What news sources are left-leaning, centrist, or right-leaning?
There is no completely clear answer to this question because there is no one exact methodology to measureand rate the partisan bias of news sources.
Here are a couple of resources that can help:
All Sides is a news website that presents multiple sources side by side in order to provide the full scope of news reporting.
TheAllsidesBias Ratings pageallows you to filter a list of news sources by bias (left, center, right).
AllSidesuses a patented bias rating system to classify news sources as left, center, or right leaning. Components of the rating system include crowd-sourcing, surveys, internal research, and use of third party sources such as Wikipedia and research conducted by Groseclose and Milyo at UCLA. Note that while the Groseclose & Milyoresults are popular, the methodology it is not without critique.
Note that AllSides does periodically revisit classificationsfor particular sources and their ratings may change over time. In some instances, the News and Opinion sections of a specific news outlet may be rated separately (for examples, seeWall Street Journal, or NPR).
Pew Research Center - Political Polarization
Survey data reveals the news source favored by people according to their political beliefs.
A report based on a 2014 survey shows which news sources are used and considered trustworthy based on individual's political values (liberal or conservative). Note that this report measures the political leanings of theaudience rather than the source itself.
- See AlsoWall Street Journal - Bias and CredibilityThese are the most and least biased news outlets in the US, according to AmericansThis chart will tell you how biased your favorite news source isWall Street Journal (News) Media Bias Rating
An interactive tool from the Wall Street Journal that allows you to "See Liberal Facebook and Conservative Facebook, Side by Side." Note that content is archived as of August 2019.
The Blue Feed, Red Feed tool relies on data from a large study of Facebook users conducted in 2015 byBakshy, Messing, & Adamic (U-M Library access). The ideological alignment of news sources on Facebook was measured based on the stated ideological affiliations of users who interacted with the content.
Placing Some News Sources on the Political Spectrum
Here are a few examples of major news sources and their so-called "bias" based on ratings from AllSides(as of March 2017) and the reported level of trust from partisan audiences from the Pew Research Center survey.
Note that much of these ratings are based on surveys of personal perceptions. Consider that these may be impacted by the hostile media effect, wherein "partisans perceive media coverage as unfairly biased against their side" (source:Perloff, R. M. (2015). A three-decade retrospective on the hostile media effect.Mass Communication and Society,18(6), 701-729. (U-M Library access)).
In the Middle
Common Ground: Centrist News Sources
Daily business-focused newspaper based out of New York City.
The Wall Street Journal news content has a bias ratingof"Center" according to AllSides (although the WSJ Opinion section is rated as "Lean Right" - the news and opinion content are rated separately). The Pew Research Center found that the Wall Street Journal is read by people of all political leanings and is the only news source that is more trusted than distrustedby people all across the political spectrum. There is, however, some debate but it has been accused of being biased to both the left and the right.
The British Broadcasting Corporation News division produces television, radio, and internet news. The BBC is a public service broadcaster established by a Royal Charter of the United Kingdom.
The BBC News has a bias rating of "Center" from AllSides. According to Pew, BBCis more trusted than distrusted among the different ideological groups except for consistently conservative individuals who view BBC as about equally trusted as distrusted.
AlmostCenter News Sources
The following news sources are rated as "Center" by AllSidesand are noted for stating an independent and unbiased agenda, as well as consistently providing balanced coverage (giving time to both sides of an issue). However, they are listed here as almost center because of audience distrust from conservatives.
Respondents to the Pew survey who are consistently liberal, mostly liberal, and mixed views, rated these sources as more trusted than distrusted. Mostly conservatives rated them as about equally trusted as distrusted; Consistently conservatives rated them as more distrusted than trusted.
National Public Radio is a U.S. private and publicly funded non-profit organization that syndicates to a network of local stations.
The Public Broadcasting Service is a non-commercial U.S. television broadcaster and distributor.
Sources on the Left and Right
A key finding from the Pew survey is that conservatives have a higher level of distrust overall of news sources and consume a much narrower range of news sources. Liberal audiences trust and consume a broader range of news sources.
Therefore, there are more news sources that are rated or perceived ascenter-left/slight left leaning (especially mainstream sources); there are fewer news sources that are center-right. This represents the popular conservative discoursethat the mainstream media has a liberal bias (and potential hostile media effect).
Towards the Left
These news sources are rated as "Lean Left" by Allsides. According to the Pew survey, they are more distrusted than trusted by people who are mostly conservative and consistently conservative;and are more trusted than distrusted by people who are mixed, mostly liberal, and consistently liberal.
American daily newspaper published since 1851.
American daily newspaper published out of Washington D.C. since 1877.
American daily newspaper that provides both news and entertainment coverage.
USA Today was moved from"Center" to "Lean Left" in July 2021 after an AllSides Editorial Review.
Far Left
Thesenews sources are rated as "Left" by Allsides. According to the Pew survey, they are more trusted than distrusted by people who are mostly liberal, consistently liberal;and are more distrusted than trusted by people who are mostly conservative, and consistently conservative.
News division of larger digital media company BuzzFeed; the news division was founded in 2011. BuzzFeed News moved to a separate domain in 2018.
American news and culture magazine first published in 1976.
Towards the Right
Thesenews sources arerated as "Right" by Allsides. According to the Pew survey, they are more distrusted than trusted by people who are mostly liberal and consistently liberal;and are more trusted than distrusted by people who are mixed, mostly conservative, and consistently conservative.Note that this represents a further bias leaning than the "towards the left" sources. There are no direct parallelson the right.
News aggregation site founded by Matt Drudge in 1996.
Far Right
These news sources are rated as "Right" by Allsides. According to the Pew survey, they are more distrusted than trusted by people who are mostly liberal, consistently liberal;and are more trusted than distrusted by people who are mostly conservative, and consistently conservative.
American news television channel headquartered in New York City and created by Rupert Murdoch in 1996.
The Blaze / Glenn Beck Program
News platform founded by Glenn Beck in 2010
