In an era of social media and 24-hour news, it’s hard to differentiate between what’s reliable and what isn’t.
Fortunately for us, however, Ad Fontes Media and creator Vanessa Otero are trying to change that.
Creating the Media Bias Chart in 2016, Vanessa Otero has steadily built the once static chart into a fully interactive content rating tool designed to filter, categorize, and rank news sources.
And as one of the only media bias charts to use human analysts (not to mention an actual methodology), it’s about as close as we’ll get to a reliable rating system in today’s political landscape.
To jump straight to the tool, click here. To find other media bias charts and interactive web maps and tools, click here.
What Makes the Media Bias Chart so Unique?
What makes the Media Bias Chart so unique is that it separates individual news sources by their medium or segment. For example, Fox News isn’t lumped together as just “Fox News” – it’s broken up between print, broadcast, and TV segments and highlights the differences between all of them.
- Fox News Business: (1) Middle or Balanced Bias; (2) Complex Analysis or Mix of Fact Reporting and Analysis; (3) Reliable for news but high in analysis and opinion content
- Foxnews.com: (1) Skews Right; (2) Analysis or High Variation in Reliability; (3) Reliable for news but high in analysis and opinion content
- Fox News: Hannity: (1) Hyper-Partisan Right; (2) Selective or Incomplete Story/Unfair Persuasion/Propaganda; (3) some reliability issues and/or extremism
Additionally, news outlets or individual articles can be submitted to the website for rating. If, for example, you stumble upon an article and don’t know the source or having difficulty trusting the content, you can submit the link to the website and either “report it” or “request that it be rated.”
Trustworthy News Sources and Least Biased News According to the Media Bias Chart
According to the Media Bias Chart, there is a “goldilocks zone” that highlights the most reliable news. This includes an area with (1) fact reporting and original fact reporting and little to no analysis, and (2) an area with Complex Analysis or Mix of Fact Reporting and Analysis. Both zones are outlined below.
“Goldilocks zone” with fact reporting and original fact reporting and little to no analysis – listed in no particular order:
- Associated Press
- NPR News Now
- Reuters News
- PBS
- CBS News
- CNBC News
- ABC News
- BBC
- Newsy
- Voice of America
“Goldilocks zone” with Complex Analysis or Mix of Fact Reporting and Analysis – listed in no particular order:
- USA Today
- Al Jazeera
- Bloomberg News
- The New York Times
- Axios
- Vice
- Vox
- Marketwatch
- Washington Post
- Fox Business
- CNN
- Wall Street Journal
- Politico
- The Hill
- Independent Journal Review
- Forbes
- The Economist
- FiveThirtyEight
- Insider
- Buzzfeed News
- Christianity Today
- Wall Street Journal Potomac Watch
- Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace
- The Intercept
- The New Yorker
- NY Daily News
Reliable News Organizations that Sometimes Skew Left or Right According to the Media Bias Chart
Some news organizations are generally reliable for news, but skew left or right because of their analysis and opinion. The news outlets below are categorized as having (1) high analysis or opinion content and (2) variation in reliability.
Skews Left (no particular order)
- MSNBC (website)
- MSNBC: The Rachel Maddow Show
- The Daily Beast
- Salon
- CNN: Don Lemon Tonight
- Jezebel
- Mother Jones
- The Week
Skews Right (no particular order)
- Fox News (website)
- The Daily Wire
- New York Post
- The Washington Times
- Fox News: The Five
- The Blaze
- Breitbart
- Newsmax
- OAN
- The Federalist
- The Ben Shapiro Show
Most Biased News Outlets According to the Media Bias Chart
The most biased news outlets according to the chart are considered both hyper-partisan and misleading. They are categorized as having either (1) some reliability issues and/or extremism or (2) Serious reliability issues and/or extremism.
Hyper-partisan left and most extreme left (no particular order)
- MSNBC: The ReidOut
- Occupy Democrats
- Bipartisan Report
- The New Abnormal
- The Jimmy Dore Show
- Wonkette
- Palmer Report
- Alternet
Hyper-partisan right and most extreme right (no particular order)
- Billoreilley.com
- Fox News: Hannity
- Epoch Times
- GlenBeck.com
- WND
- InfoWars
- World Truth TV
- PragerU
A Simple Media Graph with Infographic News Sources is Now an Online, Interactive Resource
When Vanessa Otero created the Media Bias Chart in 2016, it was just a static chart on a blog post — one that was meant to settle some 2016 election quarrels amongst her friends. However, after seeing the chart go viral and having thousands of people reach out to her, she decided to expand on the idea.
Eventually making the chart interactive, she founded Ad Fontes Media in 2018, where its usage and implementation have exploded. Today, Ad Fontes Media offers one of the most robust bias charts out there and it’s unrivaled in both methodology and usability.
Creating it, she said, was to tackle the “extremes” in reporting.
“I think the extremes are very toxic and damaging to the country . . . these extreme sources play on people’s worst instincts, like fear and tribalism, and take advantage of people’s confirmation biases.”
However, despite the good intentions of the chart, many people have voiced their opposition to it. Some, of course, don’t like it because it doesn’t personally align with their beliefs, while others say it unfairly categorizes “left-leaning news” and “right-leaning news” as the same extreme.
However, regardless of criticism, the media bias chart is really all we’ve got at the moment. So until something better comes along, the chart appears to be one of the best tools in the toolbox when it comes to filtering, categorizing, and ranking modern news content.
