Daily Telegraph (UK) – Bias and Credibility

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: RIGHT
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: United Kingdom
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY

History

The Telegraph was founded by Colonel Arthur B. Sleigh, in June 1855, as The Daily Telegraph and Courier. Joseph Moses Levy, the owner of the Sunday Times, was the first publisher of the newspaper. Later, Levy became the owner of the paper. In 1937, after merging with the Morning Post, it became the Daily Telegraph and Morning Post, and in 1969, it became The Daily Telegraph, sometimes referred to as The Telegraph. The Telegraph covers news, politics, sports, technology, business, money, opinion, lifestyle, and travel. 

Read our profile on UK government influence on media.

Funded by / Ownership

Telegraph Media Group (TMG) owns The Telegraph, which is owned by Press Acquisitions Ltd., which in turn is owned by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay. In 2004, Twin Brothers Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay acquired the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph from the Canadian media company Hollinger Inc. for £665 million. For a complete list of Board members, see here. The Telegraph Media Group’s 2017 Financial results can be found here. The Telegraph is subscription-based, and only subscribers have unlimited access to Premium articles. They also rely on advertising to generate revenue.

Analysis / Bias

According to The Financial Times, in 2015, The Telegraph urged its readers to vote Conservative via email from its editor Chris Evans. As a result, the paper was fined £30,000 by the data regulator, the independent office that regulates the organization’s data use. Further, The Telegraph is strongly biased in favor of the Conservative party, earning the nickname “Daily Torygraph.” 

During the 2017 elections, The Telegraph backed Theresa May ( Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2016): “Vote Conservative for an independent, prosperous Britain.”  Here is a quote from the article demonstrating conservative bias “Only Theresa May has the attitude and the experience necessary to get the job done – and to get it done in the cleanest, most comprehensive way. Jeremy Corbyn is not only incompetent and wrongheaded but dangerous.” They also publish articles strongly biased against the Labor party such as this:  “A Corbyn government would be a calamity – everything else is just noise.”

The Telegraph also republishes stories from credible news media such as Reuters and the Associated Press.

The Telegraph regularly utilizes emotionally loaded language in their headlines and sources poorly through quotations or self-referral sourcing. They also routinely publish clickbait tabloid-style news such as “Is this workout the secret to Jennifer Aniston’s youthful physique at 50?” and crime stories in their News section: “Libby Squire suspect charged with stealing sex toys and knickers from other women months before the disappearance of student.”  

In the past, The Telegraph issued an apology letter to Melania Trump for publishing false statements regarding her family and her modeling career and also agreed to pay substantial damages’ over the article they published about the First Lady. Further, a Reuters institute survey found that 43% of respondents trust their news coverage and 22% do not, ranking them #9 in trust of the major UK news providers.

Failed Fact Checks

• The U.K’s independent fact-checker, Full Fact, has found several false claims by The Telegraph. Climate Feedback has also found misleading information regarding human-influenced climate change.

Overall, we rate The Telegraph Right Biased based on story selection that strongly favors the right and Mixed for factual reporting due to poor sourcing of information and some failed fact checks. (7/19/2016) Updated (M. Huitsing 05/02/2024)