''The Daily Mash'' is a left wing British

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

providing

parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

commentary on

current affairs Current affairs may refer to: News * Current Affairs (magazine), ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly magazine of culture and politics. * Current affairs (news format): a genre of broadcast journalism * Current Affairs, former name for Behi ...

and other news stories. Neil Rafferty (a former political correspondent for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'') and Paul Stokes (former business editor of ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

''), 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. The current editor is comedy writer and former BBC journalist Tim Telling. The Daily Mash has often been compared to the US publication '' The Onion''.

History

''The Daily Mash'' was launched in April 2007 by

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

s Paul Stokes and Neil Rafferty. Stokes is a former business editor of ''The Scotsman'' and has also written for ''

Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate ''The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 2013 ...

'' and '' The Daily Record''. Rafferty is a former political correspondent for ''The Sunday Times'', has also written for the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

and ''Business AM'', and is a former spokesman for the smokers’ lobby group

FOREST A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

.Rafferty, Neil
Forget the nanny state, welcome to the bully state
''The Free Society'', 6 February 2008. Accessed 19 March 2009. The site was originally inspired by ''The Onion,'' a US satirical publication, as Stokes and Rafferty saw a gap in the market for a similar publication in Britain.Luckhurst, Tim
The Daily Mash - satirical, scatological and already profitable
''The Independent'', 17 August 2008. Accessed 6 February 2009.Give us, This Day, our Daily Mash
''All Media Scotland'', 20 April 2007. Accessed 6 February 2009. Both journalists worked mainly for Scottish newspapers. Stokes and Rafferty earn salaries from the site, and lead a small team of

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

writers. The site earns revenue through

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more i ...

, and is a successful profit-making enterprise. It presents a niche opportunity to advertisers because of 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 siteWaller, Martin
The Daily Mash bash is, sadly, no laughing matter for Citi
''The Times'', 22 January 2009. Accessed 7 February 2009.). Highlights of the publication's first year have been published in book form as ''Halfwit Nation: Frontline Reporting from the War on Stupid,''The Hot 100 2008
''The List'', 11 December 2008 (updated 6 January 2009). Accessed 6 February 2009. both to acclaim and to complaints of unintelligent, overly crude humour. According to an online survey, the site's readership mainly consists of

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

graduates who also read newspapers such as ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

,'' ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. According to the same survey, 65 per cent of its readers have incomes of more than £30,000, with 22 per cent earning more than £70,000.

''The Mash Report''

In July 2017, a TV show spin-off of The Daily Mash, titled ''

The Mash Report ''Late Night Mash'' is a British satirical comedy broadcast on Dave, as a continuation of ''The Mash Report'' on BBC Two. It is hosted by Rachel Parris, formerly by Nish Kumar, and features an array of comedians satirising the week's news. First ...

'' first aired on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. Its first series comprised ten episodes, and it ran for four series.

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.Mansized w00t!media feasts on The Daily Mash
, ''How Do'', 10 June 2008. Accessed 6 February 2009. The site satirises with Guardianesque centre left humour hence its significant student appeal. The site's humour has been described as "cruel," "scatological," "absurd" and "irreverent."'Bastard Americans ruin your life': Top 5 Daily Mash financial crisis satires
''The Daily Telegraph'', 7 October 2008. Accessed 6 February 2009. It is considered a British alternative and upstart rival to the better known US publication ''The Onion'' and its coverage has been compared favourably and in some instances considered superior to that of the latter.The Daily Mash
''The Good Web Guide''. Accessed 6 February 2009. Despite its humour, the site is considered to be insightful on occasion. 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. ''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 James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

, the advertising deals of Team Great Britain's medal winners, the nationalisation of Northern Rock, Gordon Brown meeting the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

and

bankers' bonuses Bankers' bonuses are traditionally paid or awarded to some workers in the finance industry at the end of the bank's financial year. They are intended to reward employee behavior during that year that has increased the profits of the bank or some re ...

.Marshall, Chris
Citywire's Best of the Web
''Citywire,'' 11 February 2009. Accessed 25 February 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daily Mash, The British satirical websites Internet properties established in 2007 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom

History

''The Mash Report''

Reception

See also

References

External links