It is not a matter of opinion but a matter of fact - as illustrated by whitewave - that the newsprint media is predominantly centre-right/right wing. The BBC is commonly portrayed as a hotbed of left wing agitators and whilst there may be some left wingers there are also prominent BBC presenters/commentators with right wing sympathies or connections (e.g. Nick Robinson, Jeremy Paxman, Jeremy Clarkson).
It could be argued that the BBC, along with other television channels, panders to the establishment through, for instance, its extensive and often trivial coverage of the royal family - coverage which would, if applied to figureheads in other countries, be described as "propaganda". By contrast, the recent ruling re Prince Charles's "black spider" letters received very little coverage and one wonders whether, when his communications are available for disclosure, how much coverage will be given by the media to them.
At the Levenson inquiry those employed by Rupert Murdoch gave assurances that he never placed pressure on editors to take a particular political stance. However, a recent article in The I reported that, during a visit to London at the end of February when he met with senior Tories, Murdoch berated journalists on his tabloid papers for not doing enough to stop Labour winning the general election. He is reported to have instructed them to be much more aggressive in their attacks on Labour and more positive about Conservative achievements in the run-up to polling day.
The I also reported:
"It is understood that Mr Murdoch reminded executives that Labour would try to break up News UK, which owns The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times. The [Labour] party has suggested that no owner should be allowed to control more than 34 per cent of the UK media, a cap which would force News UK to sell one of the titles."
and
"Two days after Mr Murdoch’s visit the paper devoted a two-page spread to the election – with the left-hand page containing a 10-point “pledge” to voters written by David Cameron. The right-hand side of the spread was an attack on Ed Balls under the headline: “I ruined your pensions, I sold off our gold, I helped wreck [the] economy, Now I’m going to put up your taxes.”
When Labour got into power after many years of Conservative rule, there was speculation as to how they achieved it. One would hope that it was the parlous state of health and education that induced this desire for "a change". However, it appears that it was only after Blair cosied up to Murdoch and re-branded the Labour Party as "New Labour", with Mandelson reinforcing New Labour's image as being “intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich” (and as happy as the Conservative Party to agree to "light touch" banking (and media) regulation) that The Sun, on Murdoch's instructions, finally supported Blair. By contrast, in the 1992 election, when the Sun ran a vicious campaign against Labour's Kinnock, on the Conservatives victory the Sun triumpantly headlined "It's the Sun what won it".
All the evidence shows that it has been, and always will be, an uphill struggle for any party calling for social justice to receive fair coverage from the media. Even parties whose original commitment is to reducing inequality have to be mindful of the immense power of the predominantly right wing media and water down their proposals to avoid complete obliteration.
