Rating the Bias of Voice of America, ABC News, Newsmax, PBS NewsHour, and Reason: July 2024

AllSides conducted research into the perceived bias of Voice of America, ABC News, Newsmax, PBS NewsHour, and Reason in July 2024.

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.

Voice of America Rated Center

Voice of America was rated Center (-0.11).

Respondents who rated their own bias as Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, or Right, all rated Voice of America as Center, on average. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents rated Voice of America as Center. A total of 501 respondents rated the bias.

ABC News Rated Lean Right

ABC News was rated Lean Right (1.18).

Note: AllSides saw this rating as an outlier, and speculates this rating was due to the survey content being collected on July 15 and 18, 2024, which were just days after the July 14 assassination attempt of Donald Trump. The strong focus on Trump likely impacted the blind reviewers’ perception of ABC. This survey triggered the Aug. Editorial Review, which rated ABC News as Lean Left. The Lean Right rating was incorporated into the final rating for ABC News, but was weighted less to account for outlier conditions.

Respondents who rated their own bias as Left or Lean Left rated ABC News as Lean Right, on average, while respondents who rated their own bias as Lean Right, Right, or Center, rated ABC News as just to the right of Center. Republicans and Independents rated ABC News as Center; Democrats rated ABC News as Lean Right. A total of 478 respondents rated the bias.

Newsmax Rated Lean Right

Newsmax was rated Lean Right (1.56).

Respondents who rated their own bias as Left, Lean Left, or Center rated Newsmax as Lean Right, on average, while respondents who rated their own bias as Lean Right or Right rated Newsmax as just to the right of Center. Republicans rated Newsmax as Center; Democrats and Independents rated Newsmax as Lean Right. A total of 455 respondents rated the bias.

PBS NewsHour Rated Center

PBS NewsHour was rated Center (-0.18).

Respondents who rated their own bias as Left, Lean Left, Center, or Lean Right, rated PBS NewsHour Center, on average; respondents with a Right bias rated PBS NewsHour as Lean Left. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents rated PBS NewsHour as Center. A total of 434 respondents rated the bias.

Reason Rated Center

Reason was rated Center (-0.43).

Respondents who rated their own bias as Lean Right, or Right, rated Reason as Lean Left, on average; respondents with a Left or Lean Left bias rated Reason as Lean Right, on average. Respondents with a Center bias rated Reason as Center, on the left side. Republicans rated Reason as Lean Left. Democrats rated Reason as Lean Right. Independents rated Reason as Center, on the left side. A total of 426 respondents rated the bias.

About The Survey

A total of 618 people across the political spectrum took the survey. Each survey participant was asked to self-report their personal political bias – 45 participants with a self-reported Left bias; 158 with a Lean Left bias; 184 with a Center bias; 178 with a Lean Right bias, and 53 with a Right bias took the survey. 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

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.

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