A - Rating the Bias of Straight Arrow News, The Free Press, The Bulwark, Reason, and Vox: May 2026

AllSides conducted research into the perceived bias Straight Arrow News, The Free Press, The Bulwark, Vox, and Reason in May 2026. A total of 643 people across the political spectrum took the 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. Sign up to take part in the next survey.

Survey Results

The Free Press Rated Center

The Free Press was rated Center ( 0.07). A total of 585 people across the political spectrum rated the bias of The Atlantic. 

All respondents, regardless of bias or political affiliation, rated The Free Press as Center.

Straight Arrow News Rated Lean Right

On average, 612 people across the political spectrum rated Straight Arrow News' online content as Lean Right (1.16) 

Respondents self-identifying as Left and Lean Left rated Straight Arrow News as Lean Right, on average, while respondents in other bias categories rated the outlet as Center.

On average, all respondents regardless of political party affiliation rated Straight Arrow News as Lean Right.

Vox Rated Lean Left

Vox was rated Lean Left (-1.97) on average by 643 respondents.

Respondents who rated their own bias as Left rated Vox Center on average; respondents who rated their own bias Lean Left and Center rated it Lean Left on average; respondents who identified themselves as Lean Right or Right rated it Left on average.

Democrats rated Vox Center on average; Independents and Republicans rated it Lean Left on average.

Reason Rated Center

Reason magazine was rated Center (-0.02) on average by 595 respondents. Respondents in all bias categories rated it Center on average, except those who identified their own bias as Left; this group rated it Lean Right. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all rated Reason Center on average. 

This was one of the most mixed results AllSides has ever seen — about 40% said it was on the left and 40% said it was on the right.

The Bulwark Rated Lean Left

 The Bulwark was rated Lean Left (-1.60) by 576 respondents.  Respondents who rated their own bias Left, Lean Left, and Center rated it Center on average; respodents who identified themselves as Lean Right rated it Lean Left; Right respondents rated it Left.

Democrats rated it Center on average; Independent rated it Lean Left; Republicans rated it Lean Left.

About The Survey

A total of 643 people across the political spectrum took the survey. Each survey participant was asked to self-report their personal political bias – 93 participants with a self-reported Left bias; 161 with a Lean Left bias; 169 with a Center bias; 171 with a Lean Right bias, and 49 with a Right bias took the survey. These responses were weighted so that unequal sizes of these groups would not skew the final results in favor of one bias group over another.

Respondents were recruited through two methods: 350 respondents were recruited through AllSides’ audience and 293 were recruited through SurveyMonkey. Responses collected through SurveyMonkey serve as a U.S. nationally-representative sample.

The AllSides audience was recruited via email and includes respondents from around the United States.

All respondents took the survey between May 21–29, 2026.

These responses were normalized so that unequal sizes of these groups would not skew the final results in favor of one bias group over another.

Results are not assessed by majority rule; we calculate pluralities and averages, both within respondent groups and across all respondent groups, to arrive at final determinations. 

For this survey, AllSides collected 10 pieces of content from media outlets: top headlines taken on two different days at the same time of day, and top stories the outlet ran around two major national news stories. 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, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, and Right.

Results are represented on a scale of -9 to +9, with 0 representing dead Center, -9 representing Left and +9 representing Right:

Left: -9.00 to -3.00
Lean Left: -2.99 to -1.00
Center: -0.99 to +0.99
Lean Right: +1.00 to +2.99
Right: +3.00 to +9.00

Note About Blind Bias Surveys

Blind surveys are robust, but do have limitations. They alone do not always determine our ratings. 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 crucial elements for determining bias. Therefore, we often use blind survey data in conjunction with other methods to arrive at a final bias rating, such as Editorial Reviews, third party data and independent reviews by AllSides reviewers.

AllSides uses multiple methods for calculating media bias ratings.

Our Blind Bias Survey, described in the graphic below, represents one of our most robust media bias rating methods, 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.