Political Context - Newspapers

POLITICAL CONTEXT

Individual newspapers may be influenced by a variety of political contexts: from the political affiliation of individual publications, to the ideology of the target audience, to the influence of ownership. The Daily Mail’s messaging is right wing but seems to be most concerned with audience engagement. The Guardian is perceived as left wing but seems to be influenced more by journalistic integrity and an attempt to foster a reputation for political neutrality.

According to a 2017 YouGov poll, The Daily Mail is seen as the most right-wing of mainstream newspapers. However, it’s writers likely see its political messaging as providing a hegemonic preferred reading for the political values of its mainstream middle-class readership. Many publications took an oppositional reading of The Mail’s infamous ‘ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE’ (November 4th 2016) cover, seeing it as stridently right wing, but the individual producers (writer James Slack and editor Paul Dacre) intended to be supportive of their readership’s pro-Brexit stance. The Guardian’s cover of the same day was more measured in its reporting, presenting a factual account of the judicial ruling. However, the cover did feature a call out to Polly Toynbe’s op-ed about Brexit wreaking ‘havoc.’ The Guardian is not averse to presenting left wing views, but the paper acknowledges that this is Toynbe’s opinion, not that of The Guardian, thereby defending its political neutrality and reputation for journalistic integrity.

Curran and Seaton would argue that ownership is the most significant factor influencing media industries. Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire owner of News Corps is infamous for his control of the political messaging of his publications; but what of The Guardian and The Mail? The Guardian is owned by The Scott Trust Ltd, a company created to ensure that The Guardian would have ‘No Billionaire Owner’ (a fact that they share on their homepage). They maintain that this gives them the freedom to prioritise journalistic integrity without the political influence of a powerful owner. Conversely, DMGT is owned by the 4th Viscount Rothermere, a billionaire owner. However, in a 2004 interview with the Independent, he asserted that he keeps his political opinions out of the ‘public arena’ in order to ensure that his editor (Paul Dacre) is not unduly influenced. Hesmondhalgh might suggest that Dacre's position is that of a symbol creator, given the freedom to excite audience engagement. This reinforces the Daily Mail’s core principle, to appeal to the ideology of its readers.

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While The Guardian remains somewhat politically neutral, both publications have strong ties to their support of Labour (The Guardian) and Conservatives (Daily Mail). However, this party-political context doesn’t override the core values of the papers. On January 5th 2021, the front cover of The Daily Mail selected an unflattering image of Boris Johnson, and complained about the loss of freedom for its middle class readers as Britain embarked on a second lockdown. Clearly, it was more committed to its support of the middle-class values of its reader than its party affiliation. Again, audience engagement seems to be the most significant of The Daily Mail’s values. On the same day, The Guardian was far more supportive of Johnson, presenting him as a patriot, weighed down by responsibility and honest about the difficulties ahead. Yet again, The Guardian seemed to prioritise political neutrality and journalistic integrity as its core value.

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