Survey Date: 
July 2021

People across the political spectrum rated the bias of content from Breitbart, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo News in the AllSides July 2021 Blind Bias Survey.

During an AllSides Blind Bias Survey, participants from all sides of the political spectrum are asked to rate the content of a media outlet blindly, so they are not influenced by preconceived notions of a brand's bias. Blind Bias Surveys are one of the most robust methods used to inform AllSides Media Bias Ratings™. Read an overview of the survey results here, or read our whitepaper detailing the survey and analysis here.

Media outlets evaluated for bias in the July 2021 Blind Bias Survey were:

How A Blind Bias Survey Works

Survey Results

The survey confirmed our bias ratings for Breibart (Right), The Guardian (Lean Left), The Wall Street Journal (Center), and Yahoo News (Lean Left).

Respondents across the political spectrum on average rated The Daily Caller as Lean Right, which differed from our dating of Right. An Editorial Review is planned.

Get an overview of the survey results here.

Survey Affirms Breitbart Bias Rating as Right

On average, respondents rated Breitbart as Right, confirming AllSides’ existing rating.

A total of 1,279 people from across the political spectrum — people who identified as Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, or Right — rated the bias of Breitbart. A majority of respondents rated it as Right, including a plurality of people in all bias categories. The second most common response from all bias categories was Lean Right.

 

The Daily Caller Rated as Lean Right; AllSides Keeps Right Rating Following Editorial Review

On average, people across the political spectrum rated content from The Daily Caller as Lean Right in our July 2021 Blind Bias Survey. This differed from AllSides’ rating of DC as Right. We conducted a Small Group Editorial Review, in which a team of people from the left, center and right review the works of the outlet. We opted to keep The Daily Caller’s rating as Right, mostly due to sensationalism and right-wing story choice.

A total of 1,217 people rated the bias of The Daily Caller.

A plurality of people who have a Left, Lean Left, Center or Lean Right bias rated The Daily Caller as Lean Right; a plurality of people on the Right actually rated DC as Lean Left. 

On average, people with a Left or Lean Left bias rated DC as Lean Right; people with a Center or Lean Right bias rated it Center on average; people who are on the Right rated it as between Center and Lean Right on average.

The Guardian Bias Rated Lean Left

On average, The Guardian was rated Lean Left by people across the political spectrum.

A total of 1,331 people rated The Guardian. A plurality of people who have a Left, Lean Left, Center, and Lean Right bias rated The Guardian as Lean Left. A very slight plurality of people who have a Right bias rated The Guardian as Left, with the second most common response from the Right being Lean Left.

The second most common response for people on the Left, Lean Left, and Center was a rating of Center. For people who Lean Right, the second most common response was Left.

Respondents Rate The Wall Street Journal's Bias as Center on Average

The average rating for The Wall Street Journal from people across the political spectrum was Center.

1,195 people rated the bias of The Wall Street Journal. The vast majority of people rated it as Center. A majority of people who self-identified as having a Left, Lean Left, Center, or Lean Right bias rated WSJ as Center; a plurality of people with a Right biased rated it Center, with the second most common response being Lean Right.

Yahoo News Receives a Bias Rating of Lean Left

The average rating for Yahoo News from people across the political spectrum was Lean Left, aligning with AllSides’ current rating.

A total of 1,239 people rated the outlet’s bias. People in all bias categories were more likely to rate it as Lean Left than anything else. The second most common response among people who have a Right and Lean Right bias was Left. Among people who are Left, Lean Left, and Center, the second most common response was Center.

About the Survey

A total of 1,734 people took the survey — 186 respondents with a self-reported Left bias, 378 with a Lean Left bias, 520 with a Center bias, 508 with a Lean Right bias, 128 with a Right bias.

For this survey, AllSides collected two types of content from media outlets: top headlines from two different days at the same time of day, and top stories the outlet ran around two major national news stories on two different days. Stories and headlines were stripped of branding and any information that would allow participants to identify the outlet. Participants were asked to rate the bias of the source on a scale of Left, Center, Lean Right, and Right.

Limitations and Other Methods for Rating Bias

Blind surveys do have limitations and they alone do not always determine our ratings, because these surveys ask respondents to assess a relatively small snapshot of the source's content in time. The surveys don't include photos, content published over a long period of time, or other elements. Therefore, we also use other methods to arrive at a final bias rating, such as Editorial Reviews, third party data and independent reviews.

AllSides uses multiple methods for calculating media bias ratings.

Our blind bias survey, described in the graphic below, represents our most robust media bias rating method, but it is not the only method we use. A source might openly share its bias, or it may be determined by third party research, an independent review, or an editorial review. Take a look at the multiple methods AllSides uses to measure and rate media bias.