We don’t need a Fox News-style TV station in the UK

There were reports this weekend that there are attempts to try and create a Fox News-style opinionated TV station in the UK – and all I can say is that I hope it doesn’t turn out the way I think it might.

I would normally be all for an increase in coverage of the news, and I’m well aware that opinion is the stock-in-trade of the Voices desk. One of my favourite things about the job is finding a range of views and offering them up to our readership, whether that be columnists, one-off writers – or indeed our own readers who offer up their opinions for the letters page. But, TV opinion, like the output of Fox News, is a different beast.

Having been out in New York and helping to craft The Independent’s coverage there during the first couple of years of Donald Trump’s presidency, I saw many a debate – whether that be on Fox, CNN or MSNBC – drift into shouting matches as contributors tried to get their views heard over each other. Passion is all well and good, but the viewer has to actually be able to take something away from the debate to think about.

The attitude of the Trump administration has not helped in this regard. The way the White House has dealt with many lines of questioning has been to entrench the divide between left and right – with Fox News often seen as a sanctuary for officials to get their views across. And I’m not sure something like that is what Britain needs at a time when views are increasingly becoming polarised.

The BBC is obviously facing questions from some quarters about its output as a public service broadcaster – and there have been suggestions that a new station may look to set itself up as a counter to the BBC. My view is that a plurality of opinions is something we must strive for – but the aim should be to widen the debate, not shut down one side as some US news networks do.

I hope I’m wrong about the path we could be walking down, and as always I’m happy for you, the readers, to tell me if you think I have the wrong idea.

Yours,

Chris Stevenson

Editor, Voices