MailOnline case study: Blog tasks

MailOnline close-textual analysis

Go to MailOnline and analyse the stories currently featured:

1) What are the top five stories? Are they examples of soft news or hard news?

British couple are killed when their taxi is swept away and fellow Britons are missing after Majorca flash floods caused by torrential rain claim at least nine lives - hard news 

Copscall on 'Commissioner Coward' to quit: Officers share photoshopped images ofLondon police chief with white feather after he revealed he stayed in his carduring Westminster terror attack - hard news

A double royal snub? Prince Philip ‘will decide on theMORNING’ whether he attends Princess Eugenie’s wedding - while Harry and Meghanmay be forced to SKIP the evening reception - soft news 

I'm the 'monster' who spray-painted homeless man! Decorator,33, wears FRANKENSTEIN mask to court to admit attack on rough-sleeper who laterdied - but leaves with order to do 180 hours of unpaid work - hard news 

As if butter wouldn't melt! Before and after photos showexactly how Bobbie the cockapoo cost his owner £1,500... after she popped outfor three hours - soft news 

2) What celebrity content is featured?

• Samantha Cameron wardrobe malfunctions.
• Robin Thicke - Star's pregnant girlfriend.
• Owner of Leicester City club.

3) What examples of ‘clickbait’ can you find?

• Nicole Scherzinger sets the record straight over THAT muttering to Tess Daly on Strictly (and it's NOT what everyone thinks)
• Teenager warns of a 'drink spiking epidemic' after finding a blue 'sleeping' pill at the bottom of her glass on a night out 

4) To what extent do the stories you have found on MailOnline reflect the values and ideologies of the Daily Mail newspaper?

I found that the MailOnline doesn't reflect the values and ideologies of the Daily Mail as they both share quite different stories. The MailOnline uses a lot of click bait and has a lot of celebrity stories as well as 'tips and tricks' to help the audience. Whereas the Daily Mail would cover a story on Brexit, in the MailOnline you would struggle to find a political story.

5) Think about audience appeal and gratifications: why is MailOnline the most-read English language newspaper website in the world? How does it keep you on the site?

The MailOnline is one of the most visited newspaper websites as it features a lot of clickbait content. The fact that it has endless scroll with an endless amount of stories and pictures that easily capture the audience and force them to click it. These factors all contribute to how the MailOnline generate clicks and how it is has become the most visited UK newspaper website.

Guardian column: So Daily Mail and Mail Online are ‘totally separate’? It depends how you look at it by Peter Preston

Read this Guardian column by Media veteran Peter Preston on a row between the Guardian and the Mail over the controversial MailOnline (ex-) columnist Katie Hopkins. Answer the following questions:

1) Why does Preston suggest that the Daily Mail and MailOnline should be considered to be basically the same publication?

“has nothing to do with the Daily Mail, but works for Mail Online – a totally separate entity that has its own publisher, its own readership, different content and a very different world view”

2) How does Preston summarise other newspaper websites?

“The Sun’s website is pure Bun. The Mirror’s is a sprightly extrapolation of the print version. Both are forerunners of what may transpire if print dies a lingering death and all we have left is the online memory. That’s transition, the supposed formula for eternal journalistic life.”

3) How many readers does the online-only Independent now boast?

Racking up 19 million readers.

4) Do you feel the Daily Mail and MailOnline have a different ‘world view’?

I do feel like the Daily Mail and the MailOnline have a different world view due to the fact that the MailOnline is mainly clickbait and post different stories to the Daily Mail. Although the Daily Mail post stories which may be considered soft news the MailOnline is filled with soft news which may be completely irrelevant to some people, because of this i think they both have different views as the MailOnline are predominately focused on giving entertaining stories rather then informing it's audience.

5) Do you see a future for the paper version of the Daily Mail or will it eventually close like the Independent?

I think the Daily Mail may eventually close as less and less people are buying newspapers each year. In the future it will only be the MailOnline which will feature news and this may be a problem in the future as people may have less places to get reliable sources of information and news.

