How Sky News Became a Household Name
Sky News is a major news broadcaster in the UK, launched in 1989. This makes it far younger than the BBC, which began in 1922.
While other news organizations have developed alongside modern journalism and the rules that govern it, Sky News distinguished itself by being the UK’s first 24-hour television news channel.
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This has enabled them to quickly establish a household name and gain considerable credibility in a short period.
Is Sky News Biased?
Assessments of bias vary. Sky News UK is regulated by Ofcom, which requires due impartiality. Some media bias monitors rate it as centrist or “Lean Left,” while others describe it as closer to the center.
Like all UK broadcasters, Sky News must follow Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code, which requires accuracy and due impartiality. This is even the case when covering sensitive issues that tend to have an obvious right and wrong.
These laws were enacted to prevent broadcasting companies from exerting too much control over the flow of information, thereby avoiding propaganda and misinformation.
Many people remain uncertain about whether they are receiving unbiased news and where their chosen news source stands on the political spectrum, suggesting that these laws have had limited success.
Sky’s Reputation in the News Industry
Sky News has benefited from the modern age of computing, with real-time news now accessible to billions of people worldwide.
Since they are relatively new on the scene, it has not always been clear where they stand politically, as there isn’t as much data available. A direct comparison to another supposedly unbiased broadcasting agency is the BBC.
The BBC, at its core, is intended to be completely impartial due to its public ownership.
Public perception of bias differs: surveys often show some viewers think the BBC News leans left, while Sky News has at times been accused of leaning right.
Sky News Australia, a separate channel, is often described as more right-leaning and has faced frequent criticism for its editorial stance.
Behind-the-scenes Influences
The problem with a corporate-owned news source is that there will always be influences from the person, or persons, who own the news source filtering through into what’s being published or broadcast.
Sky Group, part of Comcast, owns Sky News UK. Rupert Murdoch’s companies played a pivotal role in Sky’s launch in 1989, although Comcast acquired Sky in 2018.
Given Rupert Murdoch is openly on the right, and many of his media companies have been and are also on the right, it has long been assumed that Sky News is right-leaning.
The Challenges of Being Impartial
While Sky News is bound by law to publish only unbiased and impartial fact-based stories, it’s quite clear that isn’t always the case.
This isn’t a problem exclusive to any single broadcasting company or political ideology.
While Sky News is required to aim for impartiality, studies and watchdogs have sometimes disagreed about its position on the political spectrum.
10 Responses
Saw Sky News Australia on YouTube. I could not believe the misinformation it aired on our situation during the presidential campaign. Rather horrified. Unbiased by UK law? I rather wonder what is UK law? I wonder what US law is? We are supposed to be a free society yet it appears we are taking a huge step backward. Seems no one ever learns from history. We make the same mistakes no matter the century.
I was a little taken aback by the idea of Sky News being “centrist” or “unbiased” as well. The page even brings up Sky News Australia, but just says, “it’s bigger so it’s more likely to be attacked.” Gee… how convenient of a rating for them…
I’m with you Joy. You may not have worded it as such, but this rating sounds like complete bunk garbage.
Nor do I think this effort to make the left and right seem the same is exactly fair or impartial: conservatives are all about austerity politics, pull up your bootstraps and take care of yourself, (along with a varied crowd of eugenicists and bigots). Meanwhile, the only things the left seems to harp on is our planet is dying, the poors are dying, and… idk. Maybe we should do something about that.
Isn’t it weird that we’re being asked to believe that these two things are the same? Or maybe I’m just tired of Centrists quietly supporting Eugenics. Don’t mind me, Joy. I am devoid of any on this planet. xD
Liberal Media/Americans are now starting to comment on international news outlets like Sky, France 24 etc with wild and unverified accusations about the condition of the U.S. Their sheer lunacy knows no bounds and I for one apologize for this stupidly. The silent majority of Americans are not like this.
Sky News Australia is one of the most balanced media sources in Australia. It features the best political coverage and is the first news source to break breaking news. Sky News Australia is Australia’s News Channel.
Don’t talk such rubbish. UK-based Sky News is completely impartial. I am a UK ex-pat in the US and I know what’s happening in the world by using several news sources, national and international, UK and US-based.
UK Sky News is unbiased and definitely not left or right-leaning.
Conversely, Australian Sky News is like US Fox News on steroids.
I agree with you John
Watching James Morrow is like watching Tucker Carlton in disguise. An we all know how truthful he is.
I doubt very much that Sky News UK is anything but unbiased. Just recently they imprisoned a cartoonist/ comedian actor for his comments that should be seen as free speech.
The United States is doomed by the left wing media and control of this corrupt Biden administration as many people are being attacked and imprisoned for speaking out! America is being overrun by millions of illegals and those who have fought and worked for years have had to give up their homes and apts for those illegals. We have been targeted for not getting the Vax yet illegals have been coming into the boarder with no vax and bringing in many diseases. Our hospitals are over flowing with many people bringing in these diseases.
SKY news is anything but conservative. The far Left has control of this media wing as well. People fall on your knees and pray that God has his will soon
sky news is defiantly Torie news even the way they title their political videos on Youtube and the way they report it it’s painful to watch it. It’s very manipulative and subtle yet so obvious.
I llove how people here, including the author mention Foxnews as the bias American news station but exclude MSNBC and CNN to extreme leftist new organizations. This tells me all I need to know regarding their opinion about whether Sky News is bias. Simply put, they cannot be trusted. They themselves are bias.
It’s biased.