The research from CARMA found that since the fuel crisis began two weeks ago, over 25,000 online news articles have been written. This equates to a potential readership of over five billion. With growing public concerns over the crisis, which Boris Johnson says may last beyond Christmas, the tabloids have been criticised for worsening panic with this ‘zero to one hundred’ style reporting.

CARMA found an undeniable link between a peak in negative media coverage and a rise in Google searches related to the supply chain chaos. Using its proprietary software, it found that on the days where online searches for fuel were highest, most online news articles were negative. Over three quarters of fuel related search queries in September were related to terms including: crisis, shortage and panic buying.

However, the media intelligence provider found that there were other factors to blame. Jack Richards, global marketing manager at CARMA, says, “It wasn’t entirely surprising to find that the Daily Mail was reaching the largest potential audience. But what is noteworthy is that just one place behind The Daily Mail is BBC News, also reporting heavily on this crisis.”

“Regardless, with The Daily Mail posting hundreds of fuel related articles in recent weeks, more than both The Independent and The Guardian combined and several times the number of articles of the BBC, the frequency and negative sentiment of tabloid press like The Daily Mail is unlikely to change the assumption that the tabloid media have played their part in this fuel crisis,” adds Richards.