January 8, 2018

Campaign group aiming to cut funding for Daily Mail and Sun doubles crowdfunding target within a month

A campaign group leading a crusade against the likes of the Daily Mail and Sun newspapers by calling on companies to stop advertising or running promotions with them has doubled its fundraising target within a month.

The group raised £80,251 in 28 days, smashing a £40,000 target. It started the crowdfunding campaign in December to combat what it claims is a “drip by drip poisoning of our society” by the tabloid press.

Stop Funding Hate uses social media to target companies that choose to run adverts or promotions in the right-wing press in a bid to cut off funding.

Cards and stationery retailer Paperchase publicly announced in November that it would no longer run promotions in the Daily Mail following a backlash on social media seemingly whipped up by Stop Funding Hate.

The group was also apparently behind Lego’s decision to stop carrying out promotional activity with the Daily Mail in 2016.

The rationale for Stop Funding Hate’s latest appeal is a Yougov poll the group commissioned into public attitude towards newspapers.

The poll asked the question: “Do you think the following newspapers have a positive or negative influence on society? The Sun, The Mirror, The Express, The Daily Mail.”

Of the 3,364 people polled, consisting of roughly equal numbers Labour and Conservative supporters, a small minority believed the tabloids had a positive impact on society.

Some 10 per cent of respondents believed The Daily Mail had a positive impact on society, down to 8 per cent for The Daily Express. The left-leaning Daily Mirror scored 7 per cent, however it is not targeted by Stop Funding Hate’s campaign.

SFH/YouGov survey asking: Do you think the following papers have a positive or negative effect on society?

An spokesperson for the group said: “Stop Funding Hate focuses only on those UK publications whose discriminatory coverage has been so extreme that they have been called out by the United Nations… for both principled and practical reasons we have to set a high threshold for including a media outlet within the scope of the campaign, and being called out by the UN clearly sets these three newspapers apart from rest of the UK press.”

A spokesperson for the Daily Mail said:“As we have said before, Stop Funding Hate is a small group of hard left Pro-Remain Corbynistas who use internet trolling in an attempt to suppress democratic debate by shutting down newspapers they disagree with.

“One would have thought Remain supporters would be aware of the dangers of relying on opinion polls. This poll is skewed by the fact that, unsurprisingly, 60 per cent of Remain voters disapprove of the Daily Mail. Despite that the Mail’s overall rating is not greatly different to that of the Mirror which, being Labour-supporting, Stop Funding Hate does not target.”

A Sun spokesperson said: “There is a reason The Sun continues to be the best-selling newspaper in Britain. Almost 1.5m people a day buy The Sun because they trust it above all to fight their corner, inform and entertain.”