Why is the Guardian so left wing?

Question

In case you have the wrong idea, I do not read the Daily Mail

Or the Daily Express

Please remember that the question is not 'Is the Guardian left wing?' - it clearly is.
Anyone who argues otherwise hasn't been reading a cross-section of the 'serious' newspapers.
Are we allowed to exclude employees at the Guardian from answering?

Answer 1

It's circulation is pretty poor, I think that the majority of Guardian readers are employed in education and the public sector in general, because they are all lefties: People who still believe in Communism, Political Correctness, The EU, are anti capitalist, etc. etc. and also believe in unchecked immigration.

I believe that it makes a financial loss each year, but it's deficits are funded by a trust fund called, 'The Scot Trust'.
Maybe the Scot trust fund deed stipulates that it must pursue a left wing agenda. In any event, as most of it's circulation is within the public sector, and it derives a lot of advertising revenue via the public sector, it clearly is pandering to left wing politics.
Unlike you, I would never read it, because I can get all the left wing bias, that I don't need, from the likes of the television media, this government, education, and the public sector generally. Again, unlike you, I do read the Daily Mail, because it is one of the few newspapers that tells it like it is. Have you noticed how all the crazy public sector jobs are advertised in the Guardian.

The Guardian is left wing because that is it's market slot, It appeals to left wing intellectuals, those individuals that despise the capitalist system, but are quite happy to be funded by it. Academics keep their students interested in it.

I wish that it would go out of circulation, but there you go.

Answer 2

Guardian Left Wing

Answer 3

It is pretty telling about how times have changed when the Guardian is even considered to be a left wing newspaper.

It shows how far to the right that the British media has gone.

In my view, the Guardian is actually fairly moderate and centerist in its politics. But, at the end of the day, it simply provides the news reports and editorials that its editors think will be interesting to its readers and attract more readers. Just like the editors of the Daily Mail do.

But, why is it even a problem for the Guardian (or any British newspaper) to be left wing? Do you think that all newspapers should say the same thing or share the same political ideology?

Thankfully, Britain is still a country within which differences of opinion and political ideology are still possible and tolerated, even if that cutural tradition is increasingly under assault by those that want everyone to think and act in the same way, i.e. in the same way that they do.

And, thankfully, Britain is still a country within which the press have considerable freedom to print whatever they want.

If you don't like the Guardian then don't read it.

Answer 4

Why Not? in the newspaper market there are newspapers that cover the politcal spectrum. (a spectrum that is false)

When you now have tony blair pushing his right-wing privatisation crusade further than Thatcher would ever have done, The lib dems stealing the policies of the old left, then Cameron copying blair's style, and the lib-dems policies?????

The left-right wing paradigm in British politics has completely collapsed into a marketing led mess.

At the end oif the day, all the mainstream political parties are working to the same global agenda of creating a unipolar world order to satisfy the banking dynasty families.

google I want the world + 5%

The media is there to distract the public from the real theives and get us arguing amonst ourselves.

Answer 5

No,the Guardian most certainly isn't left wing, or communist,but most of the other mainstream journals would want you o think that. It is about central in a righ/leftt spectrum that has surreptitiously shifted significantly rightwards over the last 30 years. It classifies itself as left-wing, but it's simply a missile aimed at a "leftish" middle-class audience, carrying as much misinformation and destruction to working peoples interests as any other mainstrem shitrag.

Answer 6

There are solutions in the Guardian and the Times, Alwyn! They're in the crosswords and Sudoku pages! Loads of solutions there fellow Yahoo! Answers user. Levity aside, I would not see the situation in, literally, 2 dimensions, I think the world has grown far too complex for people to be simply 'Left' or 'Right'. You have to factor in authoritarian left and right, those who would favour statist solutions on most issues in opposition to libertarian left and right, those who would like the markets and people themselves sort out issues, without State interference.

On that scale, I would place the Guardian on the left divided evenly on authoritarianism/libertarianism. I would imagine that Guardian would take positions such as State housing, public free health-care, social welfare, jobs protections traditionally dominated by left wing authoritarians, traditionally looking to creating a country with a pervasive influence of the State.

That said the Guardian would have libertarian attitudes on gay marriage, rights of cohabitors, drug legalisation, immigration and on Government influence on policies regarding teaching of Religious Education and other potentially contentious subjects.

All in all, I think it is next to irrelevant the political leanings of a newspaper as long as it publishes the truth with an appropriate level of decorum.

Answer 7

Well we have 2 decent daily national newspapers in the UK, and it's good that one is right of centre (The Times) and one is left of centre (The Guardian) - it gives the informed reader balance.

A more important question about papers may be :
Why is the Daily Mail so right wing, and why is it so hateful ?

Answer 8

The Grun is actually an extreme right wing paper. It supports the excesses of militant islam, which we all know is based on extreme right wing ideology and it prevents free speech on its Comment Is Free section.

Answer 9

Define left-wing then? Progressive, thinking through, delving deeper, being objective when possible, as well as tolerant to other opinions. Right-wing means regressive/conservative, satisfied with simple answers too often, and not per se tolerant or objective. I'm cutting quite a few corners here, sorry, but that's it in short.

The tabloids are right-wing papers: they provide answers, while left-wing papers supply questions. Seriously, apart from the editorials and columns you won't find solutions in The Guardian or The Times. The tabloids do create solutions, they go into politics - naming and shaming criminals is a good example. I don't find that particularly wrong, but it's another attitude to be sure. Hardly objective is it?

Journalism should, I think, help readers/viewers/listeners to develop their own opinions rather than press opinions onto them - by showing facts and opinions from multiple angles, while not being satisfied until the actual truth comes to light. Tabloids adhere to that too, but too often do so by drawing a conclusion first, then trying to prove it later. Often angles are lacking too, or editorial comment is integrated into news-articles, rather than separated.

Finally left-wing politicians (though in Britain they're scarce) also like delving deeper, so left-wing journalists may sympathise with left-wing politicians - but professionally it's a huge point for journalists to remain objective. And as far as I know, journalists at the Guardian, Times and other papers are. Just because at the tabloids there not objective, and quite right-wing, doesn't mean the opposite is true for broadsheets. Lastly, just because I'm an editor and a Guardian-reader doesn't mean I work there.

Answer 10

Because it's important to have a balanced media.

A better question would be:
Why does the Daily Express continue printing ridiculous conspiracy theories regarding Princess Dianas death.
No, wait, that's because Richard Desmond is mates with Fayed.

At least the Guardian has the courage to print corrections, not like the rest who purport to be perfect.