I'm not a Daily Mail reader

From something I read in the Washington Post recently, it seems that the British press is getting a name for itself around the world for its extremism, its bile, and a dedication to the truth that would make The Donald seem like the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. And guess what? Surprise, surprise, the Daily Sieg Heil, sorry the Daily Mail, the favourite newspaper of the spittle-flecked, frothy-mouthed tendency of the British right, is deemed the worst of a bad bunch. And there’s certainly a lot of competition but if you manage to be the most vile right wing tabloid in a field that includes the Daily Express, you have to be as appetising as a bowl of cold porridge. Only in a society where the checks and balances on media ownership have gone seriously awry could the Daily Mail be considered a major organ, albeit completely necrotic. Whatever happened to the Levenson recommendations?

The Mail wants to take us all back to the 1950s. Its concept of a united society is one in which the lower orders know their place and ethnic minorities and gay people are invisible. It's heavily anti-immigrant, and always has been. Let's not forget that, in the 1930s, it protested about Jewish asylum seekers coming from Germany and it openly supported the Fascists of Oswald Moseley in Britain and, yes, even Adolf Hitler at one time. But all that's in the past, isn't it, though? Well, possibly, but that doesn't stop the DM getting it's knickers in a twist and knocking Jezza and his friends at every opportunity. That's fair game as they are all left wing and deserve all the mud that can be thrown at them as all lefties are evil and want to steal your money and give it to politically correct do-gooders. Headline after headline, all pure and simply designed to misinform and mislead.

And that doesn't prevent the DM from using exactly the same tactics when it comes to promoting its views on Brexit. Headline after headline designed to misinform and mislead, all mixed in with a liberal helping of pure right wing xenophobia. Now, doesn't that sound familiar? Here a couple of their best as they unleashed their scorn (sorry, dealt with in a responsible journalistic sort of way) on those who deign to raise views contrary to theirs.

I used to think that the DM was widely seen as a sensationalist and largely inaccurate publication with very heavy biases and that very few people in the UK would treat it as a trusted source in regard to any story whatsoever. Those on the right who want allegedly more accurate reporting will read "The Daily Telegraph" or "The Times", rather than the DM. Now? I'm uncertain and I find that unsettling and very depressing.