Daily Mail – pandering to public taste

  The Daily Mail now dominates the UK market in print and globally online. Rubbished by the prime minister of the day after it launched in 1896 as a “a newspaper produced by office boys for office boys,” it became hugely popular and by the end of the Boer Wars in 1902 it had a circulation of over a million, a world record. Right-wing, imperialist and patriotic, it also set out to entertain and was the first to recognize the potential market of the female reader. Alongside its commercial success went critical brickbats with one commentator remarking: “ by confusing gewgaws with pearls, by selecting the paltry at the expense of the significant, by confirming atavistic prejudices, by oversimplifying the complex, by dramatizing the humdrum, by presenting stories as entertainment and by blurring the difference between news and views, Northcliffe (the owner) titillated, if he did not debouch, the public mind; he polluted, if he did not poison, the wells of knowledge.”

  Northcliffe’s brother Lord Rothermere took over when he died and was a friend of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, sympathetic to Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists. The paper’s support ended after violence at a BUF rally in 1934 though the paper editorially continued to oppose the arrival of Jewish refugees escaping Germany.

 The MailOnline had a soft launch in May 2004, well after other papers, the internet having been written off by the DM powers-that-be as a passing fantasy that wouldn’t work. It is now the most visited English language newspaper in the world.

   The paper was launched on 4 May 1896 with a Taurus Sun opposition Saturn and Uranus in Scorpio – tenacious, materialistic, conventional, autocratic. Significantly it has the Neptune Pluto in Gemini of its day which is astro-associated with scandal and megalomaniac ambitions; and that squares Mars in Pisces. Mars square Pluto is ruthless; Mars square Neptune keen on publicity, glamour and showbusiness.

   It hardly looks likely that it will be toppled off its pedestal though not everything looks plain sailing ahead.  Tr Uranus will conjunct the Sun and oppose the Saturn through from mid this year into 2022 with tr Saturn in square to the Sun and Saturn – it will be tossed around perhaps by economic stress as well as other factors. There will be a major setback in eighteen months when the Solar Arc Saturn is conjunct Mars and square the Neptune. With much heightened emotion (and financial pressures) from tr Pluto square the Venus in Aries in 2021/22.

  The MailOnline, without an accurate start date, was kicked off around May 14th 2004 with again a stubborn, materialistic and enduring Taurus Sun square Neptune inconjunct Pluto. It has been accused of failing to uphold the integrity of its journalism and criticised for its accuracy.  That fits with a stressed Pluto quincunx Sun – not knowing where to draw the line between forceful and dominating.

  The relationship chart between Prince Harry and the Mail is resentful and chained-together. But it is the connection between Meghan and the DM that is really hostile with a composite Mars square Pluto.  There will be continuing and discouraging pressure this year between them with tr Pluto square the composite Saturn; with jolts, jangles and outbursts from this July and worsening through 2022 as tr Uranus and then tr Saturn collide with the composite Mars Pluto; and sagging badly in 2023/24 with tr Neptune square the composite Sun. So the unholy battle of wills will drag on.  

26 thoughts on “Daily Mail – pandering to public taste”

  1. I have just finished reading the salacious gossip of
    some American newspapers. Believe me, they are far worse! There are claims that the DNA test done on the amniotic fluid when Meghan was pregnant showed that Harry wasn’t the father. The second one proved that he was.

    There are claims that Meghan used eggs that were harvested and then frozen some years ago. There’s nothing wrong with that, but then they go on to claim that a surrogate was used and that Meghan pretended to be pregnant with a prosthetic bump.

    There are also claims that the Duchess of Cambridge used a surrogate as well for her younger children.

    There are claims that Doria
    served time in prison for fraud, which is supposed to explain why Meghan’s dad raised her.

    I think they have more to complain about from the American press than anything the British press published. I think the courts should push back any forthcoming lawsuits coming from Lady Markbeth and the Ginger Whinger 10 – 20 years. There are more serious problems for our courts to deal with than whether the DM transgressed the data protection act, by revealing private information in a letter they purchased.

    You may not like the politics of the Daily Mail, but even they deserve justice that is not so much blind as blinkered.

  2. I still don’t know how MM won the court case against the DM. Once a letter addressed to the recipient is received, it becomes the property of the recipient, meaning that person can do what they like with it. And that includes selling it to the DM who then becomes the owner.

    If DM or any newspaper wants to avoid being continually harassed by MM through the courts, all they have to do is publish in the U.S. version of their ewspaper leaving it up to the British reader whether they want to read that version or not. It’s being published here in the UK with the law of libel, making it easy for those with deep pockets, or friends with deep pockets to pursue the press through the courts.

    And presumably MM can play the other side by saying anything she likes about her in-laws. She very definitely is having her cake and eating it.

    And as for how nasty the DM is: well they can all be nasty. Don’t kid yourself that any of them carry the moral high ground.

  3. No surprise to find gossipy Mercury at 1 degree Gemini in that foundation chart. The presence of Pluto and Neptune in the same sign is also not entirely a surprise. The Mail has been described as an odd mix of right wing authoritarian politics and vaguely new age articles on health and other matters. Of course, it belongs to the same Pluto/Neptune in Gemini generation that produced Hitler and many other Nazi and Fascist leaders who also often shared that mixture of extreme authoritarian politics mixed with bizarre ideas about nature and the occult. It is a slightly different beast to the Murdoch press and the other Red Tops in the U.K.

    • Yes, the Gemini planets in that chart are very descriptive of the Mail’s ‘character’. Mercury square the Virgo/Pisces nodes suggests communication about health and paranormal Pisces subjects too.

