Ad Fontes Media

🎧🎙Podcast Chart, May 2026 A new study shows that Americans now listen to podcasts more often than talk radio. And when they’re looking for news, more are turning to podcasts rather than radio than ever before, according to Pew Research. The study found that about a third of U.S. adults said they get news from podcasts at least sometimes, and 10% said they often tune into podcasts for news. Our team started rating podcasts in 2023, and since then, we’ve rated more than 3,710 episodes of 990 podcasts (we’ve fully rated 889 of them). The May edition of the Podcast/Audio Media Bias Chart® includes 47 shows rated by our team for bias and reliability. Among them are some of the podcasts with the largest audiences, according to Podnews: The Joe Rogan Experience (No. 1 in popularity), The Ben Shapiro Show (No. 24) and The Dan Bongino Show (No. 43). News-related podcasts are presented in different formats, and the May chart includes shows that represent each. Some shows are short and provide the top headlines of the day, like NPR News Now, and others have a longer format focusing on one news topic, such as Political Gabfest. Some are from legacy media such as The New York Times and The Economist; others are by longtime political commentators such as Glenn Beck and Matt Walsh. And some podcasts take a documentary format, like The Telepathy Tapes. Sources in the green box of the chart have been found by our team to consistently provide minimally biased, fact-based information. Eleven podcasts fall within the green box on the May Media Bias Chart®:  Babbage from The Economist CBC News: At Issue Front Burner National Affairs Podcast NPR News Now NYT: Interesting Times with Ross Douthat Political Gabfest Rachman Review Start Here The McCarthy Report The Trade Guys More podcasts fall within the green box, and we’ll feature those on future charts. Eight podcasts are included on the chart this month for the first time (three of these fall within the green box): Chicks on the Right Podcast Front Burner Guerrilla History National Affairs Podcast Next Up with Mark Halperin Pod Force One with Miranda Devine The Trade Guys The Unspeakeasy With Meghan Daum

📆📰 The Virginia Supreme Court last week struck down the state’s recently passed redistricting referendum, which could have resulted in four additional U.S. House seats for Democrats. This was the latest ruling related to nationwide efforts by both the Democratic and Republican parties to redraw congressional districts, as each accuses the other of unfair gerrymandering. Our analysts rated media coverage in our Topic of the Week. CNBC gives an overview of the Virginia case in an article published on its website. It gives details about the court ruling and includes reaction from President Trump and from both Democratic and Republican party leaders. The article also looks at redistricting efforts in other states, including Tennessee. Analysts found the article to be a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias. An article from The Hill takes a broader view, analyzing how the Virginia court decision will affect the overall attempts by Democrats and Republicans to gain congressional seats in November’s midterm elections. The article summarizes redistricting efforts across the U.S. and quotes political analysts who predict how many seats each party might gain, depending on the success of future redistricting plans and court appeals. Analysts found that the article includes much more left-leaning reaction to the court decision and categorized the article as “analysis” with a “skews left” bias. In a video from the Fox News show “Fox and Friends Weekend” host Kevin Corke interviews Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who calls the court ruling “a win for the rule of law” because the state did not follow the proper procedures when placing the redistricting referendum on the ballot. Miyares says Virginia has had nonpartisan redistricting in the past, and “let’s not change it.” Corke reads a social media post from online influencer Hasan Piker, who criticizes the court ruling. Corke describes the post as “inflammatory.” Miyares agrees and says Piker’s post is a “slippery slope towards excusing violence,” something he’s seen in the Democratic Party, “particularly with young liberals.” Analysts found that the video reinforces the Republican Party line and categorized it as “analysis” with a “strong right” bias. Articles from Mother Jones and The Federalist were rated as “opinion.” The Federalist article focuses on the Virginia court decision: “The Supreme Court needed to explain what the definition of an ‘election’ is, so that Democrats could understand.” The article gives extensive background about the Virginia referendum and the court decision that overturned the results. The writer argues that “Early voting disenfranchises many voters who have voted without the full breadth of knowledge about what they are voting for. [...]

