A survey by The Guardian today shows 49% of Daily Mirror readers approve of the military attack on Iraq, while 38% are against the war. Another 13% say they don't know, creating a total of 62% of its readers who are not behind its anti-war stance.
Reports in the Sunday Express's media section, edited by Anil Bhoyrul, say that the Mirror's circulation has fallen to 1.989m and that the editor, Piers Morgan, is due to be given some "harsh news" today following a meeting between Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, and her board. Bhoyrul was sacked by the Mirror in February 2000 over accusations of share-ramping in his City Slickers column. The Mirror's circulation figures will not be helped with the cover price of the paper today returning to 32p in the Carlton region.
At the same time, Phil Hall, the recently installed editorial director at Trinity Mirror, is unhappy with his role at the company and is said to be seeking a more active role with the paper.
Earlier this month, the ABCs revealed that the Mirror's sales are down 3.32% year on year to 2,042,092 excluding bulks. The Sun's circulation, by contrast, increased by 2.2% year on year to 3,516,129. War time usually sees a rise in newspaper circulations, and The Sun is reported to have added some 100,000 in sales over the last week.
Today's editorial in the Mirror accuses Prime Minister Tony Blair of spreading propaganda. It says: "The war is not going according to plan, as generals on both sides of the Atlantic admit. President Bush and his belligerent defence chief, Donald Rumsfeld, thought Iraq would be a pushover. That they would sweep to victory in days.
"Instead, they have found resistance much tougher than they expected. They are having to pour in more troops."
There have already been reports that Morgan has been under pressure to drop his high-profile anti-war stance. However, the Mirror's anti-war position has become a point of principle for Morgan and dropping it could see him depart the paper. He has been labelled an apologist for Saddam Hussein on the BBC political programme 'Question Time' by former Conservative Party leader William Hague.
The Daily Mirror's position has been attacked by Whitehall, and director of communications at Downing Street Alastair Campbell, a one-time Mirror politcal editor, has been highly critical of the paper.
The paper's coverage is in stark contrast to that of its rival The Sun, which has fully backed the Prime Minister and the decision to deploy British forces in the Gulf. The Guardian poll says that 68% of The Sun's readership is in support of the attack on Iraq.
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