Daily Mirror
No other title is able to match the Mirror’s informed journalism, real-life stories and block-busting showbiz coverage - all underpinned by a strong social conscience. The Mirror, which marks its 120th anniversary this year, has rarely been so confident in its values or so clear about its purpose and identity. The lifeblood of all news platforms is the ability to land major exclusives and in the last 12 months the Mirror has delivered them by the bucketload.
Our exclusive interview with Fiona Phillips in which she revealed she was living with Alzheimer’s was praised for its sensitive coverage and helping raise awareness of the devastating condition. Fiona’s story was followed by every major national newspaper and received extensive coverage on television, radio and social media. In another showbiz exclusive, the Mirror also revealed that Sir David Jason had been united with his 52-year-old daughter he had previously known nothing about. But it was not just showbiz where the Mirror has led the pack. The last 12 months have seen us break major stories on politics, crime, sport and animal rights. The Mirror’s Political Editor, John Stevens, unearthed the damning video showing Tory aides and activists dancing at a lockdown busting “jingle and mingle” party. And we were the first paper to reveal that hundreds of schools in England faced closure because of the instability of RAAC. This year saw the Mirror achieve victories for three important campaigns. Our Save our Ticket Offices campaign resulted in the rail firms abandoning plans to close nearly 1,000 ticket offices. And our campaign for action on dangerous dogs saw the government add XL Bullies to the proscribed list of breeds.
Other successes included our campaign for defibrillators to be installed in public spaces. This pushed the Government into placing the life-saving devices in all secondary schools in England and announce a £1million fund to pay for 1,000 defibrillators in communities across Britain. The Mirror’s campaign for free school meals has been backed by more than 200 organisations and individuals, including Tom Kerridge and Henry Dimbleby, and saw Sadiq Khan announce plans to provide a free hot meal for all London primary pupils from this September. In print and online, the Mirror informs and entertains its readers. Whether it is columnists such as Brian Reade, Polly Hudson, Andy Dunn and Darren Lewis or feature writer Emily Retter’s moving despatches from Turkey following the devastating earthquake. It may be our anniversary year but the Mirror continues to innovate and pursue new ways of doing journalism. Head of Showbiz Tom Bryant launched a new podcast called Men in Mind in which well-known names, including Simon Cowell, Gregg Wallace and Chris Packham, discussed their mental health.
Our video team’s productions included a documentary to mark the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War and an exclusive interview with Neville Lawrence to mark the anniversary of his son Stephen’s murder. And our social media team has produced a series of eye-catching TikTok videos, including a regular contributions from political correspondent Sophie Huskisson that has brought politics to a new audience. The Mirror’s commitment to international reporting saw its journalists report from the frontline in Ukraine, the Amazon rainforest and Iraq. Chief reporter Andy Lines and photographer Adam Gerrard made the world wake up to the forgotten famine in East Africa with their despatch from Kenya, while Defence Editor Chris Hughes filed an exclusive interview with recruits from the Wagner Group sent to fight in Ukraine, months before their leader mounted his aborted coup in Russia.
Our Environment Editor Nada Farhoud travelled to Ghana to reveal the environmental damage caused by fast fashion and to Vietnam to expose how cats are being slaughtered for food.
Nothing could more true to the Mirror’s ethos than our People Move project which involved photographer Phillip Coburn take a brilliant series of portraits of asylum seekers and refugees who have made their home in this country.
Only the Mirror could so effortlessly and naturally mix such compassionate journalism with our daily blend of sport, features, news and great writing.