For over a decade now, AllSides has committed itself to evaluating the political bias of media outlets — we’ve rated over 2,400 sources since 2012. 

Our ratings are not set in stone, and can change as bias shifts at news outlets or as we collect more data. As the political climate changes, so do the biases of the news outlets. 

Here’s how AllSides Media Bias Ratings have changed over time at key media outlets:

Shifts in editorial policy, ownership, public sentiment, or culture can all be factors that affect an outlet’s bias. To account for this, we continually review our bias ratings using multipartisan Editorial Reviews by a balanced review panel trained to spot bias and surveys of everyday Americans.

AllSides rates outlets on a five-point scale: Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, and Right. In 2022, AllSides added the AllSides Media Bias Meter to add further nuance to these ratings. 

Some of the shifts in bias included prominent outlets. Since 2017, CNN online (we don’t rate CNN’s broadcast news) has shifted from Center to Lean Left, including a period from 2020 to 2022 where it held a Left bias rating. On the other side of the spectrum, Fox News online shifted from Right to Lean Right in 2017, and back to Right in 2021, keeping a consistent Right rating since. 

Overall, outlets shifted further towards the left than the right. Notable outlets which moved further left are the Associated Press (Left), Bloomberg (Lean Left), USA Today (Lean Left), Teen Vogue (Left), NPR (Lean Left), Politico (Lean Left), and ProPublica (Lean Left). This does not mean some outlets did not shift farther right — Fox News (Right), Independent Journal Review (Right), The Daily Caller (Right), and The Federalist (Right) all shifted right. Some outlets shifted towards the center as well, including Drudge Report (Center), Newsweek (Center), New York Post (Lean Right), Time Magazine (Lean Left), and Washington Examiner (Lean Right).

Not many outlets shifted ratings since our previous blog on this topic in 2022, even after reviews of their current biases, though this doesn’t mean none did. Some notable outlets which did shift include:

• Associated Press from Lean Left to Left
• Axios from Center to Lean Left
• CNN from Left to Lean Left
• Independent Journal Review from Center to Right
• The Guardian from Lean Left to Left
• Drudge Report from Lean Right to Center (note that rating this outlet is somewhat complicated — while it tends to have a Lean Right story choice, it curates significantly from outlets on the left).

AllSides ratings are never entirely “accurate” and never can be. Media bias is subjective, and the perception of an outlet’s bias can vary wildly from reader to reader. This is why we incorporate the perspectives of both experts and novices across the political spectrum to help us rate bias. An outlet we rate Center may seem right-leaning to a person on the left, and the opposite to someone on the right. 

We think it’s important to account for all of these opinions. We strive to represent the judgement of the average American, not just a single group, such as journalists, politicians, or even the AllSides editorial team alone. For this reason, AllSides uses our patented system and multiple methods to rate bias, including Editorial Reviews, Blind Bias Surveys, third party data, and independent research. You can also vote on the bias of any rating. While this doesn’t directly change the rating, it does provide valuable data that something may be amiss. 

It’s important to consider political bias when reading the news, and to strive to find different perspectives to understand the full scope of an issue. You can use AllSides’ balanced newsfeed to better evaluate the news of the day and form your own informed opinions.

Our ratings and systems will continue to evolve and improve. You can always provide feedback on our media bias ratings by voting on any rating or by emailing us.