1 - Television News (Domestic and Global)

Hannah Diffee

Professor Reppert

Media Law and Ethics

Jan. 2025

1 - Television News (Domestic and Global)

British vs. American Television

While many news outlets aim to provide fair, unbiased coverage of events, various factors influence the issues they discuss and how they frame them. Different countries have different degrees of press freedom and ethical standards, which can affect what topics are considered newsworthy, and the level of truth with which they are shared.

Historically, the United States has been one of the best countries for press freedom. However, its media landscape is highly polarized. The “Big Three” networks–FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC–cater to specific ideologies, often prioritizing the perspectives of those who align with them politically. These networks are all owned by large corporations, which leads many Americans to mistrust them and seek news from independent sources.

While these networks primarily appeal to American audiences, the BBC—the British Broadcasting Corporation—is an international broadcaster renowned for its commitment to factual, unbiased reporting.

BBC
Established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, the BBC is a public broadcasting system funded by British taxpayers. With a weekly global audience of 426 million, it is one of the world's most widely accessed news sources (National Union of Journalists) and among the most trusted, as it provides news from a centrist perspective. According to the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, the United States does not have a news source of a comparable size that presents a reasonable balance of viewpoints from both sides of the political spectrum. 

In a 2021 Medium article, Melissa Moreno, a public relations student at the University of Florida, shared her experiences watching a BBC news program. She noted that reporters presented information in a very “matter-of-fact" manner, without bias, and presented global stories in an informative way.

“The style that the news was delivered was informative and impartial by reporters and interviewees and made me feel like I could trust the information they were giving.” 

Above: Though this may not be the exact segment Moreno watched, it illustrates how the coronavirus was covered on British television.

Moreno then watched a CNN program, Anderson Cooper 360, and felt unsettled.

“I felt as though the main objective with BBC news was to inform and provide relief while the objective with CNN was to inform with bias and initiate a sense of fear in the viewer.”

Many internet users have shared similar experiences, claiming that British broadcasters dive deeper into topics and provide better analyses than their American counterparts. In a 2010 article, Nathan Lustig argued that the British media is more effective in covering important issues than American media. He remembered watching a 10-minute segment on BBC World News America about U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan, stating he learned "more in 10 minutes than in the previous three months listening to politicians and commentators yammer on or reading American news articles.” He found the Daily Telegraph insightful because it did not have a partisan slant or aim to tell a specific narrative.

American media “rarely focus[es] on stories that do not fit the narrative." 

- Nathan Lustig

While trust in mainstream media has declined over the past few decades, the BBC is among the top trusted outlets by Brits and Americans alike (YouGov). 

American Media: Sensationalism and Panic?
One critique of American media is that it does not provide comprehensive overviews of important issues. This problem is often attributed to polarization, as news outlets tend to convey bias in their reporting. As a result, Americans may not have enough information to form unique opinions, which contributes to the stereotype that they are "air-headed" or cannot think critically.

@juliansewell #morning #news #morningnews #newsstations #journalism #tv #reporters #anchors #presenters #american #british #uk #us #accents #dialects #voices #voice #comedy #stereotypes #fyp ♬ original sound - Julian Sewell

The following video offers a humorous look at the differences in British and American coverage of the Ebola outbreak and how this reporting sparked panic among the American public.

While British broadcasters have flaws just as any others, Britain and the BBC are frontrunners in ethical reporting. The closest TV news outlet to the BBC in the US is NewsNation, which launched in March 2021. It reaches approximately 65 million households but is only available in the United States.