I confess everything..........................

[twogorgeousboys]

I don't care who knows it anymore (haven't considered whether anyone will be remotely interested).

I AM A DAILY MAIL READER.

Forgive me Mumsnetters for my sin.

I have a strange reason for reading it, nothing to do with politics as I am not a Tory voter.
It was the paper my Mum used to read, as she liked the "features" sections (health, femail etc). The rest of it she'd skip through as it didn't reflect her political affiliations either.

For me, its a link to her now she's dead, sort of comforting to have adopted one of her habits.

I decided to come clean as I've seen quite a few scathing comments about DM readers on Mumsnet and just wanted to say we can be quite pleasant really

Well, I think that's lovely if it gives you a connection to your mum. Psst, I let a DM reader babysit for me

My mum used to read the sun, now she reads the mail the express and the sun, so I do too. Prefer the express, and mainly reads the newspaper for the bit where folks ask questions like, How much did a loaf of bread cost in 1893 and 3 different folk write in all with different answers. Dont know what paper its in and dont know why I like it but I do!

Nothing to confess really... everybody complain about them but everybody has a peek at them given the oportunity, MIL is always complaining of this sort of journalism coming free with her respectable newspaper, but she complains and complains but one week later they are still over the coffee table

i sometimes read the daily mail, and my political persuasion would probably be described as "bleeding heart liberal"(!) and I identify with feeling a connection to what your mum used to do (like when I watch my gran's favourite TV programmes like the Sopranos(!), and think that is lovely.

IMO whatever newspaper you read is fine & there is absolutely no need to apologise to anyone for your choice!

Well I like to chill out with The Sun and The News of The World at the weekends - much to my mum's horror

How does anyone have a view on how awful any pape is, DM or not, if they don't look at it or read it sometimes? I don't have a view as I don't read any newspapers except local rag and The Sun after an England football match.

every so often the newsagent delivers the Telegraph instead of the Independent and I must admit it's lovely to cast off my guilt-ridden liberal values and wallow in the right-wingness of it for a while. Must be the approach of middle age...

vict17 - ooh yes to the News of the World - so sometimes go to Newsagents to get the Sunday Times and NOW(!). Inspector Morse used to get the NOW - so you are in good company . I have even looked on the NOW website tho it hasn't been the same since they stopped putting Dear Deidre online!

Davros, I have to look at all the papers at work (I'm a journalist). Have nothing against DM readers ? and can understand people reading it for the features, which are good, especially the health coverage, but the news agenda of the paper is appalling; full of fear and hate. Targets include women who aren't middle class married mums, asylum seekers, anyone who claims compensation... there's a huge list. The paper's tone is spiteful. At least the Sun is honest about what it stands for.

Did you see the thread a few months ago about 'Guardianistas'?

I don't think anyone means any harm with these generalisations, it's just a device to try and describe a section of the population, not a very good one and can't be accurate, can it? But it's easy to say and people kind of know what you're driving at, so people say a 'this' reader or a 'that' reader.

It doesn't amount to anything more than a little bit of lazy stereotyping in the long run.

but edam, don't you just have to take the editorial line into account with all the papers you read, and how it influences the presentation/content of news, rather than just the DM?

Don't read /buy the Sun ( still angry about Hillsborough comments) Read Sunday times it lasts all week

2GBoys,
Carry on reading, enjoy, and remember that we are here if you ever decide that you need to quit. I am sure we can start up a support group, just for you and we can slowly introduce you to the more enlightened papers.......Like The Sunday Sport

Cheers Bunglie

2gb, am so glad you started this thread. At last I can admit to being a closet DM reader, since moving in with my parents. It gives me a secret thrill. I dutifully work my way through the Grauniad and then sneak a look at Jonathan Cainer as a reward.

Although I think I may need to start weaning myself off the DM now, as last night I dreamt I was having an affair with Rod Liddle. Clearly that's going too far...

tgb!

I won't hold it against you. It's not really the readers I have a problem with so much as the writers. How can they write such poisonous claptrap and sleep soundly at night? But then I'm a guardianista so I'm obviously far too patronising and self-righteous to comment really...

Resurrecting this thread as research reported yesterday suggests tabloid attitudes do affect readers. A YouGov poll, reported in Media Guardian yesterday, found 41 per cent of mid-market (D Mail and Express) readers had a low opinion of asylum seekers. Red-top readers (Sun, Mirror, Star) were on 48 per cent compared to 26 per cent of broadsheet readers (Telegraph, Times, Guardian, Independent).
Note of caution: YouGov only do online polls so are biased towards people with internet access. But results striking...

2GB: recognising you have this problem is the first step, all you have to do is look in the Mirror and say 'I am 2GB and I am a Daily mail Reader'. I am sure that MN is full of people 'in recovery' from the DM, and will support you . I think it is SCANDALOUS that the NHS will pay for smokers to have nicotine patches while they attempt to give up, and yet deny DM readers trying to kick the habit a subscription to a decent paper. I will write to my M.P immediately.

Alernatively - I suppose we can learn to live with your habit - it's the paper, rather than the readers, that i have a problem with. How can we know what readers are like?

Edam: did you see the Observer interview with the young woman who is leader of the Youth Division of the BNP? All the evidence she gave in support of her manifesto was that she had 'read it in the Daily Mail'