# News shows like "Fox News": Does England have a counterpart? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782 "2012-12-21T21:17:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/1 "2012-12-21T21:17:17Z")
Do you Dopers in England have a comparable television news show like _Fox News_? If you don’t know what _Fox News_ is, I’m sure other posters will come along with a better description, but it’s a biased news show that caters to American conservatives while purporting to be the only news source that delivers the truth. Do you have anything similar? All I see from your country is BBC News, but I’m aware there’s more to your programming than BBC. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/2 "2012-12-21T21:19:51Z")
If the answer is yes, then the next question is how do they avoid the libel laws (which I understand are quite rigorous)? ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/3 "2012-12-21T21:48:52Z")
We’re running a bit behind and get our biased filtered news through newspapers. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/4 "2012-12-21T21:50:00Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > If the answer is yes, then the next question is how do they avoid the libel laws (which I understand are quite rigorous)? That’s funny. The most recent US media libel case I can recall is against one of the big “mainstream” networks which took some guy’s 911 call and massively edited it to make him sound like a racist. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/5 "2012-12-21T22:05:54Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Do you Dopers in England have a comparable television news show like _Fox News_? > > If you don’t know what _Fox News_ is, I’m sure other posters will come along with a better description, but it’s a biased news show that caters to American conservatives while purporting to be the only news source that delivers the truth. > > Do you have anything similar? All I see from your country is BBC News, but I’m aware there’s more to your programming than BBC. Fox News is not a “news show” it is a network. A network that has many shows. About 90% of those shows are talking heads giving opinions and not news shows. You can render your opinion on how biased that 10% is. IMHO the problem with news media today is not Fox News. It is that 90% of all the news channels are commentary and not reporting. CNN did see the need to change it so they made Headline News their straight news channel. Then they turned that into 24 hours of opinion. About the only place you can get decent reporting on TV is the half hour an evening for the network news. I think all 3 major networks do a decent job with their evening news but I prefer Scott Pelley. ---
**Author:** ![codgerone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@codgerone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codgerone)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/6 "2012-12-23T16:14:48Z")
I don’t think we have a real equivalent to Fox news, if anything it’s the opposite because out of the main terrestrial broadcasters the BBC has a distinctly left wing bias. I don’t have satellite or cable so can’t comment on what Sky news coverage is like but from what I hear I don’t think it leans one way or another politically. We do have our fair share of right wing newspapers though so there’s no shortage of immigrant bashing, anti europe, hang em and flog em style stories if that’s what floats your boat. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/7 "2012-12-23T16:19:17Z")
Moved MPSIMS --\> Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/8 "2012-12-23T20:39:20Z")
> [@codgerone](#): > > I don’t think we have a real equivalent to Fox news, if anything it’s the opposite because out of the main terrestrial broadcasters the BBC has a distinctly left wing bias. > > I don’t have satellite or cable so can’t comment on what Sky news coverage is like but from what I hear I don’t think it leans one way or another politically. > > We do have our fair share of right wing newspapers though so there’s no shortage of immigrant bashing, anti europe, hang em and flog em style stories if that’s what floats your boat. You are letting your own bias show. The BBC does not have a “distinctly left wing bias”, instead it actually challenges the government of the time which looks like a bias if you only consider a single moment in time. Very right wing government now, so in challenging them they look biased to the left now. They were very critical of New Labour, but I guess you have forgotten about that. Oh and Sky News is comically biased towards the right. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/9 "2012-12-23T21:00:26Z")
Pretty much everyone complains that the BBC is biased against them - especially if they did something they’d rather the public didn’t know about. I’d say that’s a fair indication of neutrality. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/10 "2012-12-24T00:31:24Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > You are letting your own bias show. The BBC does not have a “distinctly left wing bias”, instead it actually challenges the government of the time which looks like a bias if you only consider a single moment in time. Very right wing government now, so in challenging them they look biased to the left now. They were very critical of New Labour, but I guess you have forgotten about that. > > Oh and Sky News is comically biased towards the right. That also seems biased, except in the other direction. I’m not sure in what way the current coalition government is “very” right-wing. It’s centre-right, that’s all. As for Sky News, the only sort of Bill O’Reilly-type figure I can think of is Adam Boulton, who occasionally gets into hilarious shouting matches with Labour politicians. But most of the time they play with a reasonably straight bat, from what I have seen. We don’t really have any Tea Party-like movement here, and you have to hunt around a bit more for your ideological lunacy. TV news is reasonably civilised; there are some talk radio presenters who are bit crazier but again not really comparable to the likes of Rush Limbaugh. Some of the tabloids like the Daily Express can be a bit nasty. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/11 "2012-12-24T00:38:34Z")
