The Media Column: 'The Daily Mirror's readers have abandoned pacifism in droves'
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Your support makes all the difference.Piers Morgan of the Daily Mirror has forgotten his history. Humour during war is not a new idea, not even in the serious press. The January 1941 edition of the New Statesman continued a fine tradition by publishing a poem entitled "A Grace for Black Market Turkey". It began: "Let us with a knowing wink/ Praise the Lord for food and drink/ Who his choicest gifts doth send/ Unto them with cash to spend." But if wit is acceptable to lighten the gloom in high-brow publications, it is essential at the popular end of the market.
The Daily Mirror of old knew that. Launching its support for Labour in 1945, the paper's Zec cartoon depicted Clement Attlee pulling away a huge top hat labelled "Privilege". The caption read: "Lifting the blackout." The Mirror continued the strategy of making serious points with levity throughout the second half of the 20th century. Morgan's Mirror appears to have lost the plot.
The Mirror's treatment of war in Iraq has been venomous. Consider a few recent headlines: "Cometh the hour, cometh the coward... revolting" (19 March, in honour of Clare Short), and "Still anti-war? Yes, bloody right we are" (Monday 24).
Rebekah Wade's Sun could have been commenting on its rival in its leader column on Saturday. "You can always rely on the left to let you down," it read. "Whose side are these people on?" The Sun's stated targets were left-wing politicians, but Morgan would be wise to consider it a challenge to his editorial line.
There is evidence that the Mirror's readers have abandoned pacifism in droves since conflict began. An ICM poll in The Guardian yesterday showed 38 per cent of them opposed war to remove Saddam Hussein, while nearly half – 49 per cent – approved. They have begun to do what Morgan will not contemplate: to support the Prime Minister's moral certainty. The Mirror's editor appears deaf to the public mood. His opposition to Blair is personal. He is determined to pursue it, no matter what the price in lost sales and esteem.
Last Friday's Mirror carried the strapline "Exclusive: sister's fury at Blair" over a story denouncing the Prime Minister's claim that Sapper Luke Allsopp was executed by Iraqi troops. Saturday's edition pursued the theme and blamed the Prime Minister for making "the suffering worse for the families of slain British heroes".
This almost seems a vendetta. Morgan is probably right that the war is going to last longer than the Prime Minister predicted. He may also be right that Luke Allsopp was killed in combat, not cold blood, but he does not know. The Mirror's tone gives the impression that Morgan does not consider that important. He has spotted an opportunity to use his newspaper to secure change in the leadership of the Labour Party, and he will pursue it at all costs.
If Piers Morgan were editing The Observer or even The Independent, that might be a shrewd judgment. At the Mirror, it means he is defying the opinions of many readers. Morgan may believe that his pro-war constituency will forgive him, as pro-Labour readers of The Sun forgave their newspaper when it campaigned violently against Neil Kinnock, but it is a big risk.
The Sun, by comparison, may be increasingly jingoistic and xenophobic, but it has had a good war, mixing patriotic headlines such as "Blair force won" and "God bless, lads" with classic Currant Bun humour of the "weapons of mass seduction" variety. Stories such as "Thank you and good night – heroes wipe out Iraqi battle convoy" may invite comparison to the Falklands-era Private Eye satire "Kill an Argie and win a Metro – see page three for details", but this is proper, commercially oriented popular journalism for a readership of which a majority – 68 per cent – supports the war, according to the ICM poll.
In his vitriol for a personal enemy, Morgan has abandoned humour. His Mirror feels relentless. Even if he has not underestimated his readers' patriotism, he has certainly ignored their taste for levity. Page after page of headlines such as "Our job now is killing" and "This isn't fair. It's Ferraris against Austin Allegros," renders the paper miserable and monotonous. Wade may lack some of Morgan's experience but she seems more aware of the morale-raising role of tabloids at war.
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