Good morning
Brief overview: Various reports of America’s deadliest shooting can be found on the majority of the front pages today. The attack in Las Vegas, carried out by a 64 year old white male named Stephen Paddock, has left 58 dead with over 500 wounded. The motive for the attack which took place during a country music concert with around 22,000 attendees is still unknown. Various politicians offered condolences and prayers.
Monarch Airlines has filed for insolvency, leaving 110,000 holidaymakers stranded overseas. The UK government has launched a programme to bring them home.
Outside of the headlines: Increasing amounts of pressure were put on May as she refused to fire her Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in wake of his bad behaviour.
Johnson was caught on a run with a senior Sun editor which further fuelled speculation that he will launch his leadership bid through Murdoch’s tabloid paper. Equifax deliberately choose this chaotic time to quietly announce that 2.5 million more US customers are potentially impacted by the data breach, bringing the total to 145.5 million.
Article of the day: Here Are All The Hoaxes Being Spread About The Las Vegas Shooting (link)
Ryan Broderic of Buzzfeed systematically goes through the misinformation being deliberately spread around the Las Vegas shooting.
Cartoon of the day: via Ben Jennings
The Daily Mail
Owned by: Daily Mail and General Trust, owned by Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere
Editor: Paul Dacre
Political leaning: Right / far right
Daily circulation: circa 1,490,000
Today’s leading headline: What turned Mr Normal into mass killer?
Today’s Mail reports on the shooting that occurred late last night in Las Vegas. The paper asks what could have turned ‘Mr Normal’, a 64-year-old white man, into a mass killer. The paper boasts of ‘unrivalled’ reports of insider information into the life of the killer.
Afterthought: Frequent observers of the Daily Mail will note with interest its coverage of mass shootings when the perpetrator is not a Muslim. Terms such as ‘lone wolf’, ‘alienated’, ‘mentally ill’ and now ‘Mr Normal’ are reserved exclusively for white male shooters. The Daily Mail is not alone in reporting in this style:
This is not about bashing white males. I am a white male. The frustration for many is the increasingly irresponsible coverage of these events when a white male is named as the perpetrator. White men commit the majority of mass shootings in the US, although this is explained in part ‘by the fact white people make up a majority of the U.S. population (63 percent) and men are more likely to commit violent crime in general.’ By covering massacres in this clichéd way, any factual analysis we can gather is quickly lost as the suspect is placed into the ‘mentally disturbed lone wolf’ box.
The Daily Telegraph
Owned by: Telegraph Media Group, owned by Sir David Barclay and Sir Frederick Barclay
Editor: Chris Evans
Political leaning: Right
Daily circulation: circa. 460,000
Today’s leading headline: ‘An act of pure evil’
Like much of the British press today, the Telegraph covers yesterday’s deadly shooting in Las Vegas. The paper quotes President Trump who called the shootings ‘an act of pure evil’. As more information began to emerge, the toll of those killed increased in real time; initial reports suggested 2 fatalities, which jumped to over 20 and then settled around 58. The Telegraph notes that this was a meticulously planned attack, with the killer having stocked up on weaponry and booked the room deliberately with the intention of opening fire on the crowd of 22,000.
Afterthought: Concrete facts are still hard to come by at this stage. At the time of press, no known motivation had been established as to why the killer opened fire. ISIL claimed responsibility as usual, but experts dismissed their involvement as just another PR stunt.
The Times
Owned by: News UK, Rupert Murdoch’s company.
Editor: John Witherow
Political leaning: Right
Daily circulation: circa. 446,000
Today’s leading headline: ‘Act of pure evil’
The Times also chooses to lead with Trump’s thoughts on the killer’s actions yesterday. The paper gives some background on the shooter, who was ‘a 64-year-old retired accountant with no criminal record’. It goes on to describe the horror and confusion the 22,000 attendees felt as the gunfire started, with many not realising they were under fire initially.
Afterthought: The attacker left more than 500 injured before shooting himself in his room. The number of weapons recovered from the room has reached double digits.
The Guardian
Owned by: Scott Trust Limited, run by a board with a policy of non-interference.
Editor: Katharine Viner
Political leaning: Left
Daily circulation: circa. 161,000
Today’s leading headline: ‘An act of pure evil’: 58 shot dead in Las Vegas massacre.
Today’s Guardian also reports on the Las Vegas shooting. The paper reports that the shooter, Stephen Paddock, used a hammer to smash the window in his home-made sniper’s nest. The Guardian also notes that this is Trump’s ‘first test’ following a mass shooting, and may well put scrutiny and strain on his close links the US gun lobbyists.
Afterthought: The links between the NRA, gun lobbying firms and Trump are vast and largely on record. As recently as May of this year Trump pledged at an NRA convention that:
“as your president, I will never, ever infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms”.
The Vice President Mike Pence also received over $30 million in political funding from the NRA last year.
The i
Owned by: Johnston Press, whose CEO is Ashley Highfield, significant ties to the BBC
Editor: Oliver Duff
Political leaning: Centre
Daily circulation: circa. 264,000
Today’s leading headline: America’s worst ever shooting
Today’s i also covers the Las Vegas shooting. The paper states the gun debate has been ‘reignited’ following reports that the killer used a legal semi-automatic to mow down festival goers from on high.
Afterthought: There was the usual smattering of #prayersfor[insert place here] and hollow promises from various politicians in the wake of the shooting, but no change will come as long as the NRA remains in such tight control. As various pundits worked out where to place the blame, America’s leading satire site The Onion summarised the views of many:
The Daily Mirror
Owner: Trinity Mirror. Its chairman is David Grigson, formerly the chief financial officer at Reuters
Editor: Lloyd Embley
Political leaning: Left
Daily circulation: circa. 716,900
Today’s leading headline: Monarch rescue is biggest since Dunkirk
Never a paper to pass up on an exaggerated headline, today’s Mirror claims that the government’s programme to bring back grounded Monarch passengers is comparable to Dunkirk. British airline Monarch collapsed yesterday with hundreds of thousands of customers still overseas.
Afterthought: There was a feeling of sadness in the air following the company’s collapse, as many pilots and plane aficionados took to social media to share their fond memories of the airline.
Financial Times
Owner: The Nikkei, which is based in Tokyo.
Editor: Lionel Barber
Political leaning: Centre
Daily circulation: circa. 193,211
Today’s leading headline: Monarch Airlines collapse spurs ‘biggest peacetime repatriation’.
Today’s Financial Times reports on the collapse of Monarch Airlines, Europe’s ‘third airline to fail in six months’. As of yesterday morning the company had filed for insolvency, leaving 110,000 holidaymakers stranded overseas and 1858 employees redundant.
Afterthought: Increased strain on the short-haul market from heavy competition has eliminated various weaker carriers per the FT. Monarch now joins Air Berlin and Alitalia as Europe’s third failed carrier in six months.
The Sun
Owner: News UK, owned by Rupert Murdoch
Editor: Tony Gallagher
Political leaning: Right / far right
Daily circulation: circa. 1,611,464
Today’s leading headline: RUN!
The Sun also reports on the massacre in Las Vegas yesterday, with seven pages of coverage in the paper. It quotes witness Vincent Sager: “It was an ambush”
Afterthought: Nothing to add here.
And on the web
Al Jeezera
Owned by: Government of Qatar.
Political leaning: Often accused of having the state interests overshadow their independent integrity.
Top article: Las Vegas shooter named as Stephen Paddock (link)
BBC
Owned by: The British public.
Political leaning: Strict regulation to make it impartial, sometimes accused of left leaning.
Views: 70 million unique views per week.
Top article: Las Vegas shooting: Police search for gunman’s motive (link)
Guido Fawkes
Owned by: Paul Staines, a libertarian political blogger, also writes for the Sun on Sunday.
Political leaning: Right/far right. Clickbait.
Views: 100–250 thousand views per day.
Top article: Mogg Dominates Fringe at Low Key Tory Conference (link)
The Canary
Owned by: Six editors and around 25 writers. Editor-in-chief is Kerry-anne Mendoza, prior ties to the Guardian.
Political leaning: Left/far left. Very pro Corbyn. Clickbait — pays its writers on a click per pay basis, encouraging them to produce work that will go viral.
Top article: While the Tories’ conference distracted us, they quietly gave a top government job to one of their own failed MPs (link)
Final Thought
News shouldn’t tell you how to feel. The news should present facts, and allow you to formulate your own opinion. Regardless of your political affiliation, try and read beyond the headlines that most of these papers push on you, from the left and the right.
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