I have chosen to blog about mid-market papers because these are the newspapers my parents buy – squeezing a little bit of home into my journalism work. Tabloids tend to irritate me as reading them, to me, is like reading a comic. This isn’t ideal to say the least. Broadsheets are more in depth and I believe that you achieve more from reading them, take for example a food analogy: tabloids are like fast food tasting good but in the long run damaging your health and a broadsheet is your five a day a slight struggle to stomach but over time there are many beneficial effects. As for Sunday papers, they are just wonderful I don’t really need to explain it.
I am in complete agreement with Cole’s explanation with Britain’s love with the written word. I for one am absolutely infatuated with printed copies of the written word; piles of magazines, papers and books hang over my room at home. The smell of newspaper ink leaves me weak: a traditional British aroma, almost the smell of a true gentleman professional. I admit to the chaos it can cause but I cannot physically read anything of significant length online: Cole’s articles are even proving a struggle. I have to feel it in my hands otherwise it is in one ear and out the other. The press’ influence on all state affairs is clearly still evident over politicians and the broadcasting organisations as Cole suggests.
Cole makes an extremely good point that ‘readers tend to regard their chosen paper as objective and unbiased and have prejudices against other papers based frequently on never having read them’. I think we can all be guilty of this but as journalists we analyse several papers a day and do not stop to consider that the individual is likely to be confined to their one daily publication. This of course is not a criticism but merely an observation at the variation of restricted audiences in society.
Traditional Express readers have been left baffled over the years, with constant change to allegiances of the paper. Originally the Daily Express threw its support to the Conservatives, the monarchy and the empire but under the 1996 ownership of Hollick he attached the Express to allegiances towards New Labour and a form of 60s liberalism. In 2004, Peter Hill reverted back to the traditional Tory allegiance. Constant change did not encourage sales as trade still fell. Cole seemingly mocks the newspaper’s individual agenda branded as ‘obsessions’ relating to the typical nationalistic pride within.
Rival to the Express in the mid-market is the Daily Mail but the Mail’s domination of the sector has been largely unchallenged in recent years. At the time of Cole’s writing the Mail has not undergone any change of ownership and has ‘always invested heavily in journalism and understood their audience and its prejudices’. This in turn builds a stronger and more loyal audience knowing exactly what to expect from a paper in every issue.
There is a large promotion budget in the Mail and the publication spends a high proportion of funds on free items. Despite this obvious hook, the Mail is edited thoroughly and is ‘always quick off the mark’. Classed as a ‘decent’ publication perhaps? The Mail is described as “middle England” and predominantly is a Conservative newspaper. Audiences are spread evenly across the AB, C1 and C2 social grades.
The Mail is shown in a more positive light than the Express by Cole but he seems to begrudgingly hold this view.
megrosefisher 