Media Bias Chart: Where Major News Outlets Stand on Lean and Reliability
Each dot is a news outlet in Aplomb, placed at the average of three independent raters: AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check. Select an outlet to open its full profile with each rater's own rating.
How to Read the Media Bias Chart
Left to right is political lean, averaged across the three raters. 15 outlets on the chart sit in the center zone, 18 lean left (AP, AFP, NPR, PBS NewsHour, CBC News, ABC News Australia, SBS News, Channel 4 News, The New York Times, The Guardian, ABC News, NBC News, Axios, Politico, Global News, La Presse, Radio-Canada and franceinfo) and 2 lean right (The Wall Street Journal and 9News). None reaches the Left or Right zones: our source criteria exclude hyper-partisan outlets on either side, and we show each outlet's lean on its profile rather than hide it.
Bottom to top is reliability, averaged across Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check. AllSides does not rate reliability. Higher dots are rated more reliable for fact reporting.
No single rater is final. AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check use different methods and sometimes disagree, which is why each source profile shows all three.
How the Chart Is Calculated
Each rater publishes a score on its own scale, with its own center zone. We rescale each score so that its center zone runs from -1 to +1, then average the raters that rate the outlet.
- AllSides: Media Bias Meter from -6 to +6, Center from -0.99 to +0.99. Used as published.
- Ad Fontes Media: bias score from -42 to +42, Middle from -6 to +6. Divided by 6.
- Media Bias/Fact Check: bias score from -10 to +10, Least Biased from -1.9 to +1.9. Divided by 1.95.
On the combined scale, -1 to +1 is the center zone, 1 to 3 leans left or right, and beyond 3 is left or right. For reliability, we average Ad Fontes Media's reliability score (40 counts as High, 48 as Very High) and Media Bias/Fact Check's factual reporting rating.
AllSides publishes a category without a number for DW, Financial Times, The Globe and Mail, Sky News and Global News; for these outlets we use the middle of the category (0 for Center).
AFP, ABC News Australia, SBS News, RNZ, RTÉ News, France 24, Channel 4 News, CTV News, The Canadian Press, La Presse, Radio-Canada, franceinfo and 9News are rated by Media Bias/Fact Check only, so their positions rest on a single rater (hollow dots).
We do not score articles ourselves. The averages are ours, and you can reuse them with credit under our data license; the ratings themselves belong to each rater.
News Bias Chart Data
Each rater's own rating for every outlet, and the combined lean we plot. This table is the accessible version of the chart.
| Outlet | Combined lean | AllSides | Ad Fontes bias | Ad Fontes reliability | MBFC bias | MBFC factual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reuters | Center (-0.42) | Center (-0.78) | Middle (-1.39) | 44.97: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Least Biased (-0.5) (-0.5) | Very High |
| AP | Leans left (-1.48) | Lean Left (-2.93) | Middle (-2.60) | 44.29: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-2.1) (-2.1) | High |
| AFP | Leans left (-1.08) | Left-Center (-2.1) (-2.1) | High | |||
| Bloomberg | Center (-0.86) | Center (-0.87) | Middle (-2.82) | 40.86: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-2.4) (-2.4) | Mostly Factual |
| BBC News | Center (-0.09) | Center (-0.80) | Middle (-1.36) | 44.63: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Least Biased (1.5) (1.5) | Mostly Factual |
| NPR | Leans left (-1.35) | Lean Left (-1.88) | Middle (-4.36) | 42.69: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-2.8) (-2.8) | High |
| PBS NewsHour | Leans left (-1.94) | Lean Left (-2.94) | Skews Left (-9.97) | 42.00: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-2.4) (-2.4) | High |
| CBC News | Leans left (-1.51) | Lean Left (-2.00) | Middle (-5.01) | 44.39: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-3.3) (-3.3) | High |
| ABC News Australia | Leans left (-1.44) | Left-Center (-2.8) (-2.8) | High | |||
| SBS News | Leans left (-1.74) | Left-Center (-3.4) (-3.4) | High | |||
| RNZ | Center (-0.41) | Least Biased (-0.8) (-0.8) | High | |||
| RTÉ News | Center (0.00) | Least Biased | High | |||
| DW | Center (-0.64) | Center | Left-Center (-2.5) (-2.5) | High | ||
| France 24 | Center (-0.90) | Least Biased (-1.75) (-1.8) | High | |||
| Channel 4 News | Leans left (-2.00) | Left-Center (-3.9) (-3.9) | High | |||
| The New York Times | Leans left (-1.87) | Lean Left (-2.20) | Skews Left (-7.80) | 40.87: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-4.1) (-4.1) | High |