📆📰King Charles III and Queen Camilla recently completed a four-day U.S. state visit to Washington, D.C., and New York. Highlights included tea with President Trump, an address to Congress, and a 9/11 memorial visit. Our analysts rated media coverage about the visit in our Topic of the Week. CBS News reported on the highlights of the royal visit to D.C. in an article on its website. The article includes photos and information about King Charles gifting a WWII-era submarine bell to Trump, the state dinner, the king’s address to Congress, the welcome ceremony, and a visit to the Oval Office. Analysts found the reporting to be “simple fact reporting” with a “middle/balanced” bias. An article from USA Today was found to be “analysis,” as it asks the question, “Will King Charles’ visit clear tensions in US-UK friendship?” The article, written by three staff correspondents, describes the events featuring King Charles and Trump but says “there remained subtle signs of the deep divisions that have become the most serious test in decades for the long friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom.” The article quotes British and American analysts who speculate on the effect of the royal visit on the U.S.-Britain relationship. Because of light criticism of Trump, the article received a bias rating of “skews left.” Analysts classified three pieces of content in our set as “opinion”: articles from American Greatness and The Guardian, and a video from the Trish Regan YouTube channel. In the article from American Greatness, the author, Raw Egg Nationalist, who is known as a British far-right influencer, discusses the past and current relationship between the U.S. and the U.K, including Trump’s criticism of Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The author applauds Trump’s comments that “appeal to America’s deep roots”: ”Trump came the closest of any modern president to directly repudiating the notion of America as an idea and to reasserting a biological—yes, an ethnic—grounding to American nationhood.” It praises Trump’s “commitment to a political revolution…: a full turn of the wheel, right back to the beginning. The closest thing America has had to a Second Founding.” Because of the article’s “effusive praise of Trump,” analysts gave the article a bias rating of “hyper-partisan right.” An opinion piece from the London-based The Guardian proclaims in the headline: “The king went to Washington to save Britain’s bacon. He may also have shown the U.S. how to save itself.” The author, Simon Tisdall, describes Trump’s “reign” as a “pseudo-king” as full of “traumas and tantrums”: a president “who actively undermines the democratic values and laws rebellious colonists fought to uphold 250 years ago and upon which the U.S. constitution – and U.S. legitimacy in the world – rests.” [...]

💻📰 Web/Print Chart, May 2026 Today we’re releasing the May edition of the Media Bias Chart® for Web/Print, and you might notice a few sources that you haven’t seen before: The Times of India | The Economic Times, Bild and Dawn News English. That’s right, these are international sources — websites based outside of the U.S. — and our team has rated more than 430 of them (if you include podcast and TV/video sources, it’s more than 600). Our analysts rate content from around the world every week. On this chart you’ll find some well-known international sources, like The Economist, The Guardian, Mirror and Daily Mail, all from the United Kingdom. But you’ll also find some lesser-known UK sites like Edinburgh Live, The Times and Daily Express. This chart also has one source from Australia (We Got This Covered or WGTC), one from Canada (The Maple), one from Germany (Bild) and one from Argentina (La Derecha Diario). From Asia and the Mideast you’ll find Arab News (Saudi Arabia), Hindustan Times (India), The Times of India | Economic Times (India), Dawn News English (Pakistan), Al Jazeera (Qatar) and TRT Global (Turkey). Those with a News Nerd or News Newbie subscription can filter sources on the Interactive Media Bias Chart® by country. If the international publication has a U.S. edition, we typically rate that (see Irish Star – US on this chart), but we will also rate the versions directed at their home country’s audiences. Most websites published in another language are translated and rated in English. However, we do have Spanish-speaking analysts who can rate U.S.-based and international websites published in Spanish. Because the left-right bias spectrum is different in each country (sometimes a little different from the U.S., and sometimes a lot!) we rate the bias of international sources based on the political spectrum of the particular country in which the source reports. To effectively do so, our analysts who rate sources in specific countries get specialized training about the political landscape, parties, positions, and elected officials and cover dozens of each country’s news sources. [...]

