- Lean
- Lean Left (AllSides)
- Reliability
- High factual reporting (MBFC)
- Founded
- 1970
- Headquarters
- Washington, D.C.
- Owner
- Nonprofit membership organization of public radio stations
- Funding
- NPR is a private nonprofit.
On this page
Is NPR Left or Right?
AllSides rates NPR News as Lean Left and Media Bias/Fact Check as Left-Center, while Ad Fontes Media places its website in the Middle. Raters distinguish NPR's news reporting from its talk and opinion segments, which can lean further left.
NPR has faced long-running accusations of liberal bias, including an April 2024 essay by Uri Berliner, a senior NPR editor who resigned shortly after. Raters still score its factual reporting high; the debate is mostly about which stories get covered and how they are framed.
See where NPR sits next to other outlets on our media bias chart.
NPR Bias: What the Ratings Show
AllSides rates NPR Lean Left; Ad Fontes Media scores its bias at -4.36 (Middle) and its reliability at 42.69 (Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting); and Media Bias/Fact Check rates it Left-Center with High factual reporting.
Compare NPR with every other outlet on the media bias chart.
How Reliable Is NPR?
Media Bias/Fact Check rates NPR's factual reporting High and Ad Fontes Media rates it Reliable for analysis and fact reporting. NPR publishes changes to its stories on a public corrections page, and its Ethics Handbook sets its accuracy standards.
How NPR Handles Corrections
NPR publishes an Ethics Handbook and a public corrections page listing changes made to its stories.
NPR Bias Rating From Independent Raters
All bars use one shared scale: the shaded band is each rater's own center zone, lined up. How we combine the raters
| Rater | Bias rating | Factual / reliability |
|---|---|---|
| AllSides | Lean Left | Not rated (lean only) |
| Ad Fontes Media | Middle (-4.36) | 42.69: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting |
| Media Bias/Fact Check | Left-Center (-2.8) | High, High Credibility |
Who Funds NPR?
NPR is a private nonprofit. Its largest revenue sources are corporate sponsorship and the fees member stations pay for its programs, followed by grants and individual gifts. Federal money reached public radio mostly through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose $1.1 billion in approved funding Congress rescinded in July 2025.
Why NPR Is in Aplomb
NPR meets all six of our source criteria: original reporting, a public corrections page, a nonprofit structure with no controlling owner, labeled opinion and talk content, published finances and High factual ratings. What to watch for: raters see a slight left lean, so it pairs well with a wire service such as Reuters or AP. Aplomb shows NPR's news videos only, not opinion segments.
Looking for other apps that take bias seriously? See our comparison of the best unbiased news apps.
Watch NPR next to Reuters, BBC and AP, one swipe at a time.
Latest NPR Videos
Compare NPR With Similar Sources
NPR FAQ
Is NPR liberal?
Raters place NPR's news coverage slightly left of center: Lean Left (AllSides) and Left-Center (Media Bias/Fact Check). Ad Fontes Media places it in the Middle.
Is NPR reliable for news?
Yes. Media Bias/Fact Check rates its factual reporting High and Ad Fontes Media rates it Reliable.
Is NPR government funded?
Only a small share of its budget ever came from federal sources, mostly through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Congress rescinded the CPB's approved funding in July 2025.
What is NPR's bias rating?
AllSides: Lean Left. Ad Fontes Media: Middle (-4.36), Reliable (42.69). Media Bias/Fact Check: Left-Center, High factual reporting.
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