Daily Source Bias Check: Daily Mail

History

Established in 1896 by Harold and Alfred Harmsworth and Kennedy Jones, The Daily Mail is a tabloid newspaper in the UK. It is edited by Geordie Greig, who took over as editor in November 2018 from Paul Dacre, who had been the editor since 1992. The Daily Mail’s parent company is DMGT, which owns newspapers including the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday, and The Metro. The chairman is Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, who inherited the media empire founded by his great-grandfather Harold and his brother Alfred a century earlier. Harold Sidney Harmsworth is also known to be an admirer of Mussolini and a supporter of Nazi Germany.

Read our profile on UK government influence on media.

Funded by / Ownership

The Daily Mail’s parent company is Daily Mail and General Trust or DMGT and its chairman is Jonathan Harmsworth who inherited the media empire founded by his great-grandfather Harold Sidney Harmsworth. The Executive Committee is listed on their about page.

DMGT also publishes the Mail on Sunday and Metro titles, and besides journalism, DMGT includes risk management, event organization such as conferences, training sessions, seminars, and is the largest shareholder in property portal Zoopla, which was recently sold to Silver Lake. The main revenue of the Daily Mail is digital advertising, print ads, and subscription fees. You can find their 2018 assets report here.

Analysis / Bias

The Daily Mail is a known supporter of the Conservatives. They are also one of the pro-Brexit tabloids and according to a Reuters article, the Daily Mail published a controversial headline in response to a Brexit Court ruling criticizing the judges, by branding them as ‘enemies of the people’. According to CNBC, the Daily Mail also has been criticized by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales for publishing fake news articles and “hyped up” headlines and “mastered the art of running stories that aren’t true’”.  Further, CNBC reported that DMG media responded by saying “DailyMail.com is the very antithesis of click-bait and hype headlines. We just tell stories better than anyone else.”

In review, the Daily Mail tends to publish stories utilizing sensationalized headlines with emotionally loaded wordings such as “Woman, 63, ‘becomes PREGNANT in the mouth’ with baby squid after eating calamari”, which is a misleading headline. In 2017, Wikipedia banned the Daily Mail as an ‘unreliable’ source. When it comes to sourcing information they use minimal hyperlinked sourcing as well as sourcing to themselves. In general, most stories favor the right, however, the Daily Mail will report either side if the story is sensational enough.

Failed Fact Checks (a shortlist)

• Did the Daily Mail Delete a Story Reporting the U.S. Planned to Blame Assad for ‘False Flag’ Chemical Attacks? – Mostly True
• “Google search spike suggests many people don’t know why they voted for Brexit.” – Mostly False
• Is Using ‘Bug Spray’ to Get High an Alarming New Trend? – Mostly False
• Did a White House Intern Make the ‘White Power’ Hand Gesture? – Unproven
• Did ‘Melbourne Antifa’ Claim Responsibility for the Vegas Massacre? – False
• Are Vigilante Protesters Digging Up Confederate Graves After Charlottesville Clashes? – Mostly False
• “Racist picture of Democrat North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper emerges just days after he called on Ralph Northam to resign – DAILY MAIL.” – Pants on Fire

Overall, we rate Daily Mail Right Biased and Questionable due to numerous failed fact checks and poor sourcing of information. (7/19/2016) Updated (M. Huitsing 9/03/2020)

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk