The Times UK and The Sunday Times

These media sources are slightly to moderately conservative in bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes) to favor conservative causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Right-Center sources.

• Overall, we rate The Times and Sunday Times right-center biased based on story selection and editorial positions that favor the right and High for factual reporting due to a clean fact check record.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: RIGHT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: HIGH
Country: United Kingdom
Press Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

Established in 1785 as The Daily Universal Register, The Times is a British newspaper based in London, UK. The website was established in 1999.

The Times was founded by publisher John Walter and adopted its current name in 1788.  In 1981, News Corporation acquired both The Times and The Sunday Times.

The Sunday Times is a print newspaper that publishes content on The Times website. The Sunday Times is the largest-selling British national newspaper in the “quality press” market category, and the editor is Martin Ivens.

Please read our report on the UK government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

The Times and Sunday Times is owned by News UK (News Corp UK & Ireland Limited), which American News Corp owns. The owner and Executive Chairman of News Corp are Rupert Murdoch. Revenue is derived from advertising and subscription fees.

Analysis

The BBC reports The Times supported the Labour Party (left) in 2001 and 2005; however, it backed the Conservative Party (right) during European elections in June, and in 2008 they endorsed Boris Johnson for London mayor. During the 2017 general elections, the Guardian reports The Times endorsement was not final; however, it supported the election of Theresa May. On the other hand, The Sunday Times endorsed The Conservatives: “Wake up, smell the coffee, and vote Conservative.”  

The Times was pro-remain during the Brexit referendum, but they were backing Theresa May’s exit deal after the referendum.

Bias

In review, The Times utilizes emotionally loaded headlines such as “Tory leadership race: Bust-up with Carrie Symonds raises new doubts over Boris Johnson’s fitness to lead” and “Johnson takes a leading role in age of buffoonery.”  A quote from the article reads, “The buffoon-in-chief will soon run Britain. Otherwise known as mini-Trump.” When it comes to the US and Trump administration, the tone is negative towards President Trump, such as “Trump sold nuclear tech to Saudis in secret after Khashoggi killing.” When it comes to sourcing, they often source back to themselves rather than hyperlinking to external sources.

The Sunday Times slightly differs from The Times in that they have stronger conservative editorial positions. They also produce more investigative journalism through their Insight Investigative Team. Further, a Reuters institute survey found that 52% of respondents trust their news coverage and 17% do not, ranking them #6 in trust of the major UK news providers.

Failed Fact Checks

• None in the Last 5 years

Overall, we rate The Times and Sunday Times right-center biased based on story selection and editorial positions that favor the right and High for factual reporting due to a clean fact check record. (7/19/2016) Updated (M. Huitsing 03/23/2022)

Source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/