Business Insider

• Business Insider Rated Lean Left in Feb. 2022 AllSides Blind Bias Survey
• Business Insider Rated Lean Left in March 2025 Editorial Review, Center in Feb. 2025 Blind Bias Survey; AllSides Keeps Lean Left Rating

Business Insider Rated Lean Left in March 2025 Editorial Review, Center in Feb. 2025 Blind Bias Survey; AllSides Keeps Lean Left Rating

AllSides moved Business Insider's bias rating more toward the center, though still in the Lean Left category (from -2.6 to -1.46) following two bias reviews  in Feb. and March 2025— one Editorial Review by a multipartisan, 6-person balanced panel, and one Blind Bias Survey that had 1,216 respondents.

In the Blind Bias Survey, 32% of respondents rated Business Insider as left of center, 32% rated it in the exact center, and 36% rated it as right of center. All bias subgroups rated it Center (people who rated themselves Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, or Right, as well as Democrats, Republicans, and Independents).

Sometimes, an Editorial Review will override a Blind Bias Survey result if the panel determines the survey content isn't a good representative sample of the outlet — survey participants only rate a small amount of news content, while Editorial Review panelists can look at a lot of content dating back as far as six months.

During the Editorial Review, all panelists rated Business Insider as Lean Left, with one panelist, who themselves had a Lean Left bias, rating it Center. While panelists noted that Business Insider was "not as left as expected," they also noted story choice bias (focusing more on topics that interest the left) and many articles had a slight anti-Elon Musk/anti-Donald Trump bent. Some articles included balanced quoting, but others omitted perspectives on the right. Business Insider also used sensationalism, particularly in headlines. The "Featured" section on homepage is all commentary, but is not labeled as such.

Lean Right reviewers stated that Business Insider "doesn't provide a sense of the “why” behind Republican policies." Reviewers noted photo bias against Elon Musk, making him appear ornery or highlighting protest signs against him.

Articles reviewed included but were not limited to:

• Trump's plan to dismantle the Department of Education is officially underway
  • Slant in first paragraph: “DOGE slashing has begun at the agency that oversees trillions of dollars of student loans, disburses grants to low-income students and those with disabilities, and collects data on kids' reading and math outcomes.”
  • Left-leaning Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is quoted at length first, then a senior administration official is paraphrased, then quotes Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who is left-leaning
  • “While the administration official said that the latest cuts are aimed at eliminating department redundancies, some advocates raised the alarm about what this means for the agency's future.” - Slighted slanted against the administration 
  • Quotes a GOP official who says the cuts won't impact certain important things, but immediately follows this with a quote against it, casting skepticism.
• Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum have begun. Here are the top countries that supply America's metal imports.
  • “President Donald Trump is doubling down on his tariff agenda with a possible 25% levy on all steel and aluminum imports — a move that could likely make building construction and car assembly more expensive.” - Doesn't include Trump's argument for doing it; paragraph five gives his reasoning, but immediately Business Insider couches this with: “Many economists have warned that the brunt of tariffs could fall on American consumers.” Which economists? Omission of source?
• I'm a single mom who landed a remote federal job. My 5-day office return means paying more for day care.
  • Highlighting downsides of DOGE cuts from an emotionalism angle
• Judge blasts Trump's mass firing of probationary employees as a 'sham' and orders jobs to be reinstated
  • Spin word “blasts”
• Embarrassment, fear, and protests: 4 Tesla owners tell BI why they're selling their cars
  • Sensationalism/emotionalism
• Trump threatens massive 200% tariffs on European wine
  • Center; quotes both sides evenly
• Gavin Newsom is taking the fight to the right-wing podcast circuit 
  • Lean Left story choice and word choice “taking the fight”
  • Mentions political affiliations of news outlets and people as “right wing” but doesn’t mention Newsom’s political affiliation:
    • “Charlie Kirk, a right-wing influencer”
    • “right-wing firebrand Steve Bannon”
    • “Breitbart News, a far-right news outlet” 
• Here's when the stock market sell-off could force Trump to drop his trade war 
  • Quotes Treasury sec. Scott Bessent, Marko Papic (anti-Trump in this case), American Enterprise Institute fellow (conservative)
  • Headline implies that Trump is not headed in the right direction, but gives space to both POVs.
• Michelle Obama said Barack had one habit that annoyed her early in their marriage
  • Lean Left story choice; the right doesn’t revere the Obamas like the left does
• A silver lining amid the Trump-induced market chaos: Lower mortgage rates
  • Center; not necessarily anti-Trump, just talks about morgage rates. “Chaos” word choice has negative implication, though may be agreed upon by both sides.
• Target flip-flopped on diversity. Now its stock is down 57%.
  • Implies DEI is good for business, omits proof supporting that it isn’t 
  • Takes the angle that Target is operating from a place of weakness caving to “right-wing activists.” Does not directly say that Target should be woke, just that they shouldn’t fold under pressure because it confuses customers.

Business Insider Rated Lean Left in Feb. 2022 AllSides Blind Bias Survey

People across the political spectrum rated Business Insider (at the time, known as Insider) as Lean Left on average in a Feb. 2022 AllSides Blind Bias Survey. 

This differed from AllSides' rating of Insider as Center and triggered an independent review. AllSides then shifted Insider's rating to Lean Left.

On a scale of -9 to +9, with 0 representing Center, -9 representing furthest Left and +9 representing furthest Right, respondents on average rated Insider as -2.62, putting it in the Lean Left category. The middle 50% of responses lied between -5.56 (Left) and -1.40 (Lean Left).

When normalized, 67% of respondents rated Insider as left of center and 11% rated Insider as right of center. A total of 571 people rated Insider's bias. Respondents self-rated their own bias as Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, and Right. 

When breaking down by respondent bias, on average, people who are Left, Lean Left, and Center rated Insider as Lean Left, and people who are Lean Right and Right rated Insider as Left. 

Democrats and Republicans, on average, rated Insider as Lean Left, while Independents rated Insider as Left, barely.

• Past AllSides Media Bias Rating of Business Insider
• About Business Insider

Past AllSides Media Bias Rating of Insider

AllSides rated Insider as Center prior to Feb. 2022. This initial rating was the result of independent review by AllSides editors and was given with low confidence.

About Insider

Insider, formerly known as Business Insider, is a U.S. business and technology news website launched in February 2009 and based in New York City.

Business Insider Inc.'s name was changed to Insider Inc. in December 2017 as the company switched to publishing general news. 

Business Insider was founded in 2007 by Henry Blodget and Kevin P. Ryan. 

Business Insider is owned by Axel Springer SE, a German digital and popular periodical publishing house and the largest in Europe. Axel Springer also owns Politico. Axel Springer Chief Executive Mathias Döpfner said its employees are expected to support company-wide guiding principals that include "support for a united Europe, Israel’s right to exist and a free-market economy, among others." 

"These values are like a constitution, they apply to every employee of our company,” Mr. Döpfner said. People with a problem with any of the principles “should not work for Axel Springer, very clearly,” he said.

According to Wikipedia, "In 2013, Jeff Bezos led an effort to raise US$5 million for Business Insider Inc. through his investment company Bezos Expeditions. On September 29, 2015, Axel Springer SE announced that it had acquired 88% of the stake in Business Insider Inc. for a reported US$343 million (€306 million). After the purchase, Axel Springer SE held a stake of approximately 97%, and Jeff Bezos held the remaining shares through Bezos Expeditions. As of 2018, Axel Springer owns a 100% stake in Insider Inc." (Retrieved Feb. 2022)

Funding and owenship information last updated Feb. 2022. If you believe needs to be updated, please contact us.