The Daily Prophet is a wizarding newspaper based in London. It is the primary source of news for British wizards. The current editor is Barnabas Cuffe, who works in the main office in Diagon Alley. Because of its ability to influence the minds of many in the British wizarding community, the paper has been known to have its content slanted intentionally by the Ministry of Magic (which it has strong ties with) into telling the Ministry's preferred version of events. Unfortunately, the Prophet does not seem to have a lot of journalistic integrity, it has been known to be more concerned about sales than about factual accuracy. In some cases, the Ministry of Magic is highly reliant on the Daily Prophet to assure the public that the Ministry is doing the right thing.
The paper is delivered to subscribers by owl, and subscriptions cost 1 Knut. This paper is delivered to professors and a few students at Hogwarts in the mornings, when the owl post arrives. The paper features a morning and evening edition, the latter of which is called the Evening Prophet. The weekend edition is called the Sunday Prophet. Additional news bulletins can be delivered quickly when important, newsworthy events occur. As news changes, an edition may magically change, too, over the course of the day, probably by means of a Protean Charm.
The Daily Prophet maintains a best-seller list. At some point in August1992, Gilderoy Lockhart's autobiography Magical Me was celebrating its 27th week atop it.
The Daily Prophet has been producing papers since at least 1743, since it famously described Gideon Flatworthy, head of an extremist anti-Muggle group, who died in September of that year, as "less a wizard, more a lazy walrus-like object who lies all day on a rather smelly cushion, and expects people to admire him for it".
A Daily Prophet article showing the Ministry in Denial
"All right, Fudge is leaning on the Prophet, but it comes to the same thing. They won't print a story that shows Harry in a good light. Nobody wants to read it. It's against the public mood. This last Azkaban breakout has got people quite worried enough. People just don't want to believe You-Know-Who's back."
During the Ministry's campaign to discredit and slander Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, the Prophet was an instrumental tool of the Ministry in their goal to convince the public that Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter were fear-mongering or simply mad. The Ministry of Magic was responsible for the unfair journalism of that summer as Cornelius Fudge strove to discredit Dumbledore's account of the return of Lord Voldemort.Hermione Granger subscribed to the paper to keep on top of the Ministry's agenda and see what the enemy is saying. Some people, such as Augusta Longbottom, cancelled their subscriptions due to believing in Dumbledore over the Ministry.
After Fudge is forced to admit that Voldemort has returned, the Prophet changes its stance overnight, calling Harry "a lone voice of truth". The newspaper even buys, from The Quibbler, Harry's interview on Voldemort's return and claims it to be exclusive.
When the Death Eaterstook over the Ministry, they also took over the Daily Prophet, and subsequently they stopped reporting deaths that Death Eaters were responsible for. They also printed biased, bogus news such as articles on Muggle-borns stealing magic from true wizards. As such, many resistance members turned to other programs for news, such as Potterwatch and The Quibbler.
The Prophet is not the only publication in the British wizarding world, but it is almost certainly the most widely read. Stories in the Prophet often colour public opinion to a great amount. When the Prophet published stories deriding Harry Potter and Dumbledore, most people in the wizarding world believed what they read. The most widely read alternative newspaper in the wizarding world is The Quibbler.
While the Daily Prophet has been know to print facts, it has also had a somewhat negative reputation for being incredibly biased, corrupt, and deceptive. It is clear that, as there is strong government control of the newspaper, the facts can be misleading, if not outright fabrications, and that certain means of gathering information appear to be somewhat unethical. Government control of the Ministry is shown in the way that the Daily Prophet appears to pressure the government and go around official sources, and several people in Harry's circles feel that the Ministry of Magic "leans heavily" on Prophet.
In other instances, the Daily Prophet has misleading journalism - information that, while accurate in fact, leads readers to the wrong conclusion. There are also occasions when the newspaper is seen to contain inaccurate or libellous content. It appears that there is little regard for accuracy in any form and there are no consequences or accountability for poor journalistic practices.
The Daily Prophet's unethical means of gathering information are most accurately seen with Rita Skeeter, a prominent but corrupt journalist who writes with a complete disregard for accuracy, truthfulness and objectivity - often conducting interviews with a Quick Quotes Quill, a magical quill that writes automatically as the subject speaks. However, the quill does not record verbatim what the subject says. Instead, it takes a subject's words and creates sensational and inaccurate tales that bear little resemblance to actual events. In addition, Skeeter illegally turns herself into a beetle to spy on people and get personal information from them without being seen.
The Daily Prophet reports on everything going on the wizarding world (albeit not always in an unbiased way). In addition to news, the Daily Prophet includes a Magizoology column is run every Wednesday and a Quidditch section which features a boxed table of all the teams in the league, ranked by total number points scored, with forthcoming matches listed side by side. This section also includes articles on recent matches and other items of interest.
There is also an editorial section of the newspaper, where only few get responses, and are usually brief. The best letter is under the headline STAR LETTER. A classified advertisements section is in the newspaper, with subheadings of JOBS, FOR SALE, and LONELY HEARTS. Birth and death notices also appear on this page. The advice section of the Prophet has a variety of experts in differing fields answer readers' questions. Some topics covered in the past have been Medical Queries, Emotional Dilemmas, Legal Problems, and everyday magical problems. Sometimes, the Daily Prophet has a "fiendishly difficult" crossword puzzle, and usually has a Magic lottery and a Magical Symbols Game.
The Evening Prophet was the name of the evening edition of the Daily Prophet. Presumably, this edition included different features, compared to the morning edition or Sunday Prophet.
The Sunday Prophet is the name of the weekend edition of the Daily Prophet. Presumably, this edition includes different features, compared to the daily edition.
Several montages in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix appear to show several example of the Prophet's motion photography with audio. It is unclear whether this is done simply for dramatic effect, or if in fact some stories in the Daily Prophet include audio clips.
In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Harry was in the train-station café, the pictures are shown to be still and not moving like the Muggle photos. There might be a special incantation (that is not affected by the Trace) that triggers the movement of the pictures.
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid told Harry to pay five Knuts, instead of one Knut, for the Daily Prophet when an owl brought it.
A copy of the Daily Prophet is included for free with breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron.[4]