How about newspapers, stuff like _The Sun_ and all that hullaballoo? It seems that on paper at least, there’s a massive right-wing presence in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/12 "2012-12-24T00:52:59Z")
Without getting into GD political territory, isn’t US right-wing radio. like Rush Limbaugh, much more influential in shaping opinion than FoxNews? Is there a similar right-wing radio niche in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/13 "2012-12-24T00:58:49Z")
Dunno about the UK, but New Zealand used to have back in the 80s You can see a clip of it here. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP5oVvwseWk) ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/14 "2012-12-24T01:06:30Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > That’s funny. The most recent US media libel case I can recall is against one of the big “mainstream” networks which took some guy’s 911 call and massively edited it to make him sound like a racist. What does that have to do with UK libel laws??? ---
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/15 "2012-12-24T01:14:47Z")
I heard it was the _Daily Mail_ ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/16 "2012-12-24T01:46:36Z")
Broadcasting rules in the UK demand that news programmes show balance. This especially applies during election periods where you cannot only interview a representative of one major party without including the others or give too much coverage to one party. Privately paid for political advertising is banned all year round. And encouraging people to vote one way or another is a definite no no. So Murdoch couldn’t make Sky News like Fox News even if he wanted to. However different rules apply to the press so our crazy right wing media is generally confined to publications like the Daily Mail and the Daily Express plus some of Murdoch’s tabloids and they are free to let you know who they think you should vote for. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/17 "2012-12-24T01:51:20Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > What does that have to do with UK libel laws??? As I read it, you asked “if there is a TV channel like Fox News in the UK, how do they avoid rigorous UK libel laws?”. In response, I pointed out that channels other than Fox have been sued for libel in the US. The underlying unspoken question inherent in that response was “why do you think Fox is more likely to have a problem with UK libel laws than other news channel?” Sorry for the confusion, and I hope I have made myself abundantly clear. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/18 "2012-12-24T02:18:13Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Broadcasting rules in the UK demand that news programmes show balance. Some people have questioned whether broadcasting should still have these impartiality rules (which come from Ofcom, sort of like the FCC in the US). Interestingly, one of them is (now former) Director General of the BBC, Mark Thompson: [Mark Thompson: Britain needs a channel like Fox News | Mark Thompson | The Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/17/mark-thompson-bbc-fox-news) ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/19 "2012-12-24T03:00:24Z")
My understanding is that one of the nicknames for _The Daily Telegraph_ is “the Toryograph”. ---
**Author:** ![gunchris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@gunchris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunchris)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782/20 "2012-12-24T03:11:08Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Do you Dopers in England have a comparable television news show like _Fox News_? **Geraldo Riverara ( however you spell it ) is an uber liberal idiot, more along the lines of the three networks full of liberal bias excrement.** > [@](#): > > If you don’t know what _Fox News_ is, I’m sure other posters will come along with a better description, but it’s a biased news show that caters to American conservatives while purporting to be the only news source that delivers the truth\*\*\*. NOPE. They claim to be fair and balanced, they present stupid liberal opinions all the time, they’re as stupid as the three excrement laden networks when presenting factual “news” WRT 2 Amendment issues. * * * > [@](#): > > Do you have anything similar? All I see from your country is BBC News, but I’m aware there’s more to your programming than BBC. \*\*\*BBC is a champion of complete nonsense, in segment on **college campus** carry of concealed handguns they only showed elementary schools. :rolleyes: * * * [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-shows-like-fox-news-does-england-have-a-counterpart/644782.md?page=2)