      Curiously, the Guardian (5th May 1821) also has the Sun at 14 Taurus. They also have a Mars/Saturn aspect – this time an exact conjunction in Aries. Mercury is just one degree later, conjunct Mars and Saturn – very warrior like thinking? In fact, the May 1821 line-up is quite intense – a stellium in Aries includes Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Mercury, and Chiron. Uranus and Neptune are conjunct in Capricorn. The Guardian also has the Pisces NN, and a Gemini Moon.

      I had to look at The Times after that, 1st January, 1785. No Gemini at all, but a wordsmith Virgo Moon. Mars in Sagittarius square Jupiter in Pisces – possibly a t-square with its outlet in Gemini? No Saturn/Mars, but instead Saturn in Capricorn conjunct Mercury – very serious! That year (and the Times planets) saw a square between Uranus in Cancer and Neptune in Libra. Hot air balloons were very much in the news, with accidents, and the first crossing of the English Channel by balloon….I do think the Uranus/Neptune square describes this rather well.

  4. Known up in Scotland as the Daily Hate.
    That seems to be its main purpose.
    To have everyone divided against everyone else to divert attention from the actions of government.

      • Phoebe, I think Delia might be referring to suppression laws that prevent offenders from being named before a conviction or sentencing. Also details of what they’ve allegedly done. NZ is quite friendly to criminals in many ways.

  6. The Daily Mail’s Solar Arc has Mc/Sun in the first and As/South Node in the 4th. I see it changing tactics. It has recently bought the New Scientist. It’s Business Portfolio is very impressive. Saturn/Uranus in the 7th and Moon in the 10th, all point to a massive shift in its business plan. Perhaps a New Owner or management consortium buying out the present owner? It has American,Australian as well a British website. It also owns a stake in ITV. Can’t help feeling it is moving into a digital online News Channel site.

    • The comments section is the better part of Mail online.
      They generally do not moderate comments which is integral to free speech.

  7. Ah, the Daily Fail. Interesting to see a birth chart for it, thanks Marjorie. I hope that Uranus and Saturn play merry hell with the rag – it is the purveyor of hatred and lies and carries a great deal of responsibility for Brexit and all the many other right wing horrors in our country at the moment. There are many of us who would celebrate its demise.

  8. It is forgotten that the DM backed Hitler and Oswald Mosely in the 1930s.
    The paper was extremely racist from the 1950s onwards, which makes it very ironic
    that it was the only UK publication to confront Steve Lawrence’s alleged murderers.

    The killers never challenged the DM about the incident and the paper was vindicated years later, when two of them were sent to prison.
    It helped that Neville Lawrence decorated the DM editor’s house.
    Their massive popularity remains an enigma to me, but clearly the clever mixture
    of sleaze and patriotism is a winning formula.

  10. I’m glad to read that the DAILY MAIL is an outlet which is prepared to point to the many, many false averments of FACTS which Harry & Meghan gave vent to during their disgraceful OPRAH “Interview” .. & is also attempting to hold ALL THOSE MEDIA PERSONS INVOLVED to ACCOUNT FOR THEIR ‘SLOPPY’ INVESTGATIVE JOURNALISM! [why do we pander & give credence to, and accept for viewing here, all those products from an insatiable industry in the USA .. who seem intent on killing-off THE GOOSE which is laying them such GOLDEN EGGS ?] Long may the MAIL’S stubborn characteristics described above, hold to their task, in which I hope they will be JOINED by Piers Morgan .. with his similar characteristics, STANDING ALONGSIDE THE QUEEN & PRINCE PHILIP who deserve our undiluted loyalty after a lifetime given in service of our Nation and Commonwealth of multi-million citizens – most of whom are from a variety of races with differing tones of skins ! During OPRA’S well prepared and no doubt also well rehearsed(while staying in the couple’s home for 2 day’s prior to ‘filming’) which in friendship to MM&H, she allowed deeply destructive – & often totally unverified AND inaccurate -averments to ‘stand’ without any proper challenge, to the complete devastation of the Public perception & standing of our extremely hard-working & amazing Royal Family who – as everyone knows ‘are just lambs to the slaughter’ for any Tom, Dick or HARRY keen to benefit financially by using their WORLD-WIDE popularity! .. as they CANNOT challenge what is written/said about them & have to remain silent .. in their own defense ! NB., The Queen is prohibited from taking resolute action, by being HEAD OF OUR COURTS & Justice systems !! & she is also Head of the Episcopal Church in England”.
    Wish I could remember the number of different countries who are – voluntarily – members of the British Commonwealth, also, I seem to remember that it’s Citizen membership is somewhere in excess of one Billion persons … do you suppose that jealousy & envy might be at the heart of the USA’s onslaught against our Royal family – as our much revered & admired Head of State – for centuries past ?

    • I think I can AVER with confidence that I, and most of my fellow US citizens, are not jealous or envious of the British Royals or the Commonwealth. We fought a bloody Revolution nearly 250 years ago to free ourselves from English rule – no regrets.
      As I said in another comment thread, I think the BRF will survive the shake-up that Harry and Meghan’s interview set in motion. They’ve dealt with far worse over the “centuries past.”

      • I had once visited Lambeth Palace (the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and not a Royal Palace) as part of a guided tour. The elderly guide (she must have been in very late 60s or 70s) asked the group if there were any Americans. Many proudly raised their hands. She thanked them for taking the lunatics out of England.

        So yeah, no regrets here either, The feeling is mutual 🙂

        • My comment was not meant to convey a dislike for England or the British people at all, sorry if it sounded like that. Just that we have no regrets about freeing ourselves from being ruled by another country and its royal heads of state.

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