Daily Mirror - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check

LEFT-CENTER BIAS

These media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Left-Center sources.

Overall, we rate The Daily Mirror as Left-Center Biased based on story selection that moderately favors the Left and Mixed for factual reporting due to poor sourcing and several failed fact checks.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: United Kingdom
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY

History

The Daily Mirror is a British Tabloid founded by Alfred Harmsworth (Lord Northcliffe) in 1903. Initially, the primary audience was women. It was described as a newspaper for gentlewomen; however, it was unsuccessful; therefore, it moved to a broader focus. Its new editor Hamilton Fyfe converted the paper into a photo-rich format using photojournalism. The paper’s next owner was Alfred Harmsworth’s brother Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, who is also known to be an admirer of Mussolini and supporter of Nazi Germany.

In 1935, Lord Rothermere sold his shares in the newspaper to H. G. Bartholomew and Hugh Cudlipp, with the paper becoming a left-wing working-class newspaper. In 1951, Cecil King replaced Bartholomew as chairman; however, he was sacked in 1968, when he began using the newspaper to attack the head of the Labour Party, Harold Wilson. Currently, Reach plc is the owner.

Read our profile on UK government influence on media.

Funded by / Ownership

British Publishing Company Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror) owns The Daily Mirror. Revenue is generated through digital advertising, print ads, and subscription fees.

Analysis / Bias

The Daily Mirror uses pictures as the main feature of the story, with the pages mainly covered by photographs. However, they are also known to use fake photographs, which caused its editor Piers Morgan to resign. The Guardian has also revealed that The Daily Mirror used a misleading stock photo that misrepresented the story.

In review, The Mirror uses emotionally loaded sensational headlines and oversimplified content such as “School sends girl, 5, home in different outfit and asks her to ‘cover her body.” The source for this story is a Facebook post. Further, the paper has a section called “mums” that also presents sensational headlines such as this: “Woman goes on romantic holiday with boyfriend – and returns with lesbian love.” When it comes to world news about the USA, they publish articles with emotionally loaded anti-Trump-toned headlines such as “Donald Trump WON’T be allowed to stay at Buckingham Palace during UK state visit.” Generally, articles are poorly sourced and written in a “gossip” style. When it comes to British news, again, The Mirror rarely uses hyperlinks to source others.

Politically, The Mirror publishes anti-Brexit articles such as “The Brexit Zombies are going to eat this country alive.” While they do criticize the Labor Party, they did endorse them in the last election. Lastly, according to YouGov.com, its political stance in the UK is known as left of center. Further, a Reuters institute survey found that 23% of respondents trust their news coverage and 44% do not, ranking them #13 in trust of the major UK news providers.

Failed Fact Checks

Poverty has skyrocketed. – False
82% of study participants who were prescribed statins or blood pressure pills were more likely to gain weight. – False
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has told nurses not to use the term “ladies” or “lady.” – False
Under Boris Johnson’s planned withdrawal agreement GDP per capita would fall by up to 7% in 10 years. – False
50,000 retail jobs were axed in the first half of this year. – False
“The number of British children who need foster care has risen by 44% during the pandemic, children’s charity Barnardo’s has warned.” – False
NHS staff do 11 hours a week unpaid overtime on average. – False
Imperial College London’s REACT-LC study found catching Covid-19 in the colder winter months may be a factor in whether some people find their symptoms persisting. – False
One in 10 children have started self-harming. – False

Overall, we rate The Daily Mirror Left-Center Biased based on story selection that moderately favors the Left and Mixed for factual reporting due to poor sourcing and several failed fact checks. (5/13/2016) Updated (M. Huitsing 03/08/2024)

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