JUNK MAIL (Daily Mail)

Member Name: excelsior81

Product:	Daily Mail
Date:	13/09/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Human interest stories

Disadvantages: Is this news?

Before I write this review, I should in advacne apologise to those who read the Daily Mail everyday as their paper of choice, this is not a reflection on you or how you see the world, but more how I view it. I am sure that deep down those that choose to read this paper have some great qualities.

There are a few things in life that I am loathed to admit to, yet I think it is time that I cam eout of the closet and admitted that yes.... I do *gulp* read the Daily Mail online everyday.

Now to some of you no doubt this will not be shocking, it is after all a very popular newspaper in the UK and one read by millions of people up and down the country, but I consider myself a 'bit of a lefty' I love the European Union and a Federalist State, I hate pounds and ounces..preferring Kilograms and grams, I think 100 watt lightbulbs are a bad idea and am glad that they have been removed from shelves, I like my bananas a certain shape and length, I think that MPs should be allowed expenses for food and travel and so on (but yes I am against someone cleaning a moat out before you all start) and I think that what someone does in the privacy of their own home is entirely up to them and I do not want to read about it...call me old fashioned, but I think the conditions that people live in due to sanctions in Zimbabwe is a little bit more important than what a Policeman or teacher does in their spare time when they are letting their hair down.

Yet.... I read it.


Everyday without fail I log onto the site and with an almost perverse sense of addicition I scan the stories looking for the ones that are going to wind me up the most. I love the stories where someone who is 85 has been targetted by their local council for not separating their waste, or the story last week I loved where a single pensioner had hoarded over one thousand one hundred watt lightbulbs so that she could 'carry on reading', she balmed the European Union for banning the bulbs and the Mail lapped up the story...of course not mentioning at all that 100 watt lightbulbs have been proven to increase energy demands in the home at a time when we need to be seriously reducing the amount of energy we need... oh no. Let us keep this into perspective, she likes a bright light!

The Daily Mail website and Newspaper are always full of stories of this style, often short on substance and more interested in the headline, the stories often target those deemed to be:

* Politically correct (Chainging words to songs, road signs ets.)
* working for a local council (bin snooping, CCTV cameras)
* A member of a public service (police, MP, COuncil worker, teacher)

That said they do also tackle some good issues and in the true spirit of an Englishman, they will often lobby for changes or better conditions for a certain group. They were for example a huge supporter of the Ghurkas and their bid to get recognition as British citizens (which surely is fair after they fight for us time and time again).

The paper is essentially, right wing, writing commentary on lower taxation, better schools and hospitals (for less money obviously) and most of all, outright attacks on immigration. There is nothing the Daily Mail likes better than a story about an immigrant who has done wrong, who has stolen benefits, or attacked someone...because of course we all know that British people would never do that...in fact there would be no crime without immigrants... I jest. But they also fail to address the benefits of immigration to our society, instead always focussing upon the negative.

The best thing about the website is that it gives you the chance to comment upon the stories they have written. Recently, my favourite one involved a restaurant receipt. The story went that staff in a restaurant ruined a families meal by writing an expletive on a computerised receipt because the families two year old had been a little restless and noisy.

The story was in the great tradition of the Daily Mail. How dare staff write this, someone should be...no MUST be sacked for this! They had ruined a perfectly good evening out for a family who were obviously aghast that someone had written such a thing on their receipt (hmmm I wonder if they got a tip?). The readers however, were having none of it. Although they agreed that to write something of this nature was a stupid thing to do, they did acknowledge the role the child played when they became 'a little restless'. Those with toddlers will know that a little restless can mean a myriad of things including running up and down the restaurant screaming, shouting and attacking other diners...in the extreme of course.

So I kind of thought after that, that not everyone who read this paper was without merit and I now think that more people read it to keep in touch with 'middle England' than read ti to be shocked. I have notcied a real trend in the past couple of years with website news that they go for the shock value story...only to have people read it and say 'so what?'

For those of you who read it for the stars, then may I suggest you read Jonathan Cainer's website for free everyday, then you will not have to log on and boost their website traffic. Leave the reading of a paper like this to those with a sense of society and what is fair...something that is often lacking from the ridiculous stories they print.

Oh...and if you want to carry on reading it then make sure you compliment it with a vist to a few other sites, there is a bigger world out there you know than your local council and their snooping into your wheelie bin.

Summary: Stick to other websites