2. The Guardian’s Readership and Information
• Owned by The Guardian Media Group, with its only shareholder
being The Scott Trust which serves to secure the financial and editorial independence.
• PAMCo released data specifying that around 35.6 million adults across the UK access
the Guardian per month in both digital and print formats.
• Also according to these statistics it is the most-read ‘quality news brand’ among groups
including men, women, ABC1, under 35s and families.
• The average reader age is 44.
• Their audiences’ age range is fairly split (14% 15-24, 17% 25-34, 13% 35-44, 19% 45-54,
20% 65+)
• It is the second most-read online newspaper in the UK currently, and more importantly,
the most trusted news publisher by its regular readers and reputation.
• In 2020, 1.5 million readers supported the paper financially.
3. The Guardian Assessment and Analysis
• Masthead- The typeface used for the masthead is a serif, old-fashioned font.
The classic look is likely to appeal to the mature readers (average age 44) that
would be purchasing the newspaper.
• Colour- The colour used on the front page of the website is almost entirely in
primary colours and shades (white, black, grey). The darker blue is visually
pleasing, the red for the live news stories help separate the urgent stories from
the rest, the minimal use of yellow is enough to stand out, but not enough to
make it overbearing. The white completes the ensemble, by making all the
individual tabs and articles look neat and accessible.
• ‘Live’ button- The visual movement, or flashing, of the ‘live’ button makes it
easier for the reader to be drawn to newer, active stories. They will likely be
more relevant, and keep the reader on the site for longer, than some of the
lengthy, heavily researched articles
• ‘Search Jobs’ tab- Appeals to the consistent ‘under 35s’ audience The Guardian
comments on in their About Us section. They clearly want a consistent flow of
newer employees to diversify their writing board and reporters. It also helps
create a brand-consumer relationship, as the reader considers that they are
extending opportunities to their loyal supporters.
• Tabs- The separation of topics creates accessibility to those looking for specific
information than general browsing. This could tie into the fact that The
Guardian is seen as the ‘most trusted news reporter’, since it infers the fact
that people are confident to go directly to the newspaper/website to gather
direct, reliable information for their desired topic of research.
4. • Layout, Sponsorships and Charity- The Guardian, as a company
not driven by profit, has no adverts on their homepage and only a
small space dedicated to asking loyal readers to financially
support it. However, it does dedicate a comparatively large
amount of space to encouraging readers to donate to local
charities.
• Image- The Guardian tend to use a mix of candid and posed
images, though almost all are flattering or neutral of the subject.
If they are of world events, they tend to be full-frame, and each
articles include multiple shots/infographics of what they're
reporting.
• Ideology (objective)- The Guardian prides itself as being one of the
most unbiased news sources in the UK, however we can still
assess that they tend to lean towards promoting left wing values
in their articles.
• Opinion section- Unlike many other papers, The Guardian has a
dedicated section to articles written from one perspective.
Therefore, they can keep their main articles unbiased (to a certain
extent).
The Guardian (continued)
5. Daily Mail/Mail Online Readership and
Information
• Owned by the DMGT (Daily Mail and General Trust), who also own the Metro, I news, New
Scientist.
• The 4th Viscount Rothermere is the chairman and controlling shareholder of the company. In an
article it was revealed that ‘the DMGT chairman is respectful of the boundary between his role
and that of his editor’ and believed it was ‘Unfair to put my [political] views into the public
arena.’
• Daily readership of 2 million
• The Daily Mail sells more copies than any other national newspaper
• The Saturday edition of the Daily Mail sells an additional 600,000 copies, with 1,569,000 copies
being sold that are read by 2.9 million adults, making the Saturday edition of the Daily Mail the
most read newspaper in the country.
• The Daily Mail claims they have a ‘predominately cash rich, time rich audience’.
• 63% ABC1 adults, 27% AB adults, 54% women, 46% men, 83% are homeowners
• A survey in 2014 found the average age of its readers was 58, and it had the lowest demographic
for 15- to 44-year-olds among the major British dailies
6. Daily Mail (MailOnline)
Analysis
• Typography (masthead)- The masthead of the Mail-
Online website is clearly divided in artistic style. The
‘Mail’ half, is emphasised in a bold, serif font, likely to
attract their regular customer base/ those who are
already familiar with the brand, and also to remind the
public that they were a traditional news outlet first,
before an online one. The ‘Online’ half is in a slimmer,
sans-serif, simple font which suggests, possibly to align
with their brand identity, that they are moving
into a new era, and have decided that to appeal to
‘Middle Britain’ (their target audience), they also have to move online.
• Language (sensationalist headlines, and subjective language)- The Daily
Mail largely focuses on using sensationalist and dramatic language to make
its articles appealing e.g. (from examples on the right) ‘furious row’, ‘rattled
union leader’, ‘harrowing pictures’.
• Advertising- The MailOnline uses advertising the most prominently of all
three websites, with multiple large (and often flashing) banners and videos
playing across the screen.
7. Daily Mail Analysis (continued)
• Ideology (Patriotism/elitism)- Many of the MailOnline’s articles revolve
around elite/ royal personage, conforming to their traditionalist values,
and also catering to their older audience who tend to be of or the child
of the post-war generation (subject to lots of propaganda/ encouraged
into supporting royalism from the victory of war).
• Language (familiarity with the ‘elite’) (using celebrities’ first names i.e.
‘Katie’ Katie Price)- The newspaper creates the illusion of a ‘bond’
between the reader and the celebrity/figure to encourage the reader to
have continued interest in their lives, hence buying more issues.
8. The i Readership and Information
• They are also owned by the DMGT (Daily Mail and General Trust)
• 72% ABC1 Readership, 34% AB, 52% women, 48% men
• 42% of readers are aged 18-44
• 734,000 Daily Print readers
• The i has stated previously that their political alignment is liberal
• Founded in October 2010
9. The I Analysis
• Layout (Masthead)- Bold, simplistic font. The use of orange is very significant
since very few (if any) other news brands use this particular colour, causing
The I to stand out.
• Layout- Simplistic, concise, organised (everything is contained, nothing
moving or flashing)
• Brand Values- They have limited (and often no) advertising, but they do have
a link to financially support the country (however, it’s small and would only be
noticeable if the reader was searching for it. They also often have banners
encouraging their audience to donate to relevant seasonal charities.
• Ideology- The ‘I’ claims to be very liberal, which seems to be supported by most
of their articles, they tend to be very objective and state only facts (‘train
strikes… causing cancellations -> no sensationalising adjective, only stating
exact news), if they do insert an opinion, it is usually a direct quote from a
relevant source or found in their ‘opinions’ tab.
