The Dispatch has a Lean Right bias.
April 2022 Independent Review
An independent review of The Dispatch by a member of the AllSides team confirmed the Lean Right rating. The team member noted most of The Dispatch's content argued generally center or center-right political positions but often from a decidedly conservative or religious perspective. For instance, one newsletter referred to the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan as "botched," but another argued that "Christian hearts and minds" should not be closed to "challenging debates about race and justice."
The reviewer noted that if The Dispatch were to be rated anything other than Lean Right, it would likely be rated Center. The outlet's explicit statement of its conservatism also informed the rating.
Community Feedback
As of April 2022, 282 AllSides readers agreed with the Lean Right rating, and 172 disagreed; on average, those who disagreed thought The Dispatch should be rated Center.
About The Dispatch
The Dispatch is a right-leaning digital media company offering original reporting and commentary on conservative news and politics through podcasts, newsletters and articles. It was co-founded in 2019 by conservative journalists Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg, a former National Review editor.
The Dispatch offers a wide range of newsletters via Substack, including The G-File, The French Press, The Morning Dispatch, and more.
While The Dispatch's About page says, "We don’t apologize for our conservatism," it also pledges to cover news stories "without concern for whether the facts prove inconvenient to any party or politician."
AllSides rates The Dispatch Fact Check separately, as determined in a July 2021 Editorial Review.
Third-Party Accusations of Bias
In November 2021, Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes quit contributing to Fox News (Right bias) to protest Tucker Carlson's January 6th documentary, which they called "a collection of incoherent conspiracy-mongering, riddled with factual inaccuracies, half-truths, deceptive imagery, and damning omissions." An article in The Daily Wire (Right bias) called the Dispatch founders "never-Trumpers."
Funding, Financing and Ownership
Note: Funding and ownership is not taken into account when determining AllSides Media Bias Ratings™. While it's true ownership and financial interests can affect what goes to print, our bias ratings are determined by assessing