📆📰 A man armed with weapons attempted on Saturday to access the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, which was attended by President Trump, several members of his Cabinet, and representatives of the media. The suspect was stopped before he was able to enter the room hosting the event, which was then canceled. One Secret Service agent was shot and received only minor injuries. Our analysts rated the weekend’s media coverage about the shooting for our Topic of the Week. An article from Politico gives the basic facts about the incident and updates about the investigation into the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen. The article quotes acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, law enforcement officials, and those who were in attendance at the dinner. It also quotes President Trump, who spoke about the safety measures of his proposed White House ballroom, and gives background about the lawsuit that has slowed construction of it. Analysts found the article to be a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias. President Trump was interviewed by Norah O’Donnell on Sunday’s episode of CBS’ “60 Minutes,” and our analysts rated that interview. Trump describes the incident and his removal from the scene by Secret Service agents. O’Donnell asks Trump about his relationship with journalists and his reaction to the suspect’s “manifesto.” Trump defends himself and calls O’Donnell a “disgrace” for reading the manifesto, which refers to “a pedophile, rapist, and traitor” in the administration. Trump says the “hate speech of the Democrats” is “very dangerous.” Analysts found the interview to be “provocative” at points and noted that O’Donnell did not counter unverified claims by Trump. They scored the interview as “analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias. An article from The Guardian also was rated as “analysis,” but with a “strong left” bias. The article focuses on reaction to the “brazen assault” amid questions related to “political violence, security and gun control.” The article quotes several officials who “decried the normalisation of violence” and said “we have not dealt with the problem” of gun violence. “America has more guns, and more phones, than people,” the article says. The article says that “Trump himself has often been criticised as an accelerant of vitriolic and incendiary discourse” before quoting some of his previous comments. Analysts found that the reporting was fact-based but often presented information from a left-leaning point of view. A short article from Breitbart focuses on a social media post by actress and activist Mia Farrow, who suggests that the attack was orchestrated by Trump to “raise his approval ratings.” It quotes other online comments that agree with her theory and calls Bluesky the “Democrat digital echo chamber.” [...] See the full analysis in the comments

📺📼 Today we’re releasing the April edition of the Media Bias Chart® for TV/Video sources. It contains 48 of the more than 880 news and news-like TV and video shows fully rated by our team, which has now analyzed more than 5,500 videos and episodes! A few things to note about this month’s chart: Two documentaries are making their debut: Amazon’s “Melania: Twenty Days to History,” which follows the life of Melania Trump during the 20 days leading up to the 2025 Presidential Inauguration, and Netflix’s Oscar-nominated “The Perfect Neighbor,” which tells the story of a neighborhood dispute that turns fatal. You’ll find the Amazon documentary near the middle of the chart and to the right. The Netflix video is near the top and a bit to the left. We rate documentaries because they are “news-like” content, and because of their depth on one topic, they can have unusual scores as compared to other types of news content. Keep in mind that a rating of a documentary is an analysis on one long piece of content, so it’s not exactly apples to apples to compare it with ratings of other shows or networks in similar areas of the chart. For example, every TV show on our chart is made up of ratings from multiple episodes. The NBC News TV Network also appears on the chart this month for the first time. We include ratings for entire networks (ABC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, NewsNation, etc.) on the chart in order to give viewers an overall assessment of that network. Each network rating on our chart is an average of the scores of all the shows on that network that our analysts have rated. So while we include individual TV show ratings (on this chart you can see shows from ABC, MS NOW, Fox News and others), we also include overall network scores with the reminder that not all content from a particular network is the same. The bias and reliability ratings for individual shows on the same network vary – by a lot, in some instances. You can read more about that here. This chart again includes the Shoe0nHead YouTube channel, which features social and political commentary by June Lapine. We’ve received online feedback about this show’s placement on the chart, and in response we rated additional content from the channel over the past couple of weeks. The result? The show’s overall placement didn’t change much. Bias ratings from the individual videos vary, with some videos representing a left bias and some a right bias. All videos received reliability scores between 18 and 30. The average of those bias and reliability scores places the show near the bottom and just to the left of center, where it’s always been on the chart. (Online commenters also asked about ratings for the HasanAbi YouTube channel, and we wrote about that last week). [...]

