Is the Guardian a biased rag?

[om15]

We are subject to many links to the Guardian and I can quite understand the groans and expletives that this thread will raise. Very, very occasionally there will be an article of interest, usually on an event that has happened abroad, but in the main it focusses on twisting ordinary common place situations into an anti Tory or Government position regardless of how irrational their point is.
Here is an example regarding NHS hospital car parking charges,

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ng-charges

Every single point in the article is skewed to the authors position of finding fault, the car parking charges are in line with normal commercial charges applied elsewhere, the building and maintenance costs have to be met and no one has to use them. The fact that the income is used to offset the overheads of providing the car parks obviously means that more money is available for patient treatment. Another point so obvious is that if car parking charges were abolished then those that don't use the car parks would be subsidising those that do.

My recent minor operation would cost £1700 to be performed privately, the NHS carried this out free of charge, I enjoyed the availability of a car parking space less than a minutes walk from the hospital ward and it only cost me £7 for the complete day. I think that is pretty good value for money and if the hospital made a couple of quid on the deal I'm very glad.

The article would be so much more interesting if written about the benefits of hospital car parking rather than made up grievances about the NHS.

[Boac]

I have not read the article, om, but it would be interesting to know how Scotland and Wales mange not to charge for hospital parking. Does the article mention this?

To answer your question, yes, I believe it is left-wing biased, but I also believe it is important to hear many sides of an argument.

[CremeEgg]

Re: Is the Guardian a biased rag?

Is the Pope a Catholic?

[Boac]

Is the Express a biased rag?

[Pontius Navigator]

If the car park charges were used to maintain the car parks it would be something. Our Trust has just changed providers and they have a camera charging system. It was so different that regular users were totally confused.

The increased charge is about 5% and if you register online it is painless. Where it is really expensive is the loss of pre-booked vouchers. It used to be £15 for 10 visits which saved a minimum of 60p (one hour visits) but nearer £60.

Parking for cancer patients is still free but I have yet to see if I still get charged through the auto system.

Anyway, returning to the Op, I think all media outlets are guilty of selective points of view. At least the 'Manchester ' Guardian has a well known bias and opposite view to the Torygraph.

[om15]

but it would be interesting to know how Scotland and Wales mange not to charge for hospital parking.

Car parking is free in Wales and Scotland, in the case of Scotland the tax payers pay slightly more tax than in England, therefore the car parking is funded by those that don't use the facility.

Yes the Express is equally politically biased and the articles are always drama based, but in fairness it does tend to look at both sides of an argument, where as the Guardian is resolute in only looking at anything from one angle, which is a shame really as in other respects such as no paywall and book reviews it is far better than other papers.

[4mastacker]

........To answer your question, yes, I believe it is left-wing biased, but I also believe it is important to hear many sides of an argument.

What BOAC said, but its views mustn't be taken as Gospel. Unfortunately, there is an element in our society displaying an ever more intolerant attitude toward those who don't agree/follow with the Guardian's slanted view and who ignore the tenet of Voltaire's famous quote.

[Sisemen]

Standard practice when I lived in the Mess was to read the ‘red tops’ and the comics at lunchtime and all the serious papers after dinner. That way one could a well-rounded view of the current affairs pertaining. The Gruniad was “interesting” and confirmed my view of humourless, aggressive lefties.

Page 3 of The Sun was always well thumbed

[Beef Raiser]

Is the Express a biased rag?

It's not even a newspaper.

How can you tell it's Monday ? Princess Di is on the front page of the Daily Express.

[Cacophonix]

Standard practice when I lived in the Mess was to read the ‘red tops’ and the comics at lunchtime and all the serious papers after dinner. That way one could a well-rounded view of the current affairs pertaining. The Gruniad was “interesting” and confirmed my view of humourless, aggressive lefties.

You called! What the feck do you want?

Caco

[Krystal n Chips]

but it would be interesting to know how Scotland and Wales mange not to charge for hospital parking.

Car parking is free in Wales and Scotland, in the case of Scotland the tax payers pay slightly more tax than in England, therefore the car parking is funded by those that don't use the facility.

Yes the Express is equally politically biased and the articles are always drama based, but in fairness it does tend to look at both sides of an argument, where as the Guardian is resolute in only looking at anything from one angle, which is a shame really as in other respects such as no paywall and book reviews it is far better than other papers.

Sadly, it appears you have never read the paper in any depth.

One of the many attributes is the pragmatic content and views from those whose stance may not be entirely to Guardian readers tastes. Remember the little civil war and carnage in N.I. now sanitised as " The Troubles " ?......the Guardian gave a voice to Gerry Adams.....cue, left wing terrorist supporting rag ! from many on here, but, and this is key, whilst the rest of the UK media were happily trotting out the official lines and stances, this meant mainland UK residents had no idea as to the complexities and underlying causal factors in the Province . It's always better to get both sides of a story ..now isn't it. That, and I found Adams views to be articulate and thought provoking. Presumably this now means I was / am a PIRA sympathiser.

The newspaper has also long had a deserved reputation for promoting women's rights and the status of women per se. Clearly, this may not appeal to those who chose to insult an elderly French lady on a train for example or indeed others who feel women should really spend their days at home, cooking and cleaning for their husbands return.....and doing some crochet embroidery if time permits.

This link may, therefore, not entirely meet with approval on here....

