Hall's reception theory argues that media producers encode preferred meanings in texts but audiences can interpret them in different ways. When evaluating how the Daily Mirror dealt with Queen Elizabeth II's death through this theory, there were only preferred and negotiated readings. The Mirror honored the Queen by publishing a commemorative edition and online articles that expressed gratitude for her lifelong service. While some papers like The Guardian may have hinted at negotiated readings, most coverage aligned with showing respect for the monarch.

1. How did the
Daily Mirror deal
with Queen
Elizabeth II
death?
Evaluate the effectiveness of Hall's reception
theory in understanding how cultural and
historical circumstances can affect audience
interpretations of news stories.

2. THINGS TO CONSIDER
HALL'S RECEPTION THEORY
Hall argues that media producers encode
'preferred meanings' into texts, but they
may be read by their audiences in several
ways.
- A 'preferred reading' accepts the text's
messages and the
ideological assumptions behind it.
- A 'negotiated reading' accepts the text's
ideological assumptions, but disagrees
with aspects of the messages.
- An 'oppositional reading' rejects the
message and the underlying ideological
assumptions.
PERCIEVED POLITICAL BIAS

3. FRONT COVER
Preferred reading: That the Mirror are grateful for
her service and want to honor her with a tribute.
They believe that regardless of the political or
cultural bias of the paper that she should be
respected. They predominately have a working-class
readership.
The Mirror online released the commemorative edition of their
newspaper stating 'It shows the nation's outpouring of grief and
the respect and messages from world leaders. Beautiful features
evoking memories of her dutiful life in words and pictures.'

4. IN COMPARISON TO OTHER FRONT COVERS
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adeonibada/queen-elizabeth-death-front-page-newspapers
Many newspapers opted to use the same image
of the queen, whereas The Mirror notably used
a completely different image of her with limited
text in order to honour her.

5. Queen's death in mirror online website
Preferred reading: That Mirror online have great respect for the queen and
the monarchy and are thankful for her life-long service to Britian. When
referring to Hall's reception theory, it seems that this historical and cultural
event has no negotiated and preferred reading to it.

6. We noted that the Daily Mirror reserved a category for the Royals for viewers to
read news and updates on the family. They contain soft and seemingly positive
towards the family. Meaning that their tribute to the Queen and her death
correlates with their ideology on the monarchy and the Royal Family.

7. The Guardian- our comparison
The preferred reading: the Guardian online article about
the Queen's death could be seen as an honouring and
tribute towards the queen and her service. It seems the
Guardian want to come across respectable while keeping
their ideology indirectly visible.
The negotiated reading: the Guardian's online article
about the Queen's death could be trying to paint a
negative image of her. Choosing a less flattering image
compared to other papers and also using the text to say
that near the end of her reign she was appearing fragile
and became more private, hinting that the Guardian
believes she was cutting herself off from her country
more than usual.

8. Thanks for listening to
our presentation!
Lots of love,
Alice, Italia and Samantha xxx