📆📰 As negotiations to end the war in Iran continue, oil prices have spiked and fallen from day to day, resulting in a volatile stock market and affecting economies worldwide. Our analysts rated media coverage about the fluctuating oil prices in our Topic of the Week. Analysts found the most fact-based and balanced coverage from our content set in an article by Associated Press that was published on the Newsmax website. The article, published on Sunday, focuses on oil prices rising after tankers were unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The article details communications and military actions taken by both the U.S. and Iran in the preceding days, leading to “lifted hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait.” The article reports on the possible global financial impact if the strait remains closed long term. Analysts found the article to be a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias. Scoring slightly lower was a video from the TLDR News Global YouTube) channel. The video, with the title “Why the Energy Crisis is About to Get Worse,” gives background about how the markets have reacted to the war thus far and then speculates about what will happen next. It presents graphs showing fluctuating energy prices and summarizes how countries around the world are adapting to the reduced oil supply. The video states that the market reaction to this “unprecedented energy crisis” “has been surprisingly muted if not outright optimistic” because many expect the conflict to be resolved soon. However, the narrator expresses caution: “There’s still an enormous gap between the two sides negotiating positions and a debilitating lack of trust,” he says. Analysts found the video to be “analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias. Two pieces of content analyzed by our team received similar scores of “analysis” with a “strong right” bias. An article from National Review focuses on the effects of the Iran war on Europe. The article’s premise is stated in the headline: “Europe Has Plenty of Oil, It Just Doesn’t Want to Use It.” The article argues that Europe has plenty of oil, but because it’s committed to reducing climate change, it has greatly reduced its own capacities to refine oil and are now more reliant on imports. “If Europe is facing a worsening energy crisis, it is largely self-inflicted, the inevitable consequence of a steadfast refusal to develop the fossil fuels that are within their territories,” it concludes. In a video from the Fox Business show “Mornings With Maria Bartiromo,” the host plays clips from her interview with President Trump, who disputes previous administration comments that oil prices will still be high during midterm elections this fall. Bartiromo interviews Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about Trump’s decision to blockade ships headed to Iran and about predictions regarding oil prices this summer. [...]

🎧🎙Podcast Chart, April 2026 There’s been a lot of debate recently about the relationship between influential media personalities and the Republican and Democratic parties. Some believe the parties should break ties with news influencers considered extreme, while others think it’s important to embrace all voices in order to expand their political support, especially among younger voters. This week, the Washington Post published an article about far-right political commentator Nick Fuentes. Fuentes has been removed from most social media platforms for what the Post describes as “extreme bigotry,” but he still regularly livestreams videos on Rumble. And it’s lucrative; according to the Post, his fans have sent him hundreds of thousands of dollars to support his work. Last week, far-left streamer Hasan Piker was in the news after he spoke at Yale University. According to an article from Fox News, Piker, who has millions of followers, has been criticized for making antisemitic and anti-American comments. To see more recent coverage about Piker, take a look at this week’s Advanced Topic of the Week. Our analysts will rate the Fox News article and three others, as well as two videos, as part of our weekly exercise into how different media outlets report on the same news story. The popularity of Fuentes and Piker has led to dissent within the Republican and Democratic parties as both prepare for midterm elections later this year. We’ve rated content from both Fuentes and Piker (one as a podcast and one as a video program), and here’s where they fall on the Media Bias Chart®. The HasanAbi YouTube channel appears in the bottom left. The America First with Nicholas J. Fuentes podcast is in the bottom right. Meanwhile, President Trump recently insulted conservative media personalities who have criticized him because of the war in Iran: Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Alex Jones. And his relationship with popular podcaster Joe Rogan was in the news this week when Rogan, who has been critical of Trump in the past, joined him at the White House as he signed an executive order to speed up research into psychedelic drugs to treat veterans. [...] More podcasts fall within the green box, and we’ll feature those on future charts. Eight podcasts are included on the chart this month for the first time (four of these fall within the green box): Babbage from The Economist CBC News: At Issue Cleanup on Aisle 45 with AG and Andrew Torrez NPR: Code Switch NYT: Interesting Times with Ross Douthat Rachman Review The Glenn Beck Podcast The Powers That Be with Peter Hamby

