[Closed] How do i stop my Dad reading the Daily Mail?

Any other suggestions other than Private Eye?

My boss once asked me to pick up a copy of the mail for him I declined jazz mags maybe but seen with the mail....

Just mock up the front cover
Illegal immigrants kill pedophiles and watch his brain explode

Why not accept he's entitled to read what he wants and that his point of view is as valid as yours?

You can maybe make sure you're informed on the issues of the day so you can argue with him on facts but opinions aren't just formed by what he's read.

Maybe you coudl start every riposte with 'As a company director, dad, I think I have a better understanding of this issue than you....' 😉

Reading it is one thing, taking it seriously is another. By switching off you shrug and let it get worse. Don't try and change him, do engage in discussion and introduce a bit of counter argument and logic.

It's not hard to pick flaws in the story, maybe show him the contrast of the same article reported in different styles?

The DM provides an easy way for yer man on the street to quickly update themselves and feel a sense of definitive opinion on the matter with the accompaniment of a strong sense of moral distinction. Unfortunately it's very clever in how this is done. We are frighteningly easy to manipulate!

As much as I love to criticise the DM, I do like their website for a bit of easy reading.

Just avoid anything on the right hand side, as has already been mentioned on this site before ...

You probably can't stop your Dad - just don't forget and fall into reading it yourself in 30 years time!

My parents read it as they like the telly pages (nice large print for the BBC4).

They do agree with me though that by buying the Mail the perpetuate the myth that it's actualy worth reading.

The 'i' is pretty decent, it's essentially a cut down version of the Independent. It's like the Metro but with proper news and articles.

Doh! Sign him up to Singletrack of course.

Why not accept he's entitled to read what he wants and that his point of view is as valid as yours?

Because the Daily Mail is filled with vile, hate-filled and deliberately misleading rubbish? I wouldn't like to see anyone I cared about taken in by such stuff.

tell him reading it gives you eye cancer.

[i]Because the Daily Mail is filled with vile, hate-filled and deliberately misleading rubbish?[/i]

if someone choses to accept what they print unquestioningly then there's not much to be done is there? They have a choice and they've exercised it shoving a guardian under their nose is not going to change their attitudes or opinions.

My Gran was one of the smartest, liberal, well read people I knew and she read the Daily Mail every day. She said she liked the stories! I know various other people who read the Mail who weren't in the slightest bit bigoted, racist, homo- or xenophobic. I know...who'd have thunk it, eh?

I like the daily mail. it's entertainment.

My Grandpa was one of the smartest, liberal, well read people I know - his wife died and he got a new partner who is your classic Daily Mail reader, he now brings up stories about how the immigrants all get given massive cars and flats etc, and how they are 'flooding' the country etc.

Pretty clear link between his mental faculties declining and believing all that crap. Sad.

Get him to switch to the Observer on Sundays so he can read Julie Burchill's latest bigoted rant against transexuals. There'll probably be some borderline antisemitism too.

Sad.

Is he sad or are you sad? His life, not yours innit.

Try the 'i'.

I'm sorry, but you know what needs to be done.

Kill him and bury him under the patio.

Get him to switch to the Observer on Sundays so he can read Julie Burchill's latest bigoted rant against transexuals. There'll probably be some borderline antisemitism too.

Admittedly the Guardian/Observer gets more and more like a DM for lefties but I still don't think they are in the same league TBH.

Is he sad or are you sad? His life, not yours innit.

I'd be willing to bet believing all that shite hasn't made him happier.

My parents are DM readers to, they just know by now I'm not interested in hearing about the latest sensationalist made up stats targeted at a minority.

It pains me to see him digest the drivel it prints over his breakfast,

Move out? 😆

I'm surprised nobody's linked to [url= http://kill-or-cure.herokuapp.com/ ]this site[/url], or one of the similar ones yet.

When i buy a paper it tends to be the Mail.

