Figure 1: Brief descriptions of the three newspapers chosen for analysis The Guardian The Guardian has an average daily circulation of 348,878 copies (September 2008) Articles in The Guardian are generally to the left of the political spectrum A MORI pole conducted in 2000, showed that 80% of Guardian readers were Labour Party voters, however a similar pole conducted in 2004, indicated that only 44% of readers voted for labour (however this might reflect the reader’s rejection of New Labour’s move to the right) Whilst Guardian journalists tend to be from the centre-left there are also some right of centre journalists (e.g. Simon Jenkins) Mail (Daily & Sunday) The Daily Mail has an average circulation of 2,139,178 copies (December 2008, official DMGT figures), which makes it the UK’s second highest -selling newspaper after The Sun. The Mail on Sunday has an average circulation of 2,211,029 copies (December 2008, official DMGT figures) The Daily Mail is published in a tabloid format. The Daily Mail seeks to promote what it views as being old-fashioned conservative family values in the face of what it sees as a left-wing establishment. Broadly speaking the paper supports stricter controls on immigration, is largely anti-EU, advocates tougher punishment for criminals and harsher discipline in schools. It is also largely pro-monarchy, pro traditional families and pro reductions in taxation. The Birmingham Post The Birmingham Post has an average circulation of 12,550 copies (June 2006), making it the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands region. The newspaper is owned by the Trinity Mirror group - a large UK newspaper and magazine publisher, which publishes 240 regional papers, as well as The Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, People, Sunday Mail and Daily Record. In the 2001 census 16.8% of the Birmingham population identified themselves as Muslim (the average for England and Wales is only 3.0%). There are currently over 100 mosques in Birmingham
were likely to carry information about religious slaughter. Furthermore, a very large percentage of users searching the internet do so via this search engine, as such the data that we analysed is likely to reflect the types of information that internet users would also be accessing. Finally, it is reassuring to note that the top 30 websites generated by this search consisted of a mixture of animal welfare/rights sites (6), religious organisation sites (7), government/policy sites (6), news/media sites (8), academic sites (2) and ‘other’ sites (1). Thus it would seem that examining the top 30 internet sites relating to the issue will also enable us to gain a fairly good impression of the types of materials being produced and the types of stances being adopted by a range of very different organisations in relation to the issue of religious slaughter.
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