📆📰Social media posts by President Trump about the war in Iran have sparked discussion, outrage and calls for him to be removed from office by using the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Section 4 of the Amendment allows for the involuntary removal of a president by declaring him “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Our analysts rated media coverage about Trump’s posts and calls to remove him from office in our Topic of the Week. The most fact-based and balanced coverage from our content set came from articles by Spectrum News and Reuters. Analysts found both articles to be “a mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias. Spectrum News reports that Trump’s handling of the war in Iran has led members of Congress to discuss ousting him either by using the 25th Amendment or by filing articles of impeachment. The article quotes several Democratic lawmakers, a few conservative figures, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The article summarizes Trump’s actions in Iran thus far. The Reuters article is an explainer about the 25th Amendment. The article uses historical facts and analysis to explain the Amendment, including what it is, whether it’s ever been invoked, and the political risks of doing so. The article refers to Trump’s “profanity-laced threats” against Iran, which sparked the debate about removing him from office, and notes that taking this action will “hold political peril for Democrats — who twice tried and failed to remove Trump from office by impeaching him during his first term.” An article from Salon and a video from the CNN TV show “Smerconish” were categorized by our team as “analysis.” The Salon article features reaction to Trump’s social media post on Easter in which he said, in part, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” The article includes reaction from a Democratic lawmaker as well as from Republicans and former Trump allies who support removing Trump from office via the 25th Amendment. Analysts noted that a majority of the reaction included in the article was from Republicans (even though more Democrats have publicly objected to the posts) and Marjorie Taylor Green is featured in the headline — both decisions make the reporting appeal to those on the left. The article earned a bias rating of “skews left.” In the clip from “Smerconish,” host Michael Smerconish begins by quoting comedian/political commentator Bill Maher as saying that “a crazy person doesn’t live in the White House. A person who plays a crazy person a lot on TV lives there.” Smerconish gives a lengthy background about U.S. actions in Iran, including evidence from a New York Times report that Trump’s decisions were “a deliberative process,” not impulse. He also interviews Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who says Trump makes decisions based more on “analysis than instinct.” [...]

💻📰 Web/Print Chart, Apr 2026 According to research by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, almost 40% of all local U.S. newspapers have vanished over the past 20 years. As a result, the number of news deserts – areas that lack consistent local reporting – has grown steadily, with Medill estimating that 212 U.S. counties have no local news source and another 1,525 counties have only one news source remaining, typically a weekly newspaper. Taken together, according to Medill’s 2025 The State of Local News report, about 50 million Americans live with limited or no access to local news. This is alarming to us here at Ad Fontes Media because our analysis has shown that local news websites are more reliable and less biased overall compared to all other news sources we rate (national and international reporting, podcasts, videos and TV). So while people have more and more ways to get news information these days, the most reliable sources of news are disappearing. We include local news sources on the Media Bias Chart® because they are a valuable resource of information for people in various communities, and these local sources report on news that citizens can’t get anywhere else. It may seem odd to see The Detroit News and a local TV station in Tucson on the chart alongside Associated Press (AP) and The Economist, but to us, all are equally important when it comes to providing valuable information. The April edition of the Media Bias Chart® for Web/Print that we’re releasing today includes nine websites of local newspapers or TV stations. All but one fall inside the green box. Sources in the green box (top middle) of the chart have been rated by our team to be minimally biased and to provide fact-based information. This is typical. Overall our analysis team has rated 2,900 websites, and 1,402 (48%) are local. Of those 1,402 local websites, 1,329 of them fall within the green box. That’s 95%! That’s an impressive endorsement of the quality of local reporting, and it’s tragic that so much of it is now being lost. Here’s a list of all sources from the April Media Bias Chart® for Web/Print that fall within the green box. Local news websites are in bold: ABC Miami Local 10 WPLG ADN America Al Jazeera (website) AP | Associated Press Army Times Bellingcat C4ISRNET Christianity Today CNN (website) Edinburgh Live EdSource Foreign Affairs FOX 11 LA KTTV Harper’s Magazine Jacksonville Journal-Courier KGUN 9 Tucson Newsweek NPR (website) Pew Research Center ProPublica Semafor Sludge Straight Arrow News Texas Observer The Christian Post The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter The Detroit News The Economist The Guardian The New York Times The Parnas Perspective The Reload The Thomas B. Fordham Institute The War Horse TVO Today USAFacts Wall Street Journal War on the Rocks Washington Post World News Group Yellowhammer News [...]