HISTORICAL CONTEXT - NEWSPAPER QUESTION

Discuss the way that historical context shapes the way that audiences respond to different stories in newspapers. 

Historical context plays a significant role in shaping the ways audiences respond to stories in different newspapers, particularly when considering outlets like The Guardian and The Daily Mail, which have distinct editorial stances and reader demographics.

The Daily Mail was established in 1896, and has traditionally taken a more right wing political stance, in keeping with its middle England readership. In a 2004 interview with the Independent, owner Jonathan Harmsworth, identified this as the ongoing priority of the paper, suggesting that their social and political stance may have changed over its 100 year (or so) history, but that its desire to serve its readers has not. Throughout its history, The Daily Mail has often reflected and amplified prevailing societal attitudes and anxieties, particularly around topics such as immigration, crime, and national identity. Its response to the historically significant felling of the statue of Colston that took place during the Summer of 2020 exemplifies this, with the cover proclaiming this event as ‘Lawless and Reckless’ and evoking the figure of Churchill to demonstrate its allegiance to its conservative readers and to the importance of British history. Given Harmsworth's assurance that his ownership of the newspaper has no impact on its editorial stance and that his editor (at the time Paul Dacre) has full editorial freedom to serve their readers, it seems very likely that the readership of The Mail will have responded negatively to this historical event, in line with the papers reporting. Moreover, their consistent messaging reinforces the idea that they are fully aware of their audience's right wing response. For example, their cover following the death of Queen Elizabeth was deeply patriotic and its headline "Our hearts are broken" suggested complete value alignment with its readership regarding this historical event.

Conversely, the Guardian was founded in 1821 as a response to the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 and since then, has consistently positioned itself as a liberal voice, advocating for progressive causes, social justice and holding government to account. The newspaper's editorial stance has been shaped by key historical events and its audience has a reputation for being political left-leaning, interested in global affairs, liberal and educated. As such, stories in The Guardian are often framed from a perspective that emphasises liberal values or political neutrality. For example, their reportage of the incident that took place during the historic BLM protests of 2020, simply presented the now famous image of the incident, while their lead story held the government accountable following an accusation of ‘ignorance’ on UK racism. So, we can see that the Guardian manages maintaining its reputation for unbiased journalism and its liberal dedication to holding the powerful to account. Even its reporting of the death of the queen maintained its political neutrality, with its front cover simply presenting an image of her coronation and the dates of her life. Even with an historical event as seemingly unifying as the death of the monarch, the Guardian holds to its unbiased messaging allowing its audience to make up their own minds. 

Clearly, historical context shapes the content of both papers, but their response remains consistent; the Guardian are focused on their ongoing mission to provide a liberal voice that speaks truth to power, while maintaining its reputation for neutrality, while the Daily Mail continue to give their audience the kind of commentary that reinforces their right wing values.