Balanced well written reporting (The Guardian)

Member Name: darren55

Product:	The Guardian
Date:	03/11/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: its sports reviews and The Guide on Saturday

Disadvantages: Yes its a bit left leaning

The Guardian is a left leaning daily paper, the paper is a nominal follower of the labour party but the parties move to the left of centre has allowed the Guardian to attack them more than they did in the mid nineties.

The Guardian was originally published as the Manchester Guardian and is perceived as attracting a more liberal, left wing readership as characterised by the right wing press as wooly liberals. I'd say that most readers of the Guardian place themselves very securely in the left leaning middle class, it used to be the definition of the university 60's lecturer with his comfy shoes and colourful jumper.

This is of course very simplified, it has a more liberal out look when compared to say the Daily Mail but still has agendas and policies which delight some readers but alienate others. They maybe enhance the positive more than some papers but aren't immune to jumping on a bandwagon if there ones to be ridden.

In my opinion The Guardian is the best of the daily newspapers, it has its left leaning bias but still reports the news in a largely unbiased way but it does tend to allow its feature writers to display more extreme edge therfore displaying the papers ethos. An example of this is the importance of Polly Toynbee who has been associated with being a trend setter rather than a follower, she's even been mentioned in parliament as a voice which has real impact in the wider community.

For me the best of the Guardian is its brilliant sport reporting, extending to its award winning podcast versions with such luminaries as James Richardson. MY other favourite is its brilliant saturday guide which is choc full of the latest clubs, music, film reviews, TV, books, radio etc. If your into your music or want to do something over the week its indispensable.

The Guardian is my favourite paper along with its sunday version The Observer, it has a relatively balanced view on the state of Britain, tends not to exagerate the worst or emphasise the best but has balanced, informative reporting. It has daily sales of around 320 000 making it a mid range in terms or sales of the classic broadsheet newspapers.

Summary: A decent read without being too biased