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Spot media bias & reliability
Use these resources to learn whose news leans, spins, or lies.
Bias is the tendency to report in a way that reinforces a viewpoint, worldview, preference, political ideology, corporate or financial interest, moral framework, or policy inclination.
Reliability is the level of factual reporting. It's also referred to as factuality, credibility, veracity, trustworthiness, truthfulness, etc.
Notes
This article is about the bias and veracity of whole media sources. Visit this other article for individual fact-checking.
Sources that are biased aren't necessarily unreliable nor equally biased. For each story, read multiple sources that have high reliability and differing bias.
We all have our own biases. Choosing not to read only sources that share your leanings will help you get a better balance.
Neither bias nor reliability is an exact science, but the services in this article are widely respected as non-partisan organizations that seek the most impartial ratings possible.
So as not to place all trust in the methodology of any single organization, consider all of their ratings together.
MBFC
Search any media source on Media Bias / Fact Check open_in_new to get a broad analysis of its bias and credibility.
Rates: bias & reliability
Ad Fontes
Zoom/scroll and find media on the Ad Fontes media bias chart open_in_new to see both its general bias and reliability placement. Select the source's image for an overview. (If you're on a phone, you may have to view it horizontally then touch/drag around to see it.)
Rates: bias & reliability
Note: Ad Fontes methodology open_in_new
Tip: The Search feature, on the chart link above, isn't free. So, here's a free Ad Fontes search. Search the name of a media source, then Google will show you all Ad Fontes site results.
AllSides
AllSides bias ratings open_in_new aren't the most comprehensive, yet are easy to search, view, and contribute to. Allsides is perhaps the most transparent about their confidence in their ratings.
Rates: bias
Wikipedia
Browse Wikipedia's Reliable sources / Perennial sources list open_in_new for any media source.
Rates: reliability
Notes:
Ground News
Search a media source open_in_new (such as NBC or FOX) to find the bias and factuality ratings compiled from MBFC, AllSides, Ad Fontes, and Wikipedia.
Aggregates: bias & reliability
Tip: This service is only partially free. But, the sources it aggregates from (MBFC, AllSides, Ad Fontes, and Wikipedia) are free to use and linked above.
Example & notes
Example
Here are the results for the Associated Press.
Notes
Ground News' methodology open_in_new is to aggregate the work of every other organization listed in this article. You can explore each individually, above.
Sometimes, Ground News' media source search results do not include Bias and Factuality, which seems to be a glitch that they're still working on. Try searching the source again; sometimes there are duplicates which include the info.
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