How we rate outlets
Rules, examples and a change log. Last full review: September 2026.
Every outlet in The Analyst has a political-lean rating, a factuality rating and an ownership category. They are our own editorial assessments of each outlet as a whole (not of individual articles). They are not copied from, licensed from, or endorsed by any other rating organisation, and no outlet can pay to influence its rating. We list 302 outlets: 272 news outlets and 30 opinion or commentary sources, in 39 countries.
What this is, and is not
- A judgment, not a formula. One editor weighs the signals below; there is no scoring formula and no panel. Treat a rating as one informed opinion.
- Not a fact-check of any story, and not a claim that an outlet is right or wrong.
- Uneven spectrum. The right of center is 19% of news outlets, because fewer of them publish reliable public feeds. We are working to widen it.
Political lean: five points
Signals we look at: (1) the positions of its editorial and opinion pages; (2) which stories it chooses to cover and how it frames them; (3) whose voices and sources it uses; (4) the language of its headlines; (5) how it and its owner describe themselves publicly.
| Far Left 9 news outlets | Consistently advances positions at the far left end of the scale, in its news framing and story selection as well as its opinion pages. On our five-point scale this is the outer end (comparable to "Left" on other charts); it does not mean extremist. Examples in our list: The Intercept, Jacobin |
| Leans Left 75 news outlets | Its news reporting is broadly professional, but story selection, framing or sourcing tends to favour the left, and/or its editorial and opinion pages clearly do. Examples in our list: NPR, The Guardian, The New York Times |
| Center 135 news outlets | Neither side's framing consistently dominates. Typical of wire services, public broadcasters and outlets with a strict wall between news and opinion and balanced sourcing. "Center" does not mean "correct". Examples in our list: BBC World News, PBS NewsHour, Deutsche Welle (DW) |
| Leans Right 26 news outlets | Its news reporting is broadly professional, but story selection, framing or sourcing tends to favour the right, and/or its editorial and opinion pages clearly do. Examples in our list: National Review, Fox News |
| Far Right 27 news outlets | Consistently advances positions at the far right end of the scale, in its news framing and story selection as well as its opinion pages. On our five-point scale this is the outer end (comparable to "Right" on other charts); it does not mean extremist. Examples in our list: Breitbart News, The Daily Wire |
For the coverage bars we group these into three buckets: Left (far left and leans left), Center, and Right (leans right and far right).
Factuality
| High 207 outlets | A strong record of accurate reporting, a visible corrections policy, and clear sourcing standards. |
| Mixed 91 outlets | Accurate reporting alongside sensationalism, spin, or notable errors that were not always corrected. |
| Low 4 outlets | Frequent inaccuracies, or a record of publishing claims later shown to be false. Check anything important against another source. |
Ownership
| Media Conglomerate 97 outlets | Part of a large, multi-outlet media company. |
| Publicly Funded 21 outlets | Funded mainly by a government or public licence fee (an independence policy may still apply). |
| Independent 86 outlets | Owned by its founders, staff or a small company, not by a larger media group or a single wealthy owner. |
| Private Individual 17 outlets | Owned or controlled by one person. |
| Non-Profit / Foundation 81 outlets | Owned by, or mainly funded by, a non-profit or foundation. |
News and opinion are kept apart
Opinion sections and commentary sites have their own feed and never count toward a news story's coverage bar. A story is a coverage gap only when at least 3 rated news outlets covered it, at least 50% lean one way, and no more than 22% lean the other.
How ratings are reviewed
Ratings are reviewed on a rolling basis. The directory shows the month each rating was last reviewed. Outlets you add yourself use your rating, and the app says so. If a rating is wrong, tell us below; changes made after a dispute are recorded in the change log with the date.
Change log
- 2026-09-21: Published the rating method and this change log, and opened the dispute form. Every outlet now shows who rated it and when.
- 2026-09-21: Grew the list from 24 to 300+ outlets. Removed CNN and The Wall Street Journal from the list because their public feeds stopped updating; no ratings were changed.
- 2026-09: First full review of all built-in ratings (lean, factuality and ownership).
Dispute a rating
Think a rating is off? Tell us why. We read every submission and reply if you leave an email. Reasons and links to evidence help most.
Compare with independent raters
These organisations publish their own ratings and methods. We are not affiliated with them: AllSides, Ad Fontes Media, Media Bias/Fact Check.
Questions: support@polyapps-ai.com