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Last week, Media Matters (Left bias) released a report claiming that right-wing podcasts, streams, and other long-form audio and video content “dominates the online media ecosystem,” stating further that “9 out of the 10 top online shows assessed are right-leaning.”
An accompanying graphic posted on X has 7.7 million views at the time of this writing; it shows the total following of shows and was posted by Media Matters President Angelo Carusone, who called this asymmetry a “media crisis.”
But the viral graphic and study has a few key issues to be aware of and ultimately may sensationalize the issue. By not using a broad standard for bias ratings that includes input from people across the political spectrum (both experts and novices), octupling audience counts, and not noting the strong influence of left-leaning online news media, Media Matters’ estimation contains some flaws and imbalance. Let’s dig in.
1. What you see here is clearest illustration why things are so messed up and why it cannot get any better until this asymmetry is addressed.
— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) March 15, 2025
Put simply: right-wing has narrative dominance.
My org (@mmfa) did this study and been sounding this alarm for years. Some thoughts... pic.twitter.com/CmfPdR5pQ5
Media Matters doesn't use an external standard for ratings
Media Matters said they looked at 320 streamers and influencers that are “right-leaning” or “left-leaning,” which appears to be the result of Media Matters’ internal estimation by three reviewers.
Media Matters itself has a Left bias. Without using a multipartisan panel of reviewers (like AllSides does) or surveying Americans across the political spectrum (again, like AllSides does), its ratings estimations aren’t as trustworthy.
Indeed, some of Media Matters’ estimations of bias don’t match up with AllSides’ — for instance, it calls Joe Rogan right-wing, but an AllSides Small Group Editorial Review by a balanced panel rated him Center, and out of 911 community votes, 57% of our audience agrees, while 43% disagree. Media Matters also calls Lex Fridman right-wing; AllSides rates him Center.
Media Matters double-counts people
In its viral graphic, Media Matters offers the “total following” of online shows. It arrived at this number by counting the number of followers and subscribers across eight total platforms — YouTube, Spotify, Rumble, Twitch, Kick, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
By rolling all of these follower counts into one big number and leading with it on X, Media Matters ignores that it is likely double-counting individual viewers, as one internet user is likely to follow a show on multiple platforms. This serves to drum up sensationalism about right-wing influence (more on that later).
Media Matters’ total audience sizes are inflated representations of a show’s influence and reach, as the same person is likely seeing the content on different platforms. While the Media Matters report eventually does break the followings down into more platform-specific categories, it still lumps the total social media followings together into one number, combining Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram followings.
Maybe right-leaning online shows have more followers — but left-leaning news sites are read more
It may in fact be true that right-leaning online shows have more influence and reach than left-leaning ones, but in 2022, AllSides found that online news sources with a Media Bias Rating of Lean Left got way more site visits over a three-month period than outlets with other bias ratings.
Outlets rated Left and Lean Left by AllSides got roughly 375 million more site visits than Lean Right and Right outlets in July 2022, demonstrating their greater influence on the media landscape. That means news reports and videos appearing on Lean Left news websites are visited more often than Lean Right or Right news outlets. (Note that by looking at site visits, not visitors, this number may also inflate the actual number of individual people impacted by the content, as the same person may make multiple site visits, just as the same person may follow a show on multiple platforms).
Media Matters’ assessment of online shows could have been more balanced by including the fact that left-leaning online news sites get read more than right-leaning ones.
But like many nonprofits and media companies, Media Matters itself is an organization with an agenda. By highlighting inflated numbers to elicit emotions like shock and concern, Media Matters uses sensationalism to advance its partisan agenda, which includes aims such as encouraging advertisers to drop conservative media and pressuring companies to remove support from right-wing shows and influencers.
With the rise of podcasts and influencers as a source of information and entertainment, Media Matters is right to analyze this issue, but went about it in a less-than-ideal way. Being a smart media consumer means asking questions about sourcing and data collection, as well as taking into account the partisan bias of the source itself.
Julie Mastrine is the Director of Marketing and Media Bias Ratings at AllSides. She has a Lean Right bias.
This piece was reviewed by Andrew Weinzierl, Bias Research Manager and Data Journalist (Lean Left), and Henry A. Brechter, Editor-in-chief (Center).