Media Magazine MM55: Media, Publics, Protest and Power

Media Magazine 55 has an excellent feature on power and the media. Go to our Media Magazine archive, click on MM55 and scroll to page 38 to read the article Media, Publics, Protest and Power', a summary of Media academic Natalie Fenton’s talk to the Media Magazine conference in 2015. Answer the following questions:


1) What are the three overlapping fields that have an influence on the relationship between media and democracy?

The three overlapping fields that have an influence are Political, Economic and Journalistic.

2) What is ‘churnalism’ and does MailOnline provide examples of this kind of news gathering?

Churnalism means the cutting and pasting of unattributed rewrites of press agency or public relation materials.

3) Fenton argues that news should serve the public and help democracy. Does MailOnline do this?

The Daily Mail does do this as they post news stories which appeal to the audience. The main headlines are selected by the audience and which ever news story has the most clicks will be on the front page of the website.

4) What is infotainment? Is MailOnline guilty of relying on this kind of content?

This is the type of content which has the element of surveillance to provide audiences but is also for entertainment purposes so that consumers interests can be maintained. Yes the MailOnline are guilty of relying on this content as they post a lot of celebrity gossip and other news stories which appeal to the audience as entertainment.

5) Has the internet empowered audiences or is it still dominated by the major media conglomerates? How does MailOnline fit into this?

I think the internet has empowered audiences was it has given them a platform which they can discuss and debate news stories and situations around the world freely. The internet has given the ability of freedom of speech and has allowed the audiences an easier way of expressing their opinions.

Factsheet 182 - Case Study: The Daily Mail (Part 3) Industrial Context

Finally, read Media Factsheet 182: Case Study: The Daily Mail (Part 3) Industrial Context and complete the following questions/tasks. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets

1) What do Curran and Seaton suggest regarding the newspaper industry and society?

The newspaper industry is believed to say to reflect desires and interests of readers to maintain its readership and they suggest that the mass media and newspaper industry should have a liberal ideology because newspapers are wielded as propaganda tools to have an influence on individuals.

2) Curran and Seaton acknowledge that media ownership in the UK is dominated by what kind of company?

Dominated by powerful individuals who own nearly 51% of the market in newspapers. An example of this is Rupert Murdoch.

3) What does the factsheet suggest regarding newspaper ownership and influence over society?

Owners of newspapers can influence their newspapers with their ideologies and beliefs. An example given is Rupert Murdoch who wanted a war with Iran, his 175 newspapers supported his belief in their articles.

4) Why did the Daily Mail invest heavily in developing MailOnline in the 2000s?

The Daily Mail invested heavily into the MailOnline as they were aware of the growing interest in digital content. Newspapers were seen to have less readership over time and revenues were decreasing, because of this they invested into the MailOnline where they believe the future of the company is.

5) How does MailOnline reflect the idea of newspapers ‘as conversation’?

The reflection of conversation in a newspaper is believed to be direct and immediate making it seem like a conversation building a relationship with the editor and reader.

6) How many stories and pictures are published on MailOnline?

1000 stories and 10000 pictures.

7) How does original MailOnline editor Martin Clarke explain the success of the website?

“The reason MailOnline has become a success is because we cover the waterfront. It’s all the news you need to know, all the news you wanna know. The big stories. The lighter stories. The completely amazing stories"

8) What does it mean when it says readers are in control of digital content?

This means that the audience are in control of what media they choose to consume and what articles appeal to them. This is why clickbait has a massive influence on people as people are more likely to read a news story which has little relevance then to an important topic such as Brexit.

9) How is the priority for stories on the homepage established on MailOnline?

The audience control what is on the homepage of the MailOnline. Which ever story has the most amount of clicks is put onto the front page of the MailOnline.

10) What is your view of ‘clicks’ driving the news agenda? Should we be worried that readers are now ‘in control of digital content’?

I think clicks is a bad way of deciding which news stories should go on the homepage. This can lead to the homepage being covered with useless articles about celebrities rather then covering important topics which may actually effect the audience directly.