Murdoch: Fox News isn't biased

News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has defended the Fox News Channel's claim to be "fair and balanced."

The station, which ranks first above CNN and MSNBC in the States, has come under fire from groups who claim the channel has a clear conservative bias despite its insistence of neutrality.

"We are fair and balanced and we challenge anyone to show FOX News has any bias in it," Murdoch said in an interview with WorldScreen.com.

"People appreciate it for a number of reasons: it’s better presented, it’s more entertaining. We are first with the news. We beat CNN time and again on every big story.

"The major networks have been openly biased to the point of being very leftist. That’s different from being middle-of-the-road."

He continued: "I don’t call myself a conservative. I call myself an independent. Look at who our newspapers have supported. Democrats [in the U.S.] and Labour parties in Australia and Great Britain. They have been the best alternatives for our readers and for the countries that they serve."