Search results matching tag 'Daily Mirror'

Does the Daily Mirror really know what radical means?

1704826 — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 09:28:00 GMT

The Daily Mirror is an appalling rag but today it has excelled itself with a total non-story.

Billed as an 'exclusive', the piece tries to whip up a storm about Tesco running ads on a niche website called The Master's Voice.

It describes the website as 'radical' and that commentators have described the ads as 'horrendously stupid'. So who is the master? Is he an fanatical Imam? Is this a website for radicalised Muslims looking to launch another domestic bombing campaign?

No. It's a rather dreary and innocuous website for supporters of hunting and the Tesco ads drive traffic to the equestrian range of Tesco.com, and not to stockplies of hydrogen peroxide and fertilizer. Other advertisers on the legitimate site include Thomas Pink and eBookers.

Pathetically, Tesco has withdrawn its ads from the site.

OK - so it's not as bad as the fake pictures of British soldiers 'torturing' Iraqis but it's hardly accurate journalism. It seems that the Daily Mirror doesn't know the meaning of the words 'freedom of speech', 'radical' and, I'd argue, 'story'.

Thanks for teaching me how to blog, Damian McBride

1704826 — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:52:00 GMT

As the proud custodian of the least popular blog on this site, and possibly on the whole Brand Republic community (hello loyal readers Oli and Tony by the way), the evidence suggests that any thoughts that I had that I am delivering anything of value to a wider audience are probably deluded.

To be truthful until now I never read blogs either (sorry Dave Trott, Rory et al) consisting, as they usually but not always do, of an ill-thought out stream of consciousness from someone with a half-baked opinion on something about which he knows very little - not much different from getting stuck with the pub bore after he's read the Daily Mail.

But this weekend that all changed. Given the smears emanating from Number 10, I found myself skipping between the self-righteous blog of Guido Fawkes, who is taking credit for claiming Damian McBride's scalp, to the mealy-mouthed LabourList of Derek Draper, who peculiarly blamed everyone else but himself for the appalling campaign.

It was heady stuff, topped only by Kevin Maguire's despicable blog in the Daily Mirror where he attempted to justify the disgusting slurs but was roundly ripped apart by its readers.

Anyway, the point is I'm going to try and liven this blog up to attract more hits by striving - as Derek Draper described McBride's contributions to the planned Red Rag blog - to be 'brilliant', 'funny', 'juvenile' and 'inappropriate' at the same time. I'll try and make them vaguely media-related. I just hope that it doesn't alienate Oli and Tony.

Daily Mirror as a free sheet?

255762 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:35:00 GMT

Piers Morgan has a plan for the survival of the Daily Mirror: make it a freesheet.

Writing in the British Journalism Review Morgan says that every national newspaper will be free within 10 years and that the Daily Mirror should be the first.

Sounds radical doesn't it? But with the Daily Mirror's sales continuing to steadily fall away (1.42m in October down 1.48% for the month) it could happen.

Former Mirror editor Morgan argues that Trinity Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey needs to make the radical decision before The Sun beats it to the punch.

"I would make the Daily Mirror free tomorrow, because I don't see any future for it otherwise. If The Sun were to go free tomorrow it would kill the Mirror. It's a horrific position to be in and I'm sure that if Sly Bailey could find a buyer at the right price she'd sell the national titles like a shot."

I'm pretty sure that Bailey has more than a little time to play with. 1.42m is still a big pile of newspapers and the Sun won't be going free any time soon.

It seems likely if any paper will be first to go free it will be the Evening Standard, which continues to face a costly battle against the London freesheet newspapers.

The Evening Standard's circulation might have jumped above 300,000 for the first time in four months in October, but bulks make up more than 40% of its circulation.

Just how much longer can Associated continue to poor money into producing two London evening newspapers? It has already shed staff and stories are shared with London Lite as it battles News International's Thelondonpaper.

As media jobs are cut left right and centre, advertising dries up, it seems highly unlikely that London can continue to sustain three evening newspapers.

I'm convinced that the next seismic shift in British newspapers will come in that market (unless the Independent suddenly gets sold by Independent News & Media to the Daily Mail & General Trust).

Hat tip Press Gazette

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Hazel Blears - here's some reasons why Mirror readers should not run the country

1704826 — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:17:00 GMT

Labour minister Hazel Blears thinks that readers of the Daily Mirror should run the country, according to today's errrr Daily Mirror.

‘We need more and more MPs who read the Mirror and fewer who write for the Guardian or Telegraph,' she says in the news story.

Well I'm all for a bit more diversity - particularly when the Guardian is involved - but let's look at the evidence based on the editorial content in today's Mirror and therefore, presumably, the issues that its readers care about.

Aside from coverage of Obama, the rest is questionable. Page 3 is dominated by celebrity tat - ‘Enter Robo Posh' - Victoria Beckham arrives at Heathrow airport dressed in leathers, while the second story on the page is about some bloke from Strictly Come Dancing may miss a show because he's injured. A full page on X Factor follows ‘X Factor Rachel SACKS mentor Dannii', while there are also stories on Gwyneth Paltrow and a bloke who is scared of fireworks.

Do we really want people like this running the country? I think I'd rather have retired colonels and polytechnic lecturers any day.

Self-indulgence masked as good intentions?

1704826 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:11:00 GMT

Last night was Our Proudest Night, according to today's Daily Mirror. You can find out yourself, if you can be bothered, by watching ITV1 tonight.

The Mirror's Pride of Britain Awards is now in its tenth year and to mark the occasion the Mirror boasts that it attracts the ‘top celebrities other award shows can only dream of'. And that's the point.

No-one can dispute that rewarding people who have done brave and noble deeds - such as the Royal Marine who threw himself on a grenade to save his colleagues or the child with a muscle-wasting disease who raises money for charity despite her illness, but isn't slightly cynical that the ‘stars' (Paul O'Grady, Emma Bunton, Cat Deeeley who ‘flew in from the LA) were the ones pictured in their best rags pouting on the front page of today's paper and not the heroes themselves?

We are informed in another headline that ‘Lineker was moved to tears' while Dannii Minogue was apparently seen to ‘dab her eyes'. Such a public display of grief is mawkish and is seen to exploit the misery, from which heroism inevitably stems, of others.

And as for Mirror executive editor Peter Wallis getting a special award from the PM for founding the awards in the first place - pass the sick bag.