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
Left
Lean Left
Center
Lean Right
Right
Far Right
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
Mixed
High
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
Private Equity
Individual
Government
Telecom
Corporation
Independent
Other
Formula
Formula
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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