Money motivates The Daily Mail and The Sun’s two-faced reaction to Martin McGuinness Was Martin McGuinness an unrepentant terrorist or a revered peacemaker? It depends on which side of the Irish Sea you […]

Was Martin McGuinness an unrepentant terrorist or a revered peacemaker? It depends on which side of the Irish Sea you buy your tabloid newspaper.

The Sun and The Daily Mail both gave readers of their British and Irish editions clashing takes on a hugely divisive figure.

The front page of the Irish Daily Mail led with a full page picture of a young McGuinness, accompanied by the neutral “Martin McGuinness, 1950-2017.”

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It was the kind of treatment reserved for a statesman, with the headline on page two reading “McGuinness is brought home”.

However the UK Daily Mail ran a totally different front cover – it featured two pictures showing the aftermath of IRA bombings in Guildford and Enniskillen, with McGuinness’ name at the bottom of the page.

‘Good riddance’

The UK Mail, implacably opposed to McGuinness’s political platform, maintained its hostility on its inside pages with a trademark “good riddance” rant from Katie Hopkins.

The Sun also offered Irish readers a contrasting front cover.

The Irish edition led with the headline “It’s not how you begin… it’s how you end” and featured smiling pictures of McGuinness, including a shot of him shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth.

The UK Sun led with the headline “Unforgiven”, with the sub-heading “IRA killer can go to hell, say families.”

It also alerted readers to the plight of a veteran British soldier facing an “IRA death rap”.

Is it hypocritical for newspapers to condemn “terrorists” in one edition, whilst presenting a contrasting view in another, in order to maintain sales among a sizeable community which takes an opposing view?

Commercial concerns

It’s not unusual for newspapers with international editions to offer an editorial line more closely aligned to the views of readers across borders.

The Sun backed the Tories in England and the SNP in its Scottish edition at the 2015 general election.

The paper remained neutral in the run up to the Scottish independence vote, for fear of alienating a large number of its paying customers.

Compare and contrast – today’s Scottish Sun vs The Sun in England http://t.co/QDgr6SC0MI pic.twitter.com/3RlUw7Hb7o — Mark Ferguson (@Markfergusonuk) April 21, 2015

As long as it makes financial sense to print an Irish edition, The Sun will shamelessly offer those readers a wholly different perspective.

McGuinness will always be associated with the murder of innocent civilians in many British eyes.

But readers in Ireland, closer to the everyday realities of the conflict and the fragile peace which has emerged, will turn their backs on papers which seek to impose an entirely English point of view, as beancounters at the big news brands are well aware.

@adamsherwin10