Newspapers: MailOnline case study

 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?

'I'm so proud of you!' Kate Garraway’s COVID stricken husband Derek Draper breaks down in tears as he wakes from a coma and mouths the word 'pain' in heartbreaking new teaser from fly-on-the-wall documentary Finding Derek

BA and easyJet axe flights as government makes holidays illegal and bring in £5,000 fines from Monday - but Matt Hancock insists ban on leaving England 'without reasonable excuse' could be EASED from May 17

US health chiefs accuse AstraZeneca of providing 'outdated' information from its vaccine trial - when it claimed the shot was 79% effective - in a bid to get approval in America

Could dimming the sun help to cool the Earth? Bill Gates wants to spray millions of tonnes of CHALK into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight and slow global warming - but critics fear it could be disastrous

Gales hit Britain with winds topping 50mph and overnight chills of minus 5C as Icelandic blast sweeps in before mini heatwave is predicted for next week

2) What celebrity content is featured?

Celebrity gossip and news from their social media and paparazzi.

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

Dancing on Ice’s Vanessa Bauer shows off a lot of skin as she models VERY racy see-through thong bodysuit from Rihanna's collection

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

They reflect the same conservative ideologies as the DailyMail newspaper.

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?

An audience gratification could be diversion as mail online has a lot of celebrity gossip and news paired with an endless scroll to keep audiences engaged with hundreds of news headlines.

1) Why does Preston suggest that the Daily Mail and MailOnline should be considered to be basically the same publication?
They have the same types of readers in terms of their views and beliefs (socially and politically).

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.

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

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

They both have the same right wing views but mailonline is for a younger audience as they focus more on the entertainment such as celebrity gossip whereas daily mail seems more political focued.

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

Due to the decline in newspapers i think it will eventually close but might take a little longer than other newspapers as it has a high readership.

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

the political field,the economic field, the journalistic field.

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

Churnalism is the increase in the use of of unattributed rewrites of press agency or public relations material.

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

In a way MailOnline does this their demographic have specific views they agree with and MailOnline reflects this and gives their readership the content they want.

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

MailOnline is guilty of relying on infotainment content as it is profitable but it is also what their readership are most interested in as their website if designed so that the stories with the most clicks are at the top and these stories are usually celebrity gossip and infotainment.

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

The media is still dominated by major media conglomerates with a narrow range of views and ideologies. MailOnline fits into this as it has the same views as DailyMail.

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

 Curran and Seaton consider the relationship of mass media power to society, and how control is exercised over the media.

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

 dominated by large news organisations like BBC News, the Guardian, The Times, The Sun and Telegraph.

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

audiences will have difficulty reaching an audience without the power of the mass media industries.

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

There was a decline in newspapers and increase in digital technology.

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

MailOnline has a conversation with its readers as producers receive feedback from readers, but also where readers can communicate with each through the comments. 

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

1000 stories, but 10,000 pictures.

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

Clarke says, “we let the readers decide what they’re interested in, that’s why MailOnline is so sticky and why it’s so addictive and why people love it so much.”

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

The stories that are on the homepage are there because they have a high click count; lots of people in the last 5 minutes read these stories so it’s highly likely that new readers arriving at MailOnline will want to read these as well.

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

The stories that are on the homepage are there because they have a high click count; lots of people in the last 5 minutes read these stories so it’s highly likely that new readers arriving at MailOnline will want to read these as well.


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