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/ ... try-report

" Standard practice when I lived in the Mess was to read the ‘red tops’ and the comics at lunchtime and all the serious papers after dinner. That way one could a well-rounded view of the current affairs pertaining. The Gruniad was “interesting” and confirmed my view of humourless, aggressive lefties."

Nothing like living in the sanatorium, sanitised if you prefer, environment of the Mess to ensure a sealed mind and lack of exposure and understanding to the realities if life, and the world, outside the fabled wire really.

[Boac]

Ouch! That will upset some, KnC.

[Sisemen]

Like I said ... humourless and aggressive lefties (Caco exempt, of course )

[AtomKraft]

Om15
You got your operation free of charge?

If I were to have the same operation as you, I'd be thinking 'that's three and a half months NI, that I managed to get spent on myself'.

The other forty odd years went elsewhere......

[Cacophonix]

I am happy to say that I am a Guardian supporter and make a donation to the trust every year. I used to take both the Guardian and The Telegraph to try and get a balanced view from both sides of political and social opinion but sadly the latter has gone down the tubes since it was taken over by the Barclay weirdos.


Why Peter Oborne resigned from the Telegraph


The Express, Mail etc. are just trash, along with all of the Red Tops which are cranked out for the mass of ill educated and illiterate morons (arrogant, elitist, me)? The Times still has a modicum of value but it sticks in my craw to give a penny to a Murdoch owned website or newspaper.


Caco

[Boac]

A fair summary, Caco. I enjoy the Independent.

[om15]

K&C, the point I am making is that particular article that I cited regarding hospital car parks was a shoddy and incomplete piece of work produced only to support the editorial anti Tory/Government stance. Had the author bothered to research how much the acquisition costs of the land were, the costs of surveying, drawing up plans, hiring contractors to prepare access roads, cost of tarmac, lighting, road markings, the on going costs of vegetation management, cost of gritting in winter and also factored in insurance costs, electrical charges for lighting and road sweeping charges, then calculated how much each parking space cost per day and reviewed that against the charges, then the reader would be able to make a judgement on value for money.
The author did none of that, just the usual leftie demands on the free money tree, completely missing the point that if it was free parking those people on low incomes would be subsidising through their taxes people who can afford cars.

If I go to the library to change my library books I don't expect, because the service is free to me, that the library should provide a free car park.

It is a shame that the Guardian, which does in some cases provide thought provoking articles, does in the main rely on churning out badly written leftie propaganda instead of properly researched informative articles.

[Krystal n Chips]

I am happy to say that I am a Guardian supporter and make a donation to the trust every year. I used to take both the Guardian and The Telegraph to try and get a balanced view from both sides of political and social opinion but sadly the latter has gone down the tubes since it was taken over by the Barclay weirdos.


Why Peter Oborne resigned from the Telegraph


The Express, Mail etc. are just trash, along with all of the Red Tops which are cranked out for the mass of ill educated and illiterate morons (arrogant, elitist, me)? The Times still has a modicum of value but it sticks in my craw to give a penny to a Murdoch owned website or newspaper.


Caco

The Torygraph did indeed used to be a responsible paper. Several pages of news and several pages of sport ( except greyhound racing, which makes sense really ) but for years refused to print anything about gliding....this was due to printing an article which came from, it transpired, a lying thieving git concerning his "exploits . Sadly, the rags choice for many years, in cricket correspondents was to trawl the bottom of the barrel and then chisel of the remains so to speak.

Contrast and compare. The rag gave thunderous support to the tanker drivers strike, this was the one some readers may recall was ostensibly about pay and conditions, but which it subsequently emerged was more about attempting to bring down the Labour Gov't. HGV drivers suddenly found themselves elevated to a social standing on par with Zeus....and were promptly dumped as soon as the strike ceased.

However, with regard to the lead up to the Good Friday Agreement, the contrasting reports between the Guardian and the Telegraph couldn't have been starker..the latter doing it's best to undermine the agreement from the onset. Working in N.I. at the time sort of helped my perspective and it was always entertaining to show those I was working with the contrast in reporting. Suffice to say, being Belfast, they expressed their opinions of the Telegraph in "less than complimentary terms " .

Would now be a good time to mention I have actually contributed to the IRA ?..the change from a £10 offered for two pints to be precise, in a pub in County Kilburn one night which my mate assured me, on the basis of never actually having been there, had a good folk club night. The decorations on the wall sort of gave a clue as to where the patrons allegiances may have been orientated but, to be fair, they only asked you and took the money once. For those valiant hero's on here, not paying when asked would have meant not making the door and walking out..intact. I am a devout coward and pacifist when required.

[Pontius Navigator]

At last a worthwhile post.

[Capetonian]

The Guardian is not a rag. It is a well written newspaper with a high journalistic standard at least as far as writing is concerned. The political bias and agenda are sickeningly left wing, but when reporting on factual events rather than those where politics can be introduced, it is a good medium and better than most of the other serious publications. The website is easy to navigate and well laid out. It doesn't devote half of its column space to the doings of footballers' wives and other pondlife with more surgical enhancements than brain cells.

I have even considered making a donation to the Guardian but it sticks in my craw to donate to a left wing publication.

I am sick and tired of reading the never-ending stream of quotes from the Guardian, since I am capable of finding them myself should I so wish. It's rather similar to someone pushing their religious beliefs down my throat, it will serve only to alienate me.