# Have you heard of the (UK) Daily Mail, what's your opinion about it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527 "2011-10-23T12:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/41 "2011-10-25T11:42:52Z")
The Sunday Mail often has free DVD giveaways of films I’d like to have. And I _still_ won’t buy it. Hate-filled crap. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/42 "2011-10-25T11:53:57Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > The thing is, it posts incredibly racist and xenophobic things, and in the very next article, vermently condemns the closest Britain has to a Fascist party, the BNP. > > I don’t like the BNP, but if they share so many of your views with it, it’s hypocritical to call it an anathma I definitely agree in its hypocrisy. The BNP acknowledges its racist views and so is not acceptable to most of Middle England, whilst the Daily Mail (_spit_) just includes those views, to be acceptable to as many readers as possible. If those readers were being honest with themselves they’d either read a different newspaper or vote for the BNP. Another way Daily Mail keeps viewers is by labeling everything as being almost the end of their way of life, whether it be a new disease located in the DRC which will kill all pensioners in the UK or Muslims bent on doing something or other to the readership’s families and communities. This keeps people ‘tuning in’ for updates, much like the soap operas and reality programs. Plus the Daily Mail has its lottery scratchcard promotions, free dvds (of woeful, old movies), women’s mag, tv schedule mag and cooking mag/dvd from popular tv chefs. Not that I buy it - I prefer the Times, Telegraph, Independent and Guardian - but its always there in the newsagents. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/43 "2011-10-25T11:54:36Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > Was it John Betjeman who said something like: > > ‘there is nothing sadder in the world than seeing a pretty girl on a train and then realising she’s reading the Daily Mail’ I thought Betjeman was more into men. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/44 "2011-10-25T13:21:31Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I thought Betjeman was more into men. Maybe it was Philip Larkin or Ted Hughes then. It was one of those poet guys anyway. I can’t find the quote via google as it keeps sending me to the Daily Mail or this thread. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/45 "2011-10-25T13:23:42Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > It’s well known in Ireland for its anti-Irish stance for many years but a few years ago they launched an Irish edition that seems to be doing OK. I also know it well for its reputation for categorising everything in the known universe into cancer curing and cancer causing categories. > I know it from this [rebel song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl-cl-frpJw) too. Less anti-Irish, more anti-Everyone-that-isn’t-British. Don’t get thinking you’re special, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/46 "2011-10-25T13:58:56Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Less anti-Irish, more anti-Everyone-that-isn’t-British. Don’t get thinking you’re special, right? 😉 Well since they’ve never launched a local edition in everywhere else they deride I think it’s easy to argue for Irish exceptionalism. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/47 "2011-10-25T14:55:54Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Well since they’ve never launched a local edition in everywhere else they deride I think it’s easy to argue for Irish exceptionalism. 😛 Well they know that all Irish people really underneath want to be Brits 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/48 "2011-10-25T14:58:18Z")
As nobody else has posted it, I guess I’ll have to: Jim Hacker’s summary of the British newspaper readers: > [@Yes](#): > > **Hacker** : Don’t tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: The _[Daily Mirror](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Mirror)_ is read by people who think they run the country; _[The Guardian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian)_ is read by people who think they _ought_ to run the country; _[The Times](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Times)_ is read by the people who actually _do_ run the country; The _[Daily Mail](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Mail)_ is read by the wives of the people who run the country; The _[Financial Times](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Times)_ is read by people who _own_ the country; _[The Morning Star](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morning_Star)_ is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; And _[The Daily Telegraph](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daily_Telegraph)_ is read by people who think it _is_. > > **Sir Humphrey** : Prime Minister, what about the people who read _[The Sun](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_%28newspaper%29)_?\*\* > > Bernard\*\*: _Sun_ readers don’t care who runs the country, as long as she’s got big tits. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/49 "2011-10-25T16:01:54Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Well since they’ve never launched a local edition in everywhere else they deride I think it’s easy to argue for Irish exceptionalism. 😛 The Scottish edition has some different content from the main one too - they leave out the more blatantly anti-Scots stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/50 "2011-10-25T16:15:27Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Well they know that all Irish people really underneath want to be Brits 😉 Fight! Fight! You all know Canada wants to be the 51st State, right? ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/51 "2011-10-25T16:20:03Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Fight! Fight! > You all know Canada wants to be the 51st State, right? I thought they already were. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/52 "2011-10-25T16:49:05Z")
I read the American version online and they do a great job with gossip and strange stories. It is one of the best sites out there for just fun reading and pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/53 "2011-10-25T17:58:29Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Fight! Fight! > You all know Canada wants to be the 51st State, right? That’s just a rumour that we spread about to keep our southern colonies pacified. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/54 "2011-10-25T21:11:44Z")
I pretty much know it only as a source of FARK links that I can’t get to because it’s blocked at work. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/55 "2012-11-07T22:59:10Z")
I think the Daily Mail has reached a new low. They ran this story on election day. **[Who needs polls? 105-year-old witch doctor in President’s ancestral Kenyan village predicts Obama will win](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2228263/John-Dimo-Witch-doctor-105-Presidents-ancestral-Kenya-village-predicts-victory-Obama-tomorrows-election-residents-prepare-celebrate.html)** ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/56 "2012-11-08T00:40:40Z")
And he did win. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/57 "2012-11-08T01:04:37Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I think the Daily Mail has reached a new low. > > They ran this story on election day. > > **[Who needs polls? 105-year-old witch doctor in President’s ancestral Kenyan village predicts Obama will win](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2228263/John-Dimo-Witch-doctor-105-Presidents-ancestral-Kenya-village-predicts-victory-Obama-tomorrows-election-residents-prepare-celebrate.html)** Erm, that is NOWHERE NEAR a low for the Daily Mail. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/58 "2012-11-08T01:32:36Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > Erm, that is NOWHERE NEAR a low for the Daily Mail. Indeed it isn’t. The thing that boils my piss is that they are seemingly getting away with the whole phone hacking thing. Operation Motorman suggests that the Mail was the worst offender! ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527/59 "2022-10-07T02:39:00Z")
Ten years later it seems not much has changed: > The group’s allegations of illegal activity involving the publisher of the Mail, Mail on Sunday and MailOnline include: > > The hiring of private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside people’s cars and homes. > > The commissioning of individuals to surreptitiously listen in to, and record, people’s live, private telephone calls while they were taking place. > > The payment of police officials, with allegedly corrupt links to private investigators, for sensitive inside information. > > The impersonation of individuals to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics, and treatment centres by deception. > > The accessing of bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions through illicit means and manipulation. > **[Doreen Lawrence, Prince Harry and others launch legal action against Daily...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/oct/06/doreen-lawrence-prince-harry-and-others-launch-legal-action-against-daily-mail-publisher)** > > Famous figures including Elton John accuse Associated Newspapers of ‘gross breaches of privacy’ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-the-uk-daily-mail-whats-your-opinion-about-it/600527.md?page=2)