British papers battle to gain readers

Press, 29 August 1984, Page 47

British papers battle to gain readers

NZPA-AAP London . “Reach for the smelling salts, sit down and take a deep breath. You are not going to believe this,” declared the “Sun” newspaper. While Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid, the most popular daily in Britain, was announcing its £1 million ($2.59 million) bingo prize, it was also inadvertently giving an insight into the Fleet Street of the 1980 s. For the traditionalists, perhaps the smelling salts would not be a bad idea. Most of Fleet Street’s popular newspapers, and even “The Times”, are running a mind-boggling assortment of competitions in one of the most intense circulation battles of recent years.

The 24-week-old coalminers’ strike, the trial of John De Lorean, the American businessman who set up a car company in Ulster With British Government finance and other seemingly Important news items have recently been relegated by the tabloids to second spot on the front page or even to an inside page. The spark that set off the circulation war was the determination of Robert Maxwell, the recent acquirer of the Mirror group, to put the “Daily Mirror” back at the top.

Mr Maxwell, a former Labour member of Parliament and Czech World War II hero, announced that the “Daily Mirror” was starting a new game — “Who Dares Wins” — offering £1 million The other popular newspapers had little choice but to take on Mr Maxwell. The “Daily Express” and “Daily Star” — owned by the Express group — and the “Daily Mail” and the “Sun” were soon proclaiming their willingness to make some “lucky reader” a millionaire. The “Express” and “Mail” in fact reminded readers, and Mr Maxwell, that they had promised readers the chance to become millionaires months ago. Mr Maxwell counter attacked with a front-page editorial, saying that neither paper had ever paid out the magic million to one person as he was promising to do. He pressed home the point at a press conference where he handed out “Who Dares Wins” entry forms, even to reporters from rival newspapers. The “Sun,” said Mr Maxwell, was offering a mere £ 80,000 ($207,000). This was “postage money” compared with his million.

In an editorial, the “Mirror” said its competition had made the rest of Fleet Street “as panicky as a bunch of old ladies on the Big Dipper”. “None of them knows its backside from its Bingo,” the “Mirror” said. The newspaper said the “Sun” first claimed its bingo Srize would be £lO million >25.9 million) and then its stablemate, the “News Of The World,” said it would be £ 2 million. “There is no greater shame for any newspaper than to be corrected by the ‘News Of The World’,” the “Mirror” states. “Today the ‘Sun’ announces that it is not £lO million Bingo or even £2 million Bingo, but £1 million Bingo which some reader might eventually win. How long will that be?” The editorial then lashed the “Express”, accusing it of dirty tricks, namely trying to thrust one of its bingo cards into the hands of Mr Maxwell for a publicity shot. “The ‘Express’ is now the Titanic of Fleet Street. Off course, going down, and short of lifeboats,” the “Mirror” says. “On Saturday, it boasted of its integrity. It has integ-

rity like the Devil has religion.” The “Mirror” then recalled the “Express” publishing a three-page “faked 1 speech” by the coalminers’ president, Arthur Scargill. “Believing in the integrity of the ‘Express’ is like believing the Mafia is a charity for retired racehorses,” the newspaper said. The “Daily Mail” was also attacked by the “Mirror”. “The ‘Mail’ boasts it is the only newspaper left in Fleet Street. In fact, it is the only daily house magazine of the Conservative Party,” the “Mirror” said. For those interested in “keeping score,” the latest circulation figures show that the “Mirror” sells 3,517,223 copies a day, the “Sun,” 4,126,581; the “Daily Star,” 1,634,000; the “Express,” about 2 million; and the “Mail” 1,841,000. While the bingo battle has been raging, Mr Maxwell has pledged to clean up the public image of newspapers. Mr Maxwell says his first step towards achieving this' goal will be to draw up a new code of conduct for his company “to try to put right some of the things that the public are very properly and genuinely complaining about."