| The Wall Street Journal | Leans right (1.07) | Center (0.33) | Middle (4.32) | 42.89: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Right-Center (4.2) (4.2) | Mostly Factual |
| Financial Times | Center (-0.15) | Center | Middle (-3.98) | 44.00: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Least Biased (0.4) (0.4) | High |
| The Guardian | Leans left (-2.25) | Left (-3.50) | Skews Left (-8.51) | 39.54: Generally Reliable/Analysis OR Other Issues | Left-Center (-3.6) (-3.6) | High |
| The Economist | Center (-0.57) | Lean Left (-1.40) | Middle (-3.05) | 41.37: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Least Biased (0.4) (0.4) | High |
| The Christian Science Monitor | Center (-0.36) | Center (-0.30) | Middle (-2.52) | 44.23: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Least Biased (-0.7) (-0.7) | High |
| The Globe and Mail | Center (0.42) | Center | Middle (-1.14) | 43.99: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Right-Center (2.8) (2.8) | High |
| ABC News | Leans left (-1.23) | Lean Left (-1.58) | Middle (-2.47) | 43.66: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-3.3) (-3.3) | High |
| NBC News | Leans left (-1.38) | Lean Left (-1.48) | Middle (-4.86) | 42.84: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-3.6) (-3.6) | High |
| Axios | Leans left (-1.23) | Lean Left (-1.70) | Middle (-3.34) | 42.53: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-2.8) (-2.8) | High |
| Politico | Leans left (-1.18) | Lean Left (-1.20) | Middle (-5.47) | 41.43: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center (-2.8) (-2.8) | High |
| Sky News | Center (-0.54) | Lean Left | Middle (-0.76) | 41.77: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Least Biased (1) (1.0) | High |
| Semafor | Center (-0.86) | Lean Left (-1.50) | Middle (-5.30) | 39.76: Generally Reliable/Analysis OR Other Issues | Least Biased (-0.4) (-0.4) | High |
| CTV News | Center (0.46) | Least Biased (0.9) (0.9) | High | |||
| The Canadian Press | Center (-0.56) | Least Biased (-1.1) (-1.1) | High | |||
| Global News | Leans left (-1.47) | Lean Left | Middle (-3.80) | 44.63: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting | Left-Center | High |
| La Presse | Leans left (-2.15) | Left-Center (-4.2) (-4.2) | High | |||
| Radio-Canada | Leans left (-1.74) | Left-Center (-3.4) (-3.4) | High | |||
| franceinfo | Leans left (-1.79) | Left-Center (-3.5) (-3.5) | High | |||
| 9News | Leans right (1.08) | Right-Center (2.1) (2.1) | High |
Where the Ratings Come From
AllSides rates political lean on a five-point scale (Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, Right) using blind bias surveys, editorial reviews and community feedback. It does not rate factual accuracy.
Ad Fontes Media has analysts from across the political spectrum score individual articles and shows for bias (-42 to +42) and reliability (0 to 64); an outlet's score is the average of its sampled content.
Media Bias/Fact Check rates bias and factual reporting from reviews of an outlet's wording, sourcing, story selection and fact-check record.
We copy each rating as published and record the date we checked it, then combine them as described above. Aplomb does not score articles itself. Read our editorial policy and the corrections log if you spot an outdated rating.
Media Bias Chart FAQ
What is a media bias chart?
A chart that places news outlets by political lean (left to right) and by reliability or factual reporting. Ours places each outlet in Aplomb at the average of the published ratings of three independent raters: AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check.
Which outlets are rated least biased?
On this chart, Reuters, Bloomberg, BBC News, RNZ, RTÉ News, DW, France 24, Financial Times, The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor, The Globe and Mail, Sky News, Semafor, CTV News and The Canadian Press sit in the center zone once the three raters are averaged.
Who makes this media bias chart?
Aplomb compiles it from the ratings published by AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check. We do not score articles ourselves: each position is the average of their scores, with the method on this page. Read how we choose news sources.
Why average three raters?
Each rater uses a different method and none is final. AllSides relies on blind surveys and editorial reviews, Ad Fontes Media on panels of analysts from across the spectrum, and Media Bias/Fact Check on editorial reviews of sourcing and fact checks. Averaging them smooths out the quirks of any single method.
How often is the chart updated?
We recheck every rating at least once a quarter. Last check: November 1, 2026.
Get the News From Outlets That Made the Cut
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