How Often Is The Media In Bed With The Government?
When it comes to the media and the government, it’s not a brief affair. They’re married and they have been for years.
There is a variety of evidence to suggest that pretty much all of the UK’s top media outlets have government links. By this I mean, that they are all somehow involved with, funded by, or in-part controlled by, people who work closely with the government. In 2018, The Cairncross Review was launched by the Tories with the aim to sustain “high-quality” journalism. Despite being owned by Billionaires, those under consideration for funding included The Daily Mail and The Sun.
Here is just one example of state funded media in the UK.
Rupert Murdoch, is a Republican billionaire and media tycoon. Murdoch, owns The Sun as well as, Sky news, Fox news and The Times. In 2010, he donated $1 Million to the Republican party. That being said, Murdoch has a reputation for switching sides depending on his business interests, bringing his donations and influence along with him. Whilst it’s illegal for businesses to donate to political parties in the UK, it’s also worth noting that Murdoch personally donated £19 000 to the conservative party in 2004.
Aristocratic billionaire, Jonathon Harmsworth. 4th Viscount Rothermere is the current owner of the Daily mail. He inherited the controversial newspaper from his father which was previously owned by his father and his father before him. Harmsworth also owns The Daily Mail Trust, which in turn owns Metro, The Mail on Sunday and New Scientist.
Already, we can see that two (out of touch) billionaires own 60% of the UK’s top 10 most popular newspapers.
Harmsworth’s wide-reaching media clout emphasis an further problematic relationship in British news. That being, the media, the government and the aristocracy’s polyamorous arrangement. In 2009, The Evening Standard, which was previously owned by aristocratic billionaire Jonathon Harmsworth. 4th Viscount Rothermere, was sold to Russian aristocratic (oligarchical if you want to split hairs) billionaire Evgeny Lebedev. Furthermore, despite Harmsworth selling The Evening Standard, The Daily Mail Trust still maintains a 25% share in the newspaper.
Evgeny Lebedev, the new billionaire, aristocratic owner of The Evening Standard is also a cross-bench member of The House of Lords, so there’s your (first) government link. As well as owning the Evening Standard, Lebedev part owns The Independent (alongside Saudi Arabian, Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel) and TV Channel London Live. In light of its new ownership, recent coverage by the BBC validly questions whether The Independent can still be considered independent.
Foreign, aristocratic, multi-millionaires and billionaires owning UK media outlets is concerning, because of their large stakes in various global corporations, and potential for intimate connections with external power systems. All of which could influence what stories they choose to highlight. If a particular news story could cause the value of their investments to drop, or compromise the security of certain a government they favour, then why would these wealthy businessmen choose to investigate the story via their media outlet?
Furthermore, as was shown by Boris Johnson’s ‘overnight stay’ (party) at Lebedev’s Italian castle conversion in 2018, wealthy aristocrats tend to have links with other international highflyers, which includes UK government members. This is again concerning because if our government is corrupt and our media is financially or emotionally invested in them, how far will our media go to discover and reveal this corruption?
The Telegraph is still owned by billionaires, but this time they’re not aristocracy. Painter-decorators, turned knighted Telegraph media tycoons, ‘The Barclay Brothers’ were accused of corruption by a former employee in 2015. In his piece for Open Democracy, former chief political correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, Peter Oborne accused the brothers of not giving significant enough attention to the HSBC scandal as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement with the bank.
Despite Oborne raising his concerns in a wider debate about the state of free press, the brothers dismissed his allegations as ‘unfounded’ and ‘full of inaccuracy’. Since these allegations were raised, the newspapers digital subscribership remains to be on the rise and their profits continue to surge. In addition, one of the Barclay brothers, Sir David Barclay, recently passed leaving The Telegraph in the sole hands of Sir Frederick Barclay. And, little is known about Frederick Barclay save the right leaning perspective of his newspaper.
After extensive research, the only print media outlets in the top 10 that don’t appear to have government or aristocratic links are The Guardian and The Observer. Both The Guardian and The Observer, are owned by The Guardian Media Group, who are in turn owned by The Scott Trust (Ltd). Scott Trust Ltd is managed by the Scott Trust Board, which is made up of 12 members who collectively endeavour to maintain the papers’ independence.
Whilst there is much can that could be said about the make-up of this board, it makes sense that collective ownership of media outlets prevents media bias to a greater extent than singular or dual ownership. This is because personal interests shouldn’t be able to impact a particular outlets output, at least to the same degree. That being said, it is also vital to examine board members for personal bias and ensure the diversity of boards like this which seek to cover a spectrum of social issues.
So, what about broadcast media outlets? On the surface it looks like broadcast news might not be as closely linked to the government as their online and print counterparts. Yet, under further inspection, ITV News is owned by ITV PLC which is chaired by Peter Bazalagette. And Bazalagette is a non-executive director for the government’s Department for Digital Culture, Media & Sport.
ITV PLC’s CEO Carolyn McCall, was also a non-executive board member for the government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy between 2017 and 2020. So, both the chairman and CEO of ITV have government links.
BBC news used to managed by The BBC Trust, however, said trust closed in April 2017 and now The BBC is a public corporation within the Department for Digital Culture, Media & Sport. Yes, this is the same government department which is directed by the chairman of ITV. (No, it doesn’t make sense)
Channel 4 and so Channel 4 News used to be owned by Lord Terence Burns who started his political career in the treasury. Now, Channel 4 is owned by the Independent Broadcasting Authority, which again means it’s technically owned by the government.
Last but by no means least is Channel 5 News. Channel 5’s parent company is the same company that owns American stations CBS and MTV, ViacomCBS. ViacomCBS is run by American multi-millionaire and CEO Robert Bakish. Bakish’s is renowned for his donations to the Democratic party which are available to view here. Whilst their isn’t currently evidence available to suggest Bakish is involved in UK politics, his financial influence and clear political interests across the pond make his stake in UK news as concerning as Evgeny Lebedev’s.
So, after a much consideration, the question isn’t how often is the media in bed with the government, rather, it’s how often is the media not in bed with the government?
On a more serious note, if pretty much every popular media outlet is owned by exceptionally wealthy, potentially aristocratic individuals who are invested in the government, then what does that say about the state of free press in the UK today? Moreover, are we really getting a variety of unbiased perspectives on different social issues, or are we simply be sold the news we want to consume and lining the pockets of the wealthy yet again?
Written by Jasmine Khan
Jasmine Khan is a journalist, public speaker and mental health advocate. Having achieved a Masters in Global Ethics and Justice, she now hopes to use this knowledge to promote practical changes for social justice across the UK and beyond. Jasmine also runs bespoke mental health masterclasses, for inquiries please see @jazwritesjazspeaks
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