A Daily Mail Child

I started my paper round a week before my 13^th birthday and I remember being taken aback by how many people read The Sun or Daily Mirror.  Why didn’t everyone read the Daily Mail like my parents did?  I noticed that the handful of houses that did take the Daily Mail were a bit tidier than those receiving red tops.

From a young age, I was hooked into the genius of the Daily Mail as the voice of those aspiring to the middle class.  For the last 3 years I have had the privilege to work for the group that publishes the title.  This week that came to an end as Motors.co.uk was acquired by Manheimfrom the Daily Mail & General Trust.

On a paper round of 35-40 houses, I would deliver at best one or two national broadsheets (only The Times and The Daily Telegraph) making them feel niche.  The Daily Mail, therefore, was my only understanding of a “quality” newspaper.  Holding fast to Thatcher’s vision, no media was probably more influential in my youth.

I know that the fashion is to view the title with cynicism, but I have grown to understand that the title is a masterstroke of positioning.  The target audience is middle aged housewives in lower/average middle class families, but its trick is that it feels like so much more to these readers and always holds the impression of being a quality newspaper without being snooty and “too wordy” (my mum’s words) like The Times. 

The paper faces an ageing readership and a society that is reading fewer newspapers, but the Mail rises strong online.  The profits may never be as big as print, but there is no doubting that the vision/strategy/luck of backing a celebrity news driven website has been the right one.   I felt a sense of pride when the site was named the most visited newspaper website in the world.  I chuckled that the mighty New York Times had to resort to a debate about audience measurement, I’m not sure too many care about comScore’s classification methods. 

The website became an addiction of mine.  Not because I worked within the same office where it was created, but because I am a shameless internet news junky.  Consequently, I have given up the Daily Mail website for lent (along with the Guardian and BBC websites – other mainstays).  My conclusion so far?  No other site is able to provide the immediacy and variety that I’ve become so used to. 

But the thing I’m really struggling to find on other sites is opinion.  I may not always agree with the Mail’s view (remember I’m not a housewife!), but at least there is one.  In this abstinence I have even considered a subscription to The Times online as no other site provides free access to strong (and professional) opinions.  With this I really hope that the government relaxes rules on the independence of television news. 

Fox News may irritate many, but it entertains significantly more.  I would love to see a Daily Mail news channel on TV.  I’m confident that opinionated (but never extremist) news content would make news accessible to the masses.

Although Motors.co.uk moves on to an exciting future with Manheim, I will find it hard to accept that I’m no longer part of the Mail machine (even though I was never properly involved).  But herein lies the paper’s ability to embed itself firmly in the hearts and minds of its loyal audience. 

We often hear theories about the future of media and the influence that the Mail will have should not be understated.  And what’s more, we shouldn’t be scared by it…