The AllSides Media Bias Chart™ helps you to easily identify different perspectives and political leanings in the news so you can get the full picture and think for yourself.
Knowing the political bias of media outlets allows you to consume a balanced news diet and avoid manipulation, misinformation, and fake news. Everyone is biased, but hidden media bias misleads and divides us. The AllSides Media Bias Chart™ is based on our full and growing list of over 2,400 media bias ratings. These ratings inform our balanced newsfeed.
The AllSides Media Bias Chart™ is more comprehensive in its methodology than any other media bias chart on the Web. While other media bias charts show you the subjective opinion of just one or a few people, our ratings are based on multipartisan, scientific analysis, including expert panels and surveys of thousands of everyday Americans.
See the AllSides Fact Check Bias Chart™
Learn how AllSides rates media bias
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This chart does not rate accuracy or credibility. A publicationcan be accurate, yet biased. Learn why AllSides doesn't rate accuracy.
Unless otherwise noted, these bias ratings are based on online written content, not TV, radio, or broadcast content.
Here's how the AllSides Media Bias Chart™ differs from other media bias charts:
- Data is gathered from many people across the political spectrum — not just one biased individual or a very small, elite group. We have a patent on rating bias and use multiple methodologies, not an algorithm. Our methods are: Blind Bias Surveys of Americans, Editorial Reviews by a multipartisanteam of panelists who look for common types of media bias, independent reviews, and third party data.
- Our research spans years — we started rating media bias back in 2012.
- We give separate bias ratings for the news and opinion sections for some media outlets, giving you a more precise understanding.
- Transparent methodology: we tell you how we arrived at the bias rating for each outlet. Search for any media outlet here.
- We consider and review data and research conducted by third parties, like universities and other groups.
- Your opinion matters: we take into account hundreds of thousands of community votes on our ratings. Votes don't determine our ratings, but are valuable feedback that may prompt more research. We know that a mixed group of experts and non-experts will provide a more accurate result, so we solicit and consider opinions of average people.
- We don't rate accuracy — just bias. Our ratings help readers to understand that certain facts may be missing if they read only outlets from one side of the political spectrum.
Americans are more polarized than ever — if you’re like us, you see it in the news and on your social media feeds every day. Bias is natural, but hidden bias and fake news misleads and divides us. That’s why AllSides has rated the media bias of over 2,400 sources. and put it into a media bias chart. The AllSides Media Bias Chart™ shows the political bias of some of the most-read sources in America.
The outlets featured on the AllSides Media Bias Chart™ have varying degrees of influence. Read about whether conservative or liberal media outlets are more widely read.
Frequently Asked Questions
about the AllSides Media Bias Chart
- Why Does the Bias of a Media Outlet Matter?
- How Does AllSides Calculate Media Bias?
- How Did AllSides Decide Which Media Outlets to Include on the Chart?
- What Do the Bias Ratings Mean?
- Does a Center Rating Mean Neutral, Unbiased, and Better?
- Why Are Some Media Outlets On The Chart Twice?
- Does AllSides Rate Which Outlets Are Most Factual or Accurate?
- Where Can I See Past Versions of the Chart?
- Where Can I Learn More?
- I Disagree With Your Media Bias Ratings. Where Can I Give You Feedback?
Why Does the Bias of a Media Outlet Matter?
News media, social media, and search engines have become so biased, politicized, and personalized that we are often stuck inside filter bubbles, where we’re only exposed to information and ideas we already agree with. When bias is hidden and we see only facts, information, and opinions that confirm our existing beliefs, a number of negative things happen: 1) we become extremely polarized as a nation as we misunderstand or hate the "the other side," believing they are extreme, hateful, or evil; 2) we become more likely to be manipulated into thinking, voting, or behaving a certain way; 3) we become limited in our ability to understand others, problem solve and compromise; 4) we become unable to find the truth.
It feels good to hear from people who think just like us, and media outlets have an incentive to be partisan — it helps them to earn ad revenue, especially if they use sensationalism and clickbait. But when we stay inside a filter bubble, we may miss important ideas and perspectives. The mission of AllSides is to free people from filter bubbles so they can better understand the world — and each other. Making media bias transparent helps us to easily identify different perspectives and expose ourselves to a variety of information so we can avoid being manipulated by partisan bias and fake news. This improves our country long-term, helping us to understand one another, solve problems, know the truth, and make better decisions.
Media bias has contributed to Americans becoming more politically polarized.
At AllSides, we reduce the one-sided information flow by providing balanced newsfrom both liberal and conservative news sources, and over 2,400 media bias ratings. Our tools help you to better understand diverse perspectives and reduce harmful, hateful polarization in America. By making media bias transparent and consuming a balanced news diet, we can arm ourselves with a broader view — and find the truth for ourselves.
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How Does AllSides Calculate Media Bias?
Our media bias ratings are based on multi-partisan, scientific analysis. Our methodologies include Blind Bias Surveys of Americans, Editorial Reviews by a panel of experts trained to spot bias, independent reviews, third party data, and community feedback. Visit our Media Bias Rating Methodology page to learn more.
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How Did AllSides Decide Which Media Outlets to Include on the Chart?
We consider multiple factors including how much traffic the source has according to Pew Research Center and Similarweb, and how many searches for the bias of that outlet land on AllSides.
We also include outlets that represent outlier perspectives. For example, Jacobin magazine is included because it represents socialist thought, while Reason magazine is included because it represents libertarian thought.
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What Do the Bias Ratings Mean?
These are subjective judgements made by AllSides and people across the country. Learn our rough approximation for what the media bias ratings mean:
Left - Lean Left - Center - Lean Right - Right
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Does a Center Rating Mean Neutral, Unbiased, and Better?
Center doesn't mean better! A Center media bias rating does not mean the source is neutral, unbiased, or reasonable, just as Left and Right do not necessarily mean the source is extreme, wrong, or unreasonable. A Center bias rating simply means the source or writer rated does not predictably publish content that tilts toward either end of the political spectrum — conservative or liberal. A media outlet with a Center rating may omit important perspectives, or run individual articles that display bias, while not displaying a predictable bias. Center outlets can be difficult to determine, and there is rarely a perfect Center outlet: some of our outlets rated Center can be better thought of as Center-Left or Center-Right, something we clarify on individual source pages.
While it may be easy to think that we should only consume media from Center outlets, AllSides believes reading in the Center is not the answer. By reading only Center outlets, we may still encounter bias and omission of important issues and perspectives. For this reason, it is important to consume a balanced news diet across the political spectrum, and to read horizontally across the bias chart. Learn more about what an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Center rating means here.
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Why Are Some Media Outlets On The Chart Twice?
We sometimes provide separate media bias ratings for a source’s news content and its opinion content. This is because some outlets, such as the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, have a notable difference in bias between their news and opinion sections.
For example, on this chart you will see The New York Times Opinion is rated as a Left media bias, while the New York Times news is rated Lean Left.
When rating an opinion page, AllSides takes into account the outlet's editorial board and its individual opinion page writers. The editorial board’s bias is weighted, and affects the final bias rating by about 60%.
For example, the New York Times has a range of individual Opinion page writers, who have a range of biases. We rate the bias of commentators individually as much as possible. Yet The New York Times Editorial Board has a clear Left media bias. We take into account both the overall biases of the individual writers and the Editorial Board to arrive at a final bias rating of Left for the New York Times opinion section.
See how we provide individual bias ratings for New York Times opinion page writers here.
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Does AllSides Rate Which Outlets Are Most Factual or Accurate?
AllSides does not rate outlets based on accuracy or factual claims — this is a bias chart, not a credibility chart. It speaks to perspective only.
We don't rate accuracy because we don't assume we know the truth on all things. The left and right often strongly disagree on what is truth and what is fiction. Read more about why AllSides doesn't rate accuracy.
We disagree with the idea that the more left or right an outlet is, the less credibility it has. There’s nothing wrong with having bias or an opinion, but hidden bias misleads and divides us.Just because an outlet is credible doesn’t mean it isn’t biased; likewise, just because an outlet is biased doesn’t mean it isn’t credible.
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Where Can I See Past Versions of the Chart?
Learn more about past versions of the chart on our blog:
- Version 9.2
- Version 9.1
- Version 9
- Version 8
- Version 7.2
- Version 7.1
- Version 7
- Version 6
- Version 5.1
- Version 5
- Version 4
- Version 3
- Version 2
- Version 1.1
- Version 1
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Where Can I Learn More?
Visit the AllSides Media Bias Ratings™ page and search for any outlet for a full summation of our research and how we arrived at the rating.
Visit our company FAQ for more information about AllSides.
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I Disagree With Your Media Bias Ratings. Where Can I Give You Feedback?
You can vote on whether or not you agree with media bias ratings,contact us, or sign up to participate in our next Blind Bias Survey.
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