4 ms·

Are the Guardian, the Telegraph and the New Statesman notable for their fair and balanced journalism (or are they the fox news of europe)?

maaarghk 13y ago
The Daily Mail is the fox news of the UK. The Telegraph is not a whole lot better - it's actually less serious and dangerous and just ridiculous. The Guardian is pretty similar, just for the opposite political side.
- hugofirth 13y ago
  The Telegraph is less serious/more ridiculous than the Daily Mail? I'm sorry but that is almost demonstrably absurd... If you read the Telegraph and Guardian you expose yourself to a fairly broad spectrum of political views, all backed up by serious journalistic credentials. Obviously you have to be aware of prejudice - but this does not render the content worthless. For instance - whilst the Telegraph is undoubtedly an outlet which leans towards a Tory hymn sheet it printed a large section on MP expenses, prominently, every day, for a month. Likewise the Guardian have been harsh critics of Labours handling of the Unions.
majc2 13y ago
Broadsheet/quality press - fairly balanced in journalism. Editorially, while its more nuanced than left and right, this will give you a general idea of political leanings. Guardian is leftish, Telegraph is rightish, New Statesman is leftish.
anigbrowl 13y ago
A famous quote from the satirical political TV comedy Yes, Minister sums up the British press fairly well. Amusingly, one of the characters is named Jim Hacker. Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: the Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is. Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun? Bernard: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits. (The Mirror is a leftish tabloid, the Sun a rightist tabloid, both are strident and stupid. The Guardian is a lefty broadsheet, very 'liberal media' by American standards. The Times is center-right, the Daily Mail is middle-class outrage and celebrity gossip (and outrage about our culture of celebrity gossip). The Financial Times is like the WSJ without the axe-grinding editorials; the Morning Star is now defunct but used to be a mouthpiece for the USSR communist party. The Telegraph, sometimes referred to as the Torygraph for its unflinching support of the Tory party, is basically a serious newspaper for people who are convinced the country has gone to the dogs, global warming is nefarious plot, and so on. There's also the Independent, which didn't appear until some years later, which can best be summed up as 'worthy but boring.')
- ableal 13y ago
  > the satirical political TV comedy Yes, Minister Actually a documentary, as someone pointed out years ago. Great quote. (Something else depressingly well along the way to being a documentary is Terry Gilliam's 1985 movie Brazil.)
- sebkomianos 13y ago
  Here is a the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M
  - nextw33k 13y ago
    The really amazing thing about that show is that all the jokes apply to day as much as they did in the 80's when they first aired. I am not sure if that scary or a good thing...
- andyking 13y ago
  > the Morning Star is now defunct They still sell it where I live.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    Really! I thought it had gone out of print years ago. Thanks for the correction.
lmm 13y ago
The Telegraph is a serious, respectable newspaper; quite a way out on the right (at least by British standards), but with integrity, and open about its biases. The Guardian is more or less equal and opposite; again a serious, respectable paper, but one that caters to sandal-wearing vegan hippies. New Statesman is a very respectable magazine, probably analogous to The Economist (and with a similar right-wing but socially liberal stance). But yes, between them these are about as good as it gets, pretty much the opposite of "the fox news of europe".

maaarghk 13y ago

The Daily Mail is the fox news of the UK. The Telegraph is not a whole lot better - it's actually less serious and dangerous and just ridiculous. The Guardian is pretty similar, just for the opposite political side.

hugofirth 13y ago
The Telegraph is less serious/more ridiculous than the Daily Mail? I'm sorry but that is almost demonstrably absurd... If you read the Telegraph and Guardian you expose yourself to a fairly broad spectrum of political views, all backed up by serious journalistic credentials. Obviously you have to be aware of prejudice - but this does not render the content worthless. For instance - whilst the Telegraph is undoubtedly an outlet which leans towards a Tory hymn sheet it printed a large section on MP expenses, prominently, every day, for a month. Likewise the Guardian have been harsh critics of Labours handling of the Unions.

majc2 13y ago

Broadsheet/quality press - fairly balanced in journalism. Editorially, while its more nuanced than left and right, this will give you a general idea of political leanings. Guardian is leftish, Telegraph is rightish, New Statesman is leftish.

anigbrowl 13y ago

A famous quote from the satirical political TV comedy Yes, Minister sums up the British press fairly well. Amusingly, one of the characters is named Jim Hacker. Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: the Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is. Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun? Bernard: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits. (The Mirror is a leftish tabloid, the Sun a rightist tabloid, both are strident and stupid. The Guardian is a lefty broadsheet, very 'liberal media' by American standards. The Times is center-right, the Daily Mail is middle-class outrage and celebrity gossip (and outrage about our culture of celebrity gossip). The Financial Times is like the WSJ without the axe-grinding editorials; the Morning Star is now defunct but used to be a mouthpiece for the USSR communist party. The Telegraph, sometimes referred to as the Torygraph for its unflinching support of the Tory party, is basically a serious newspaper for people who are convinced the country has gone to the dogs, global warming is nefarious plot, and so on. There's also the Independent, which didn't appear until some years later, which can best be summed up as 'worthy but boring.')

ableal 13y ago
> the satirical political TV comedy Yes, Minister Actually a documentary, as someone pointed out years ago. Great quote. (Something else depressingly well along the way to being a documentary is Terry Gilliam's 1985 movie Brazil.)
sebkomianos 13y ago
Here is a the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M
- nextw33k 13y ago
  The really amazing thing about that show is that all the jokes apply to day as much as they did in the 80's when they first aired. I am not sure if that scary or a good thing...
andyking 13y ago
> the Morning Star is now defunct They still sell it where I live.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  Really! I thought it had gone out of print years ago. Thanks for the correction.

lmm 13y ago

The Telegraph is a serious, respectable newspaper; quite a way out on the right (at least by British standards), but with integrity, and open about its biases. The Guardian is more or less equal and opposite; again a serious, respectable paper, but one that caters to sandal-wearing vegan hippies. New Statesman is a very respectable magazine, probably analogous to The Economist (and with a similar right-wing but socially liberal stance). But yes, between them these are about as good as it gets, pretty much the opposite of "the fox news of europe".