Tools for understanding how outlets frame stories and where they sit on the political spectrum
Shows left, center, and right coverage of the same story side by side. Useful for identifying framing differences.
Tracks media ownership, political lean, and story blind spots — showing which outlets cover and which ignore a story.
Strong educational resource for teaching and learning media literacy skills at all levels.
Digital and media literacy initiative backed by the Poynter Institute, aimed at teens and young adults.
The Media Bias Chart was created by Vanessa Otero in 2018 and is produced by Ad Fontes Media, a Colorado-based nonpartisan public benefit corporation. Analysts across the political spectrum rate individual articles for bias and reliability, then aggregate those scores into source-level ratings. The chart plots sources on two axes: horizontal = political bias (left to right) and vertical = reliability (original fact reporting at the top, fabricated/propaganda at the bottom).
Sources in the green band are considered the most reliable and least biased. Sources in the yellow band contain significant opinion and analysis. Sources in the orange and red bands contain high levels of bias or unreliable content.
Note on limitations: The Media Bias Chart is a widely used reference tool but is not universally agreed upon. Some critics argue it implies a false equivalence between left and right, or that it lionizes a political center as bias-free. The January 2026 version contains 137 sources; the interactive version covers over 4,300. Use it as one tool among several — not as the final word on any outlet's credibility.
