History Today – Bias and Credibility

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEAST BIASED
Factual Reporting: HIGH
Country: United Kingdom
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Magazine
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

History Today is a magazine launched in 1951 by Brendan Bracken, the former Minister of Information during WWII and publisher of the Financial Times. It focuses on historical topics and is published monthly by History Today Ltd. The magazine was established to cater to a broader audience than academic journals and is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The website historytoday.com offers readers a digital platform to access past and current issues of the magazine.

Read our profile on the UK government’s influence on media.

Funded by / Ownership

Initially launched by the Financial Times under the Pearson empire, History Today is owned by History Today Ltd. The ownership is transitioning to the History Today Trust for the Advancement of Education, per an article published in 2021. The magazine is sustained through subscription revenues and advertising. History Today offers various subscription options, including packages for print, digital, and archive access, contributing to its revenue stream.

Analysis / Bias

History Today exhibits a varied approach in its articles. While not following traditional academic citation formats, it references a range of sources, as seen in articles like “Cicero and the Power of Rhetoric,” “Turning Points in the Vietnam War,” and “Captain John Ward: Pirate. While these articles do not include a traditional bibliography or explicit in-text citations, they reference various works and studies.

For instance, in the article about Cicero, several works are mentioned that have contributed to the understanding of Cicero’s writings and their impact. Similarly, the article about Captain John Ward discusses his notoriety and references sources like Venetian State Papers and the High Court of Admiralty records. Additionally, History Today maintains an online archive of articles published in its print magazine in previous years. The article about Captain John Ward was initially published in the February 1979 issue of History Today magazine. While History Today’s articles may not always follow the conventional academic citation format, they incorporate and discuss various sources and scholarly works. This narrative style caters to a broad audience beyond academic specialists.

However, in contemporary political pieces such as “Back to the Future: Donald Trump and the Debate Over American Decline” and “Make America Great (Britain) Again!,” the magazine uses emotionally loaded language, blending objective historical analysis with subjective commentary. This approach suggests a nuanced editorial stance, combining historical context with modern political analysis, which might lead to perceived bias. Additionally, the website’s “US Presidents” section does not currently include information on President Joe Biden.

Concerning British politics, we analyzed the article “Boris Johnson’s Abuse of Churchill” by Felix Klos. The author’s perspective leans towards a pro-European Union stance, as it critiques Boris Johnson’s use of Winston Churchill’s legacy in support of Brexit, citing sources such as the Daily Telegraph.

In general, History Today incorporates a range of sources in its articles, usually from experts or academics who study history. However, its approach in contemporary political pieces may introduce some bias due to emotionally loaded language. It generally doesn’t exhibit a strong left or right bias but maintains a balanced editorial stance that combines historical context with modern political analysis.

Failed Fact Checks

• None in the Last 5 years

Overall, we rate History Today as least biased based on reasonably balanced editorial stances. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to utilizing sources who are experts or academic specialists in different areas of history. (M. Huitsing 12/22/2023)