On April 8th 2013 Baroness Thatcher died. She was the first female leader of the Conservative Party and woman Prime Minister.
She has become an iconic symbol of the 1980's decade, as she introduced monetarism and a neo-liberal approach to the economic of the country.
Within hours of her death being announced, Twitter reflected two opposing positions: some people mourned her death as the passing of 'the greatest post-war prime minister'. Whereas other responses veered from relief to open celebration and, in some cases, gloating.
The UK press was also divided:
- The Telegraph, Express and Daily Mail reported the death in a respectful manner using phrases such as "the woman that saved Britain". The mail also used a Union Flag as a dominant image on its front page as a tribute.
- The Mirror, The Independent and The Guardian, took a neutral approach on the day of her death, using both praise and criticism of Thatcher and her politics.
- Many comments on The Guardian were highly critical of Thatcher's politics, indicating that the consensus presented by the pro-Thatcher papers may have been inaccurate.
- The Sun- referred the Margaret as "Maggie". Name-calling was used to reinforce the paper's opinions of non-Conservatives- although Labour politicians who did turn up and voice opinions different to the Sun's were also heavily criticised. It also found it important to mention the location of her death (The Ritz) to create a relation the Princess Diana's death as it is an upper class hotel, connoting Royalty.
- The Metro readership is likely to be more politically diverse and therefore it was important that their views remained neutral in order to not alienate its potential readership.
- BBC- attempted to be impartial about the late Prime Minister's impact and legacy. They have been accused of being both 'too pro-Thatcher' and 'too anti-Thatcher'. This was displayed through 'public anger' on social networking sites such as Twitter.
- The week following her death, any response that was identified as criticism was simplified as disrespect.
- The song "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" also reached number one in the charts, in the days following her death.
- The British press show that newspapers use many propaganda techniques in attempt to influence opinions and set framework for debate and discussion.
