How do you form the bias ratings?

These ratings are based on the average rating of three independent news monitoring organizations: AllSides, Ad Fontes Media, and Media Bias Fact Check.

Each of these news monitoring organizations has its own methodology, including editorial reviews, blind bias surveys, independent reviews, and third party research.

A combination of these ratings offers comprehensive analysis of news outlets’ reporting in the context of the American political system.* The ratings consider and weigh elements like an outlet’s word choices, story selection and political affiliation. As the independent news monitoring organizations cannot review every piece of content these outlets publish, they regularly select recent samples of an outlet’s reporting to evaluate its bias at the publication level.

If a news publication has not been rated by one or two of these organizations, an average of the available ratings is used.*

These ratings are updated on an ongoing basis.

How do you determine if a story is a Media Miss™?

Outlets with bias ratings across the spectrum can decide not to investigate stories that may not resonate with their audience or omit certain topics from their coverage entirely.

If a developing news story has political undertones and is being ignored or underreported by media sources on one side of the political spectrum, we consider that story a Media Miss™ for that side of the spectrum.

Our editorial team reviews dozens of reporting topics throughout each day, shining lights on mainstream media blindspots to help you develop a more complete understanding of the news.

Can users access the original articles from other news outlets referenced in Media Landscape and Media Miss™ modules?

Yes! We link directly to the articles from news outlets included in the Media Landscape modules, from local TV stations to international reporting corporations.

To access another news outlet’s report on the same topic, click on its logo within the Media Landscape module. To reveal additional outlets’ reporting on the topic, click the plus button.

Do you include all outlets who have covered a story?

SAN tries to include as many outlets covering a story as possible in Media Landscape modules.

Media outlets across the spectrum operate with different deadlines and publishing schedules. As a result, one story may have just a few outlets associated with it early in the day, but that same story (and Media Landscape module) may populate with hundreds of sources later in the day after more outlets publish relevant reporting and our algorithms bring links to that reporting into our system.

How are the bias distribution percentages calculated?

The percentages are based on the number of outlets with tracked bias covering the story.*

For example, if 20 sources have covered a given story, and 8 of the 20 news outlets covering it have been rated with any left-leaning bias, the Media Landscape would indicate that 40% of coverage is from the left. In that same example, if 10 of the 20 news outlets covering the story have been rated with center bias, the Media Landscape would indicate that 50% of coverage is from the center; if 2 sources covering the story have been rated with any right-leaning bias, the Media Landscape would indicate that 10% of coverage is from the right.

If SAN is unbiased, why does it publish opinions and commentary?

In addition to the facts, we believe it’s vital to hear perspectives from all sides of the political spectrum. We hope these different voices will help you reach your own conclusions.

How can I stay updated on Media Misses?

To ensure you never miss a Media Miss™, turn on Media Miss™ push notifications in the SAN mobile app. You can download the SAN mobile app from the Apple App Store and the Google Play store. Within the app, you can activate push notifications by navigating to Settings > Enable Push Notifications > Media Miss.