All products and services have a purpose, if it is to entertain or educate, they all have a reason to provide a function to people. Newspapers have a primary purpose to inform, but how can there be different newspapers if they all serve the the same function? The difference is, is that each newspaper supports different ideologies and uphold different values and beliefs of the world, there is no way everyone in the world can hold the exact same values and beliefs, which is why multiple different newspapers all around the world serves a reasonable value. Habermas says that there is an arena of public debate as in form of a public sphere, when applying these ideas, newspapers have an important obligation to inform with veracity. The issue with this is that with modern regulations, entire and vastly different views from person to person, in their own private spheres, modern newspapers lose their “bite as a watchdog” as said by Haberman and will bend to the “service of the state”. When looking at Noam Chomsky’s filters of the mass media machine, it is said that mass media companies and firms as parts of even bigger conglomerates, have a sole function for profit. It’s in their interest to push what ever increases that profit. This is relevant because knowing that the Daily Mail owns The i, they try to reach as vast audiences as possible to sell as many newspapers as possible. The more newspapers that become a part of the Daily Mail, DMG Media, General Trust conglomerate, the larger the public sphere becomes and the larger control they have on public views and ideas, controlling their ideologies of the world. The Daily Mail is the United Kingdom’s second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun and to maintain this status they target audiences by constructing an ideological view of the world, this is done by having a priority for entertainment over news on their news website and also their newspapers, but also reporting on news that suit their traditionally right-wing tabloid, conservative party views, proven by the quote on a recent issue that the ‘Comment’ ie the editorial or voice of the paper says ‘Only Starmer gains from this clueless plot’ – ie Labour will gain from Conservative divisions over Boris Johnson, showing their views on Conservative party clearly and steering their audiences into their own philosophies and ideologies of country issues.

Noam Chomsky believes that there are five filters to the mass media machine, like mentioned before it is believed that mass media companies and firms are parts of even bigger conglomerates and have a sole function for profit. But also there are other ideas supplied by Chomsky that are relevant. The main reason for a business to function is for profit, it’s every businesses main function, so when looking at advertising we can see these advertisers as a tool for the big conglomerates to use, these advertisers are paying for audiences for the businesses to use. When then using these tools, it has to suit the ideas of the ‘media elite’ who make themselves crucial to the process of advertising. They are used as an authoritative power, you cannot challenge power. A way in which media is controlled and controlled specifically in newspapers and journalism is through what’s called the ‘flak machine’ which discredits, distorts challenges and undermines stories which oppose the ideas media products intent to construct for the world.

When looking at the Daily Mail, published by DMG Media and owned by DMG Media, Daily Mail and General Trust we can apply these ideas as a notion that media products target audiences by constructing an ideological view of the world. A morning daily newspaper published in London, long noted for its foreign reporting, it was one of the first British papers to popularize its coverage to appeal to a mass readership and in current world issues it still does so, on page 18 there is a piece on the war happening between Russia and Ukraine and supports ideas of justified use of military against Russia, so it can concur that the Daily Mail supports the use of mass military against certain other nations when believed to be justified. Generally an idea of ‘The common enemy’ supplied by Noam Chomsky can be applied here, it is a current world issue that is being crowed by mass media coverage, each supporting different ideas and opinions on the situation, so The Daily Mail is helping to create a public opinion that supports their views specifically as a method to control the masses and create their ideal ideological view on the world. Also looking further into the target audience for the Daily Mail it seen to be that women make up 52–55% of its readers and are lower-middle-class British women and were the first newspaper in the UK to write articles targeted at women. Since their audience mainly consists of women there goal is to appeal to this audience as much as possible to maximise profits. But generally only ever as a goal to apply ideas that best suits their views, such as the term “suffragette” being first used in 1906, as a term of derision by the journalist Charles E. Hands in the Mail to describe activists in the movement for women’s suffrage. Also there is a general fusion of entertainment and news / information in the current papers. Page 9 shows a picture story of Prince Louis and his mother in a comedic manner as the 4 year old misbehaves (not relevant but is still in as its own page – shows patriotic values of the daily mail – right side, more authoritarian). Also on page 13 it Shows a fictional character beside the queen as in an entertainment aspect, promoting the Paddington film. Ideas of patriotism and nationalism is largely predominant in The Daily Mail, using a handful of Roland Barthes theory on semiotic signs and showing indexical signs such as the front page containing ‘Joyous Jubilee’, supporting Royal Family as well as a header above many pages “Our platinum queen” – use of ‘our’ shows a support for the queen and shows patriotism. Moreover, on page 10 there is a heading saying ‘how the nation came together’, suggesting national harmony – we are all together, which is done as an objective to make the nation look perfect and shroud current issues in the country, they try to serve an ideological view of the world to the readers about patriotism exclaiming how great the event was in order to control opposing persons and ideas.

However in The i, it has a different structure and can support different ideas to The Daily Mail. In the front cover it reads ‘Johnson future turning toxic for Tories’, the paper seems to be against Conservative / Boris Johnson, which when related to The Daily Mail is interesting as even though they are owned by the same conglomerate, they support different idea on politics and world issues. This is done as a method to support as many ideas as possible which people may have in order to generate the most profit possible, this paper supports peoples opposing views on the Conservative party. In this paper there is not a voice of an editor, but an ‘Opinion Matrix’ instead having a range of different voices and opinion, having so much more freedom and plurality, in voice and thought as apposed to the Daily Mail and has space for many views and different stories in a more fair and libertarian way compared to the Daily Mail’s more authoritarian techniques of construction. Also the main page and anchorage master header ‘i’ is interesting as it can be seen to reflect the views and the structure of the newspaper. Can be viewed as a personal pronounal address as an effect to illustrate its more modern values and goals to be a greater newspaper for everyone. Page 20 shows political views against the more authoritarian views of certain parties. “How long before Priti Patel makes it illegal for people to boo someone who they find offensive?” “… showing the Prime Minister as a bumbling spinner of lies.” – The i allows all different ideas and views on its ‘Opinion Matrix’ sections.
“Speaking truth to power” – title – “Thank you to Michael Day for saying what needed to be said about the oppressive Israeli state”. The i has different and more fair views on issues, supporting more than one idea like The Daily Mail seems to do. The front page also contains a heading ‘The new Firm’ which seems to be slightly critical of Royal Family which is vastly different to the patriotic ideas the Daily Mail supplies.

Overall, the use of the Daily Mail and The i, both owned by the same conglomerate is done as a tool to target audiences by constructing an ideological view of the world and reach and appeal to as many people as possible as a main function to generate the most profit as possible supporting Noam Chomsky’s ideas on ownership like mentioned earlier.