The Wizarding World
Fundamentals, Geography, Animals and plants, Blood purity, Government and politics, Relations, Education, Economy, Games and sports, Communications, Transportation, Wizarding media, Food and beverages on The Wizarding World
Last Updated
10/20/21
Chapters
13
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1,120
Wizarding media
Chapter 12
The Daily Prophet
The Daily Prophet is the most widely read daily newspaper in Britain's wizard community. The articles include moving pictures. Its journalistic integrity is lacking; it has been known to be more concerned about sales than about factual accuracy and is often a mouthpiece for the Ministry of Magic; as described by Rita Skeeter, "The Prophet exists to sell itself!"
The Prophet remains respectable for the first three books, but by Goblet of Fire, it has hired Rita Skeeter, an unscrupulous journalist who supplies several thrilling and blatantly false articles. These include an article that, while correctly asserting that Hagrid is part giant, also makes numerous scurrilous accusations about his personal character, and declares Harry "disturbed and dangerous" based on remarks by Draco Malfoy. When Minister Fudge takes the stance of firmly denying Voldemort's return, the Prophet initiates a smear campaign against Dumbledore and Harry, the most influential proponents of the opposing view. 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.
The editor of The Daily Prophet is Barnabas Cuffe, a former pupil of the Potions master Horace Slughorn. It is unclear how long he has been editor of The Daily Prophet. According to J. K. Rowling, in the events after the book series, Ginny Weasley becomes Senior Quidditch correspondent at The Daily Prophet, after her retirement from the Holyhead Harpies. The Daily Prophet has a late edition named The Evening Prophet, and a weekend edition named The Sunday Prophet.
The Warner Bros. Harry Potter website's news and events page has been named after the paper.
The Quibbler
The Quibbler is a magazine first mentioned in Order of the Phoenix.
The magazine's editor is Xenophilius Lovegood. The Quibbler mainstays are conspiracy theories and cryptozoology. Articles in The Quibbler have claimed that Fudge has had goblins cooked in pies, and uses the Department of Mysteries to develop terrible poisons, which he supposedly feeds to people who disagree with him, and that he has a secret army of fire-demons called "heliopaths". Numerous (presumably imaginary) beasts are mentioned in The Quibbler, such as Crumple-Horned Snorkacks (which supposedly live in Sweden and cannot fly), the Blibbering Humdinger and Nargles (which are supposed to infest mistletoe).
In Order of the Phoenix, Hermione blackmails Rita Skeeter into writing an article about Harry's encounter with Voldemort. The interview is published by Xenophilius, and he later sells it to the Daily Prophet for a good price (enough to finance an expedition to Sweden to hunt for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack). In Deathly Hallows, Xenophilius continues to support Harry in his magazine until his daughter Luna gets kidnapped to silence him. Harry, Ron, and Hermione visit Xenophilius for information but discover that the latest issue features an anti-Harry story on the cover. Following Voldemort's ultimate defeat, the Quibbler goes back to its condition of advanced lunacy and becomes popular, still being appreciated for its unintentional humour.
Radio
The most popular radio station is the Wizarding Wireless Network. Harry learns about the popular wizarding band The Weird Sisters from his peers who listen to the WWN. Over Christmas with the Weasley family during Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Weasley family listens to Celestina Warbeck on the network.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ron introduces Harry and Hermione to Potterwatch. Potterwatch is an underground anti-Voldemort radio program that is only accessible with a secret password. The Potterwatch episode that the trio listens to features various members of the Order of the Phoenix and is hosted by Lee Jordan.