The Daily Mash

The Daily Mash

URL	http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Satire
Launched	2007
Current status	Active

The Daily Mash is a British satirical website providing parodic commentary on current affairs and other news stories. Neil Rafferty (a former political correspondent for The Sunday Times) and Paul Stokes (former business editor of The Scotsman), created the website in 2007 and remain the lead writers. Both writers earn salaries from the enterprise and also employ freelance contributors. The publication has garnered praise for its absurd, scatological humour and insightful political satire, as well as being compared favourably with U.S. publication The Onion.

History

The Daily Mash was launched in April 2007 by journalists Paul Stokes and Neil Rafferty. Stokes is a former business editor of The Scotsman and has also written for Scotland on Sunday and The Daily Record. Rafferty is a former political correspondent for The Sunday Times, has also written for Press Association and Business AM and is a former spokesman for the smokers’ lobby group FOREST.^[1] The site was originally inspired by The Onion, a U.S. satirical publication, as Stokes and Rafferty saw a gap in the market for a similar publication in Britain.^[2][3] Both journalists worked mainly for Scottish newspapers and The Daily Mash is sometimes aligned specifically with Scotland and its culture.^[3][4]

Stokes and Rafferty earn salaries from the site and lead a small team of freelance writers. The site earns revenue through advertising and merchandise and is a successful profit-making enterprise. It presents a niche opportunity to advertisers, due to its apparent target audience of procrastinating office workers (Citi employees complained to The Daily Mash and independent publications after the company banned them from accessing the site^[5]).^[2] Highlights of the publication's first year have been published in book form as Halfwit Nation: Frontline Reporting from the War on Stupid,^[4] both to acclaim^[6] and complaints of unintelligent, overly crude humour.^[7]

According to an online survey, the site's readership mainly consists of university graduates who also read newspapers such as The Independent, The Guardian and The Times. According to the same survey, 65% of its readers have incomes of more than £30,000, with 22% earning more than £70,000. 81% of the site's hits are from U.K. users (as of 2008), with 19% coming from the U.S..^[2]

Reception

The Daily Mash provides parodic coverage of current affairs and other stories and has been described as the U.K.'s leading satirical news website.^[2][8] The site "satirises without fear or favour" and aims to provide less politically correct humour than mainstream satire.^[2] The site's humour has been described as "cruel," "scatological," "absurd" and "irreverent."^[2][9] It is considered a British alternative and upstart rival to the better known U.S. publication The Onion and its coverage has been compared favourably and in some instances considered superior to that of the latter.^{[2][5][8][9][10]} Despite its humour, the site is considered to be insightful on occasion.^[2][5][9] Some critics have remarked that not all of the site's articles succeed as satire, and that its content lacks the linguistic invention of some other satirical works.^[2][9][10]

The Daily Mash's stories are sometimes commented upon by other news publications. Acclaimed parodic coverage includes Jeremy Clarkson's much-publicised disparaging remarks aimed at Gordon Brown,^[11] the advertising deals of Team Great Britain's medal winners,^[12] the nationalisation of Northern Rock,^[13] Gordon Brown meeting the Pope^[14] and bankers' bonuses.^[15]

References

1. ^ Rafferty, Neil, Forget the nanny state, welcome to the bully state^{[dead link]}, The Free Society, 6 February 2008. Accessed 19 March 2009.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Luckhurst, Tim, The Daily Mash - satirical, scatological and already profitable, The Independent, 17 August 2008. Accessed 6 February 2009.
3. ^ ^{a b} Give us, This Day, our Daily Mash, All Media Scotland, 20 April 2007. Accessed 6 February 2009.
4. ^ ^{a b} The Hot 100 2008, The List, 11 December 2008 (updated 6 January 2009). Accessed 6 February 2009.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Waller, Martin, The Daily Mash bash is, sadly, no laughing matter for Citi, The Times, 22 January 2009. Accessed 7 February 2009.
6. ^ Ivison, John, Near death cures Tories, Financial Post, 7 January, 2009. Accessed 25 February 2009.
7. ^ Hickson, Ella, Why can't we have more good, old-fashioned fun this Christmas, The Scotsman, 13 December, 2008. Accessed 25 February, 2009.
8. ^ ^{a b} Mansized w00t!media feasts on The Daily Mash, How Do, 10 June 2008. Accessed 6 February 2009.
9. ^ ^{a b c d} 'Bastard Americans ruin your life': Top 5 Daily Mash financial crisis satires, The Daily Telegraph, 7 October 2008. Accessed 6 February 2009.
10. ^ ^{a b} The Daily Mash, The Good Web Guide. Accessed 6 February 2009.
11. ^ Massie, Alex, Dubious Proposition Of The Day, The Spectator, 6 February 2009. Accessed 25 February, 2009.
12. ^ Waller, Martin, British Airways out of the medals in PR race, The Times, 30 August 2008. Accessed 25 February 2009.
13. ^ Goodley, Simon, Business Diary: FSA fixer Sir Callum could be between Rock and a new place, The Telegraph, 21 September 2007. Accessed 25 February 2009.
14. ^ Campbell, David, Citywire's Best of the Web, Citywire, 20 February 2009. Accessed 25 February 2009.
15. ^ Marshall, Chris, Citywire's Best of the Web, Citywire, 11 February 2009. Accessed 25 February 2009.

External links

• The Daily Mash