Unlike the BBC, Britain’s oldest and largest broadcaster which prides itself on its impartiality- instead delivering unbiased news from all sides, indistinguishable from being either left or right wing, most tabloids/newspapers in the UK today cannot be said to be impartial, with their bias easily determinable as being either on the left or the right of the political spectrum (and, even in the papers that do claim to be ‘impartial’, their political leaning tends to be evident).
Where right wing newspapers are more conservative, left wing newspapers are more liberal, therefore two papers that run the same story, depending on whether they are left or right leaning, will see the news being delivered differently.
With news outlets competing for your attention, this article provides you with the know-how to make an informative decision regarding where you direct your attention.
In other words, it tells you where to go if you want a good newspaper to read
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Where to go if you need a good toilet paper substitute.
Left-wing
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Right Wing
News-paper
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Toilet-paper.
Left-Wing:
– The Guardian
Founded in 1821 as ‘The Manchester Guardian’ by John Edward Taylor, a Somerset born (turned Mancunian) cotton merchant, and a ‘Nonconformist Liberal’, the political stance of the paper’s readership is in line with the late Taylor’s — generally on the mainstream left of British political opinion. So much so, in fact, that the term “Guardian reader” has been claimed to imply a stereotype of a person with liberal, left-wing or “politically correct” views.
– The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror, upon its founding in 1903, was intended to represent women’s interests, thought, and work, and was thus run by women. During the 1930s and 40s, The Daily Mirror was transformed into a left-wing paper for the working class, making no disguise of their steadfast support of the Labour party. They have been left of centre since.
– The Independent
Although the independent (founded in 1986), traditionally had no affiliation with any political party, hence the name ‘independent’ (which stands for ‘independent-minded’, including independence of political party allegiance), it is, today, considered ‘centre-left’, owing to its progressive, liberal stance on issues.
– The New Statesman
The New Statesman is celebrated for its progressive and liberal politics.
Founded in 1913 by Sidney and Beatrice Webb, he a Fabian Socialist, and she his political and literary partner, the NS reflected their views, becoming an independent, socialist forum, the ‘in-house journal of Britain’s Labour party’, for intellectual discussion, political commentary, and criticism. It’s overarching aim being to ‘permeate the educated and influential classes with socialist ideas.’
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Right-Wing:
– The Sun
Initially launched as the Daily Herald in 1911, The Sun, upon its founding, served as an independent left-wing paper committed to offering support to strikers, and it subsequently became the official newspaper of the Trades Union Congress in 1922, supporting the Labour Party.
In 1964, the Daily Herald, after being acquired by Daily Mirror Newspapers in 1961, became what it is known as today, ‘The Sun’, with their change in name also seeing a change in their political stance (in 1978, the Sun switched allegiance to the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher).
Since then, despite publishing an article in 2019 in which editors of The Sun reiterate that they have ‘never been shackled to a political party’, the Sun have been considered ‘centre-right.’
– The Daily Mail
Launched in 1896, the Daily Mail has always been a right leaning paper, endorsing the conservatives steadfastly, and, in 2015, making their political stance clear in their calls for ‘anyone but labour.’
Renowned for sensationalism in which loaded language, often brash and exaggerated, is used, the Daily Mail is irrefutably a right wing tabloid publication, arguably a ‘propaganda sheet for the Tories’, a sentiment which is echoed by participants in a YouGov survey.
Results from the survey reveal how a hefty 44% of people consider the paper to be ‘very right wing’, 26% ‘fairly right wing’, and 11% ‘right of centre’ (in other words, 81% of people consider the Daily Mail to be right wing leaning, winning it the position as the, perceived, most right wing paper in the UK).
– The Daily Express
Since its founding in 1900, the Daily Express has made no attempts to hide their right-wing bias.
The paper’s editorial stances have often been seen as aligned to Euroscepticism and supportive of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). They have also been accused of racism and islamophobia in their sensationalist headlines such as, ‘migrants rob young Britons of jobs’ and ‘workers are fired for being British’ (to name just two).
The Daily Express describe themselves, on their website, as being a ‘proudly conservative newspaper on the centre right of British politics.’ I don’t think their political stance could be clearer than that!
– The Daily Telegraph
Founded in 1855, The Daily Telegraph is undoubtedly a right-wing publication, evident by them having endorsed the Conservative Party at every UK general election since 1945…
Suggested to be the most widely read newspaper amongst conservative party members, our ex prime minister, Boris Johnson, even worked at the Telegraph as their political columnist in the late 80s.
– The Times
Formed in 1785 as the ‘Daily Universal Register’, it was rebranded 3 years later, in 1788, as ‘The Times.’
While right-wing leaning- The Times is generally conservative and Eurosceptic in its approach- compared to other right wing papers, it adopts a much more neutral position/more ‘central.’
Unlike the Telegraph, which has remained unchanging in its right-wing views since its founding, the Times has changed political sides a number of times, backing labour in the 2001 and 2005 elections, and the Tories since 2010.
– The Spectator
Founded in 1828, and ran by Boris Johnson from 1999 to 2005, after his position of columnist at the Daily Telegraph, and before his position of the Mayor of London and British Prime Minister, the Spectator is a right-wing, conservative publication.
While the above list is by no means exhaustive (there are of course several other newspapers, both national and local, that publish stories), I hope that, in listing the ‘key players’, you will feel better equipped to make informed choices regarding where you direct your attention/who you give your time to, in the consumption of news.
To reiterate what I said in the opening of this article:
‘Where you consume your news matters.’
Don’t just grab the closest paper, or the cheapest paper off the shelf, do your research so that you can make an informed choice.
Why is this so important? Because, when the news infiltrates so much of our lives, often swaying our opinion on things, you want to ensure that the news that you’re consuming, the ideology that you’re, sometimes subconsciously, being ‘drip-fed’, aligns with your own values.
In other words, don’t let the ‘immigrants are stealing our jobs’, ‘poor people are lazy’ rhetoric get in…
Portfolio of Hope 