Dont quite know why people think readers are 'taken in' by the political leaning?....if a reader doesnt like what is being said then they can switch to another paper, its not some magical hypnotic publication that draws people in against their will....there are many daily papers all with their own political leanings, people tend to read whatever sits comfortably with their own views.

I have no problem admitting my xenophobic and racist tendencies.

Dont quite know why people think readers are 'taken in' by the political leaning?

When DM readers start offering up badly-remembered versions of nasty sensationalist DM articles as their own opinions?

When DM readers start offering up badly-remembered versions of nasty sensationalist DM articles as their own opinions?

Outside the very insular world of the typical Singletrackminded lefty you would see that the DM is in fact very popular, whilst the Guardian is such a bastion of unbiased ( 🙄 ), quality reporting that it can only survive by selling half it's stock to the bbc. hehehe

The mail and guardian opinion cancel each other out.

However the mail seems to be taking on the metro for lack of actual news content. I can't remember buying a news paper recently mostly pick them up at airports etc but mostly full of opinion rather than news.

I had a sixth form Economics teacher who read the daily mail, He advocated that reading a paper you dissagreed with was the best for developing your mental faculties and making you think.

Reading something that you are nodding along with every line of isnt really going to challenge you.

I dont read any papers but i do agree with him

"i do agree with him"

you should find someone you disagree with to improve yourself 😉

You could just leave him to do what he wants rather than what you want him to do?

Outside the very insular world of the typical Singletrackminded lefty you would see that the DM is in fact very popular, whilst the Guardian is such a bastion of unbiased ( ), quality reporting that it can only survive by selling half it's stock to the bbc. hehehe

Right, so because its popular it must be good. 😕

Or perhaps its so popular because so many people hold the same views?

....i know this is a difficult concept for most on STW to accept but not everybody has a left leaning, socialist approach to their politics.

To state otherwise on here means to get shouted down as simply wrong....there seems to be genuine confusion that lots of people willingly hold right wing views, there seems to be a belief that it must be down to an evil publication poisoning people's minds.

No, some people just hold different opinions to the typical Guardian reader thankfully.

Right, so because its popular it must be good.

Like dropper posts and flats ❓

mikewsmith - Member
The mail seems to be taking on the metro for lack of actual news content.

Same publishing group.

I am also slightly irritated by people quoting (correctly or otherwise) obviously biased/mostly-untrue news stories without stopping to actually think about it first.

I can't remember buying a news paper recently mostly pick them up at airports etc but mostly full of opinion rather than news.

As almost any news item involving a subject about which I have some knowledge is full of errors, I take all news sources with a good helping of this:

[img] [/img]

ps. The Express is probably worse than the nasty Daily Mail, in a sort of pre-school level, reactionary bigotry kind of way.

I reckon you need to cut off his hands and gouge out his eyes. That'll learn him.

Or you could just embrace the spirit of democracy and let him do what he wants.

....i know this is a difficult concept for most on STW to accept but not everybody has a left leaning, socialist approach to their politics.

yes, but those people are just wrong and must have their opinions changed!

johndoh - Member

You could just leave him to do what he wants rather than what you want him to do?

This. Not much more to add.

+1

I don't read the DM but I am intrigued as to why it attracts such fervantly hateful responses from some of the stw masseev?

No, some people just hold different opinions to the typical Guardian reader thankfully.

Thank god, those immigrants won't hate themselves.

All these people saying 'leave him to it' - if one of your family members joined a cult, or a white supremacist group, presumably you'd just let them get on with it eh? 😉

Right, so because its popular it must be good.

Lets just say that everyone believes, no matter how few actually share their viewpoint, that theres is in fact the correct one.. It's unfortunate but true.. Singtrackminded leftys on here being prime example of that.

If the majority have a viewpoint that differs with yours.. could it just be, however hard to imagine, that yours is the odd one?

If the majority have a viewpoint that differs with yours.. could it just be, however hard to imagine, that yours is the odd one?

What a strange concept.....

Hmm, I'll leave you to work out the potential issues with that argument, based on historical examples. This might help:

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-popularity.html

if one of your family members joined a cult, or a white supremacist group

So reading the daily mail is in the same league as joining the EDL? Get a sense of proportion man!

So Daily Mail reader = cult?

two letters of the alphabet away from where I'd put them 😉

The Daily Mail is a right wing hate filled rag that would deny people the right to read whatever they want.
You need to stop him from reading it.

So reading the daily mail is in the same league as joining the EDL? Get a sense of proportion man!

Where did I say that? You could answer my actual question though.

You could try The Week - it's a great concise weekly news magazine that is derived from press around the World

would deny people the right to read whatever they want

Really? Citation?

Well they were big fans of Hitler at one point.

[i]Well they were big fans of Hitler at one point. [/i]

that was months ago.

So reading the daily mail is in the same league as joining the EDL? Get a sense of proportion man!

No - the Daily Express is the mouthpiece for the EDL.

Torminalis - Member

if one of your family members joined a cult, or a white supremacist group

So reading the daily mail is in the same league as joining the EDL?

Are the EDL a "white supremacist group"?

Where did I say that?

You suggested that those people who would not intervene in their parents Daily Mail habit should consider their standpoint on cults and white supremacist groups.

So... you were either making a generic point about the legitimacy of interventions or, as the context would indicate, that some things are pretty serious and need to be intervened in. Examples of those things, as mentioned in this thread thus far are white supremacist groups, cults and the Daily Mail. Am I confused?

As it happens, if my Mother or Brother joined a cult or the EDL I would engage my limited powers to try and persuade them it was a bad idea. If they were reading the Daily Mail I might ask them what was on the TV tonight.

Let him get on with it. My inlaws read the Express which IMO is just trolling fiction. They've learnt not to talk to me about it. Each to their own though.

Well they were big fans of Hitler at one point.

So was most of Germany, and look what happened to them...oh wait, they're the largest economy in Europe...

Just put his eyes out with a screwdriver.

Are the EDL a "white supremacist group"?

I thought so, maybe not, do I get another try? What about the KKK?

Well they were big fans of Hitler at one point.

I am sure they have changed editor since then. Seen any VW's around recently? Times change.

So... you were either making a generic point about the legitimacy of interventions

Bingo. At what point exactly does it became ok to try and influence someone you care about doing something you disagree with?

FWIW I've never told my granddad he should stop reading the DM, but I've told him that the stuff he reads in it is largely untrue, especially when it's trying to stir up hatred against vulnerable people. It's the lack of challenge to guff like that that allows pernicious myths to thrive.

venerable people

Bede is under attack?

EDIT: Ninja edit there!

Don't know what you're on about. 😀

FWIW I've never told my granddad he should stop reading the DM, but I've told him that the stuff he reads in it is largely untrue

So most of this is largely untrue?

http://www.****/home/index.html

At what point exactly does it became ok to try and influence someone you care about doing something you disagree with?

When they are harming themselves or others. But, to say that the Daily Mail is harming them is entirely based on your own political polemic and as such is not attempting to alleviate harm but to push a moral agenda of your own. Have a go, but I don't fancy your chances. Most people are smart enough to decide what they think, even if you do not afford them that credit.

But, to say that the Daily Mail is harming them is entirely based on your own political polemic and as such is not attempting to alleviate harm but to push a moral agenda of your own.

It might not be harming him but its perpetuating a nasty xenophobic discourse which stirs up hatred against certain groups.

And I would argue he used to be smart enough to decide what he thinks, but there seems to have been a remarkable correlation between decline in critical faculties and reading the DM and reciting it's articles as his own opinions.

Torminalis - Member

Are the EDL a "white supremacist group"?

I thought so, maybe not, do I get another try? What about the KKK?

What a pretentious comment to make by the OP.

The Daily Mail is good for a laugh, its easy reading, and the reader comments are funny.

Mrs FD who has 2 first class degrees, a PHD and scores way out there on MENSA tests loves it, and never picks up a copy of the Times/Guardian etc.

Leave your Dad alone and worry about your own pretentious miss gvings in life 🙂

jota180 - Member

FWIW I've never told my granddad he should stop reading the DM, but I've told him that the stuff he reads in it is largely untrue

So most of this is largely untrue?

http://www.****/home/index.html

Yes that link is vile, how dare you even post up the link to such vile information...Be gone with you righ-wing white supremicist promotionalist, how dare you...

 

FWIW I've never told my granddad he should stop reading the DM, but I've told him that the stuff he reads in it is largely untrue, especially when it's trying to stir up hatred against vulnerable people.

I read somewhere that the overwhelming desire to help people they wrongly percieve as vulnerable, usually manifests itself strongest in those with an elevated self image of superiority or alternativelty those suffering from some form of guilt complex.

8)

It might not be harming him but its perpetuating a nasty xenophobic discourse which stirs up hatred against certain groups.

And I would argue he used to be smart enough to decide what he thinks, but there seems to have been a remarkable correlation between decline in critical faculties an reading the DM and reciting it's articles as his own opinions.

Maybe some sort of 're-education' programme for those that have strayed off [your] message a bit?

You said it, I was simply asking, i'll stop if it it's upsetting you though.

No, not even slightly upset, I thought you knew the answer and were scoring a point so I thought I would highlight that it was not the same point I was trying to score.

As it happens, you were spot on, after a little googling, it appears that the EDL are an Anti-Islamic group rather than White Supremacists. I am sure they would all have a lot to talk about the annual bigotted wan*er conference though 😉

double post

Why not accept ... that his point of view is as valid as yours

😆

That mentality will never work on STW ...

As it happens, you were spot on, after a little googling, it appears that the EDL are an Anti-Islamic group rather than White Supremacists. I am sure they would all have a lot to talk about the annual bigotted wan*er conference though

And do you think that if you polled which newspapers were most read by attendees at that conference, would you find more Daily Mail/Express readers, or Guardian readers? 😉

I am not sure that many of the attendees would get much beyond their own specialist, single syllable literature.

There is a lot of guff about limp wristed, hand wringing lefties in the world but I am inclined to believe that their own sense of moral outrage and their willingness to exert authority over others is as scary as anything that the Daily Mail can rustle up and anything but limp wristed.

be thankful it's not the express.

there's nothing worse than listening to the worldview of someone once they've been reading that for a while.

they don't even seem to realise that there's anything wrong with it.

whats needed here is a little self congratulatory pat on the back, after all, even though your dad is a [s]facsist[/s] daily mail reader, you've managed to turn out to be a nice liberal, who wouldn't dream of reading that crap, and won't let anyone else either. pensioners? stop their benefits's! (sarcasm content)

^^ sorry, couldn't help it.

Nicely done, OP!

My grandparents read the Mail and although I would never dream of telling them what they believe is wrong or ill-judged it does upset me to see them become so unhappy when they read the mail. Most of their angst is based on Mail headlines (immigration, benefits etc) and they feel so utterly disenfranchised by society as a result of, almost exclusively, the Daily Mail.

They are both in their late 80's and it's hard to try and make them understand the full agenda of the Mail and how utterly spurious their stories are so I've now just resorted to telling them not to waste their time with the paper because the stuff they report is of no consequence to them. Pointless trying to argue the truth of the stories. Horrible misery inducing paper for those who don't know any better.

Politics and poorly-disguised racism aside, it's really the "science" and "health" stories that get me. The amount of utter nonsense this newspaper publishes with regards to what will or will not give you cancer and so on is ludicrous.

My mother-in-law laps them all up and is forever cutting this or that out of her diet/life because she read about it in the Mail. And in her umpteen years of doing what the Mail said, she has had (and so far survived) three different cancers. Look where that got her then. 👿

(fwiw the first two cancers were totally unrelated, third possibly related to second. If you believe what you read in the mail that is.)