Methodology

Diagrams have been used since ancient times as a way to represent complex information in a simple way. At Ground News we use diagrams to give readers a visual breakdown of the entire media landscape so they can quickly understand what’s going on. We take a comprehensive, data-driven approach to news.

Bias Ratings

The Ground News bias ratings assess the political bias of news publications. They are based on the average rating of three independent news monitoring organizations: All Sides, Ad Fontes Media, and Media Bias Fact Check. Each news monitoring organization has their own methodology - including editorial reviews, blind bias surveys, independent reviews, and third party research. The analysis is done in the context of the U.S. political system.

We use a combination of these ratings to offer the most comprehensive analysis. The ratings take into consideration things like wording, story choices and political affiliation. This rating does not measure the bias of specific news articles. The analysis is done at the publication level.

You might come across a news publication that has not been rated by one or two of these organizations, in which case we take an average of the ratings available. Some news organizations don’t have any ratings, and therefore aren’t included in the Bias Bar. These ratings are updated on an ongoing basis.

Rating Description

Far Left

These publications tend to reflect the policy positions of the most extreme left-leaning party members. They are strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They use strong wording that attempts to influence an audience by appealing to emotion or stereotypes. They may publish misleading reports or leave out information that could damage liberal causes.

Left

These publications tend to reflect the current positions held by leaders of left-leaning parties. They are moderately biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may use loaded words, publish misleading reports or leave out information that doesn’t support liberal causes.

Lean Left

These publications have a slight to moderate liberal bias. They often publish factual information, but still may use loaded words that favor liberal causes.

Center

These publications have no discernable political position. They use very few loaded words and the reporting is well sourced. On a given issue, they present a relatively complete survey of key competing positions. This rating does not necessarily represent “balance” or “neutrality.” A Center rating does not imply that the position is best or most valid.

Lean Right

These publications are slightly to moderately conservative in bias. They often publish factual information, but still may use loaded words that favor conservative causes.

Right

These publications tend to reflect the current positions held by leaders of right-leaning parties. They are moderately biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may publish misleading reports or leave out information that doesn’t support conservative causes.

Far Right

These publications tend to reflect the policy positions of the most extreme right-leaning party members. They are strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They use strong wording that attempts to influence an audience by appealing to emotion or stereotypes. They may use loaded words, publish misleading reports or leave out information that could damage conservative causes.

Factuality Score

The Ground News factuality score is an assessment of the reporting practices of a news publication. The score is based on the average rating of two rating systems: Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias Fact Check.

The score takes into consideration things like the credibility of sources used, the speed at which corrections are made, and whether the language retains context. This score does not measure the factuality of specific news articles. The analysis is done at the publication level.

You might come across a news publication that has not been rated by one or two of these organizations, in which case we take an average of the ratings available. Some news organizations don’t have any ratings, and therefore aren’t included in the Factuality Score. These ratings are updated on an ongoing basis.

Low

These publications rarely use credible sources and tend to leave out an important part of the story, causing the information to be misleading or downright false. They are unlikely to disclose either a mission statement or ownership information.

Mixed

These publications do not always use proper sourcing or may get their information from other mixed factuality sources. They may use loaded language that alters the context of facts and fail to correct false or misleading information.

High

These publications use original reporting that is subsequently corroborated by additional sources. They make immediate corrections to incorrect information and use reasonable language that retains context.

Ownership Categories

The ownership categories for each news source were created by Ground News. We researched, analyzed and hand-coded ownership data for 2,276 news outlets and counting. Below are the general parameters for each category. You can learn more about our news ownership investigation here.

Media Conglomerates

A collection of radio, television, print and other news sources owned by the same entity, typically formed through a series of mergers and acquisitions. Our definition includes any entity that owns a large majority of news outlets. Although typically large and national, we have included smaller companies that own a significant number of outlets in a geographical area.

Private Equity

Media outlets that have been purchased by private equity funds, either through a leveraged buyout of the news property or the buyout of its owner. Private equity funds in the media space typically roll up several news properties in order to cut costs while increasing profit margins. They are often accused of pushing profits over news quality.

Individual

Individuals with a net worth in the tens of millions or greater who have a significant stake in a media outlet. Everyone in this category built their wealth outside of the media landscape and used it to buy news assets.

Government

Primarily government-funded news sources which may be independently managed or explicitly used for issuing government approved media.

Telecom

Primarily connectivity providers that own phone, TV, internet or wireless mobility. Companies in this category have started vertically integrating to buy or create their own media assets, therefore owning both the infrastructure and content that you consume.

Corporation

Media sources owned by corporations that aren’t media conglomerates or private equity firms. While it can be assumed that the interests of the corporate owner influence coverage, the degree of influence varies per outlet. Example: The South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba

Independent

Media that is free of influence by government or corporate interests. These outlets are not owned by any of our other classifications. Given the complexity of corporate cross-holdings and shell companies, any ownership stake greater than the publicized 5% cut-off was considered as ‘influence on the news source.

Other

Sources that we could not appropriately classify or that do not fall under one of the existing categories.

Formula

image of a blindspot news story about tax hikes

A Blindspot is a news story that has political undertones and is disproportionately covered by media sources on one side of the political spectrum.

The bias breakdown of the story must adhere to a specific formula in order to show up in the Blindspot feed. For example, a Blindspot for the Left must meet the following conditions:

Fewer than 10 Left-leaning sources reporting
Right-leaning coverage is greater than or equal to 33%
Left-leaning coverage is less than or equal to (R/L% - 33) x (30/37)
Blindspots can not have more than 35% Low factuality coverage

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