience aged 65+. In terms of social class, most are in the C1, C2 DE social classes. They are likely to be in the Struggler, Resigned or Mainstream psychographic groups.


Representation

The Daily Mirror supports the Labour Party and is against the Conservative Party. Generally, the newspaper will act as a voice for normal people and go against the rich and powerful (like Conservative politicians or greedy bankers).


Industries

The Daily Mirror is owned by Reach, which used to be called Trinity Mirror. Reach publishes over 240 regional titles in addition to the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror - including our local newspaper website getwestlondon.

The Daily Mirror's circulation has fallen drastically over the years from over 3 million a day in 1990 down to around 500,000 a day in 2019. Recent falls have been due to the rise of the internet which is why the Mirror's audience is much older now.

To combat falling print revenues, the The Daily Mirror has:

• Moved towards a multi-platform landscape.  This means that it publishes and synchronises across its print, desktop and mobile platforms.  The Daily Mirror has provided this online content for free.  Some newspapers (e.g. The Times) have a paywall on their online content which means that they charge subscription fees to read articles.  Free providers make money from advertising space online.
• Created a social media strategy in collaboration with the digital team to drive growth of their Twitter and Facebook profiles. 
• Creating news based content that updates regularly, is shared on social media channels, includes a range of video content and encourages audience involvement.  Printed newspapers cannot do this so effectively.

Blog tasks: Daily Mirror case study

Work through the following questions to make sure you are fully prepared for questions on the Daily Mirror and Newspaper industry.

Language

1) Write the definition of the following key language for newspaper front pages:

Masthead:
Incentive:
Pug:
Splash Head:
Slogan:
Dateline:
Kicker:
Byline:
Standfirst:

2) How much does a copy of the Daily Mirror cost?

3) What is the main story on the CSP edition of the Daily Mirror?

4) What promotion takes up a large amount of the front page and why might it appeal to Mirror readers?

5) What is the balance on the Daily Mirror front page between images, headlines and text?


Audience

1) What is the target audience for the Daily Mirror?

2) Why does the Mirror front page story appeal to the Daily Mirror audience?

3) Why might the 'Prey and Display' parking story on the double page spread be interesting for Daily Mirror readers?  

4) Why might a reader enjoy the Daily Mirror? Use Blumler & Katz Uses and Gratifications theory to add detail to your answer.

5) Why are print newspapers generally read by older audiences?


Representation

1) How does the Daily Mirror represent the Conservative Party and its MPs? Look at the main front page story.

2) How does the Daily Mirror represent the golf club that is now admitting female members? Read the story 'At last, Muirfield men let women join golf club'.

3) How does the Daily Mirror represent ordinary people? Look at the Prey and Display article to answer this question.

4) How does the Daily Mirror represent older people? Look at the Prey and Display article to answer this question.

5) How does the Daily Mirror represent businesses and people who make a lot of money? Look at the stories on the double page spread to answer this question.


Industries

1) What company owns the Daily Mirror?

2) What is the Daily Mirror's circulation in 2019? How many papers did the Daily Mirror used to sell back in the 1990s?

3) How has the Daily Mirror reacted to the decline in print sales and the growth of the internet?

4) What does IPSO stand for and what is IPSO's job?

5) Why do some people want stronger regulation of British newspapers?


Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read this Guardian column on the Mirror's struggles with covering Brexit. How did the Mirror suggest people vote in the EU referendum and how did many of its working class audience actually vote?

The Daily Mirror's owner, Reach (then Trinity Mirror) bought control of the Express and Daily Star newspapers in 2018. Read this Guardian feature on the deal. Why did Trinity Mirror buy the papers?

Guardian Media critic Roy Greenslade writes about why tabloid newspapers like the Mirror are struggling to attract younger readers in this column. Make a note of some of the key statistics in this article and also what Greenslade thinks tabloids should do to stay relevant in the digital age. This column also has an excellent discussion of the Mirror's political stance which is ideal to grade 9 answers.


You will get some lesson time to work on this case study but will need to complete most of this at home - due Thursday 31 January.