Since the internet became more widely accessible, the vast majority of news outlets knew they had to adapt with the times and move online. As a result, most people now get their news from digital sources, with even bigger majorities getting their news from social media, where those digital sources can be viewed and shared. But there has been plenty of growing concern about the spread of misinformation and bias in the news that goes viral online, especially among Gen Z and millennials.
One organization seeking to separate fact from opinion is Ad Fontes, a Colorado-based media watchdog group. Ad Fontes created the Media Bias Chart, an example of which you can see above, that places various news outlets — digital, broadcast, podcast, etc. — on scales related to their political bias (from extreme-left to extreme-right) and reliability (reliant on fabricated or inaccurate information to original, “High-Effort Reporting”). Those scales are represented by scores: bias works on a scale from -42 (most extreme left) to 42 (most extreme right); reliability’s scale goes from 0 (not reliable) to 64 (most reliable), but takes opinion vs. facts into consideration with the bias scale. Scores below 24 qualify as “Selective or Incomplete Story/Unfair Persuasion/Propaganda.”
Last week, Mediaite dove into the Media Bias Chart for cable and network news. This week, have a look at the standouts for digital news outlets. This includes print news outlets that have digital homes, but only the digital outlets factor into these studies. Same for the digital outlets for broadcast networks and cable news networks such as Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. as well as their local affiliates.
First: Broadcast outlets. All of the major networks and cable channels have digital counterparts, but despite operating in the name of objective journalism, there’s always the question of the humans operating them. Humans have opinions. They also make mistakes. That doesn’t mean we can’t rely on the humans giving us our news, but we do have to take into account that we aren’t perfect. That said, here’s a breakdown of the reliability and bias of the most well-known broadcasters.
Generally speaking, the broadcast and cable networks — ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, etc. — are pretty reliable. All the broadcast networks can be found above the 40-point mark, characterizing their coverage as a “Mix of Fact Reporting and Analysis of Simple Fact Reporting.”
ABC News scored 45.59, while NBC News scored 44.64 and CBS News drew 41.67.
As for the cable news networks, CNN.com scored a 42.18 in reliability, making it the most reliable along with NewsNation, which drew a 44.3.
MSNBC’s website drew a 34.63, while the FoxNews.com website scored a 36.30, classifying those sites as “Generally Reliable/Analysis.”
As far as bias goes, all of the aforementioned sites report some level of bias, though none of them would qualify as outright propaganda. FoxNews.com has a bias score of 11.52, meaning it “Skews Right.” Compare that to Newsmax, which scored 30.73 in reliability (“Mixed Reliability/Opinion”) with a 15.15 (“Strong Right”) bias.
On the other end of the spectrum, MSNBC.com scored a -14.24 (“Strong Left”) bias. CNN.com scored a -6.92 bias score (“Skews Left”). NBC News scored -6.14 (“Skews Left”) and ABC News, with its comparatively high reliability, scored -3.92, putting it right in the “Middle.” CBS News also saw a bias score of -2.91, putting it in the “Middle.” NewsNation was the closest network to the middle on bias, scoring 0.21 with strong reliability.
Next up are the digital homes of traditional print outlets and a few other “established” outlets: newspapers, magazines, newswires, organizations, etc. Among the most reliable outlets were many recognizable names; their bias scores were comparable to the broadcast networks, though slightly more scored a “Middle” bias number: Pew Research Center (50.11; bias, -0.50), Associated Press (46.33; bias -2.37), Reuters (46.25; bias, -1.23).
While its bias score falls to the right on the chart, The Wall Street Journal (43.63 reliability) still falls within the bounds of “Middle” with a bias score of 4.09. The New York Times, however, while reliable with a score of 42, “Skews Left” with a bias score of 8.03. The same goes for the Washington Post, which notched a reliability score of 38.37 and a bias score of -8.59.
Also falling in the “Middle” was the National Enquirer (5.62) — but it was one of the lowest rated sites for reliability, scoring a dire 12.73 (“Unreliable, Misleading”).
As for the digital media outlets that have exploded in popularity in the last two decades, Politico (42.46 reliability) “Skews Left” with a bias score of -6.32. Axios, the successful news outlet launched by the co-founders of Politico, fared slightly better on both reliability (43.75) and bias (-3.89). Insider notched a 41.77 in reliability and a -4.64 in bias.
On the left side of the aisle, Rolling Stone fared poorly in reliability, notching a 27.26 score and a -13.19 bias score, meaning “Strong Left.” The Daily Beast drew a 33.40 reliability score and a -12.69 bias score. Salon drew a 31.78 in reliability and a -16.86 in bias. Vanity Fair notched a 32.70 in reliability and a -14.21 in bias.
Media Matters for America scored 26.44 in reliability (“Mixed Reliability/Opinion”) with a -14.55 (“Strong Left”) bias. Raw Story scored 32.08 in reliability (“Generally Reliable/Analysis”) with a bias score of -16.38 (“Strong Left”).
Of conservative outlets, the Washington Examiner fared the best in terms of reliability, with 33.80, and 13.17 in bias. The Daily Wire, now a major conservative media company, notched 33.73 in reliability and 13.77 in bias. The Daily Caller and Breitbart both pulled in lower ratings in reliability and farther-right ratings in bias than their rivals.
InfoWars naturally scored terribly, with a 14.92 in reliability (“Unreliable, Misleading”) with a bias score of 25.37 (“Hyper-Partisan Right”).
One of the most “Hyper-Partisan Left” sites, Wonkette (-26.38, with a low reliability rate of 17.39), however, contains a note that it “focuses on politics, often with a humorous or sarcastic tone.” It’s not always trying to present straight, fact-based reporting in the first place.
But compare that to The Federalist, which scored 22.71 in reliability (“Unreliable/Problematic”) with a 20.36 bias (“Hyper-Partisan Right”). Gateway Pundit reported similar scores (15.24; bias, 24.35).
As for the media critics: Mediaite drew a 39.19 reliability score and a -9.98 bias score, while The Wrap, another website that covers the industry, drew a 36.86 in reliability and -6.38 in bias.
So, who can you trust for reliable news with no detectable bias? Look local: Overwhelmingly, the graphic showed sites for local papers and news outlets, including ABC15 Arizona KNXW with the highest reliability score on the chart (50.26) and a bias score of -1.56 as well as the Indy Star (48.50; bias, -1.57), NOLA.com (47.64, bias, -1.97), The Omaha World-Herald (47.14; bias, -0.66), and Fox 17 Nashville WXTV (45.58; bias, 0.33). Also notable was the number of military-affiliated sites including Stars and Stripes (49.14; bias, 0.48), Army Times (47.80; bias, 0.31), Air Force Times (46.03; bias, 1.25), and Breaking Defense (45.91; 3.89 — a little further to the right, but still safely considered “Middle”).
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified AdFontes as a non-profit. It is a public benefit corporation, which is a for-profit entity with a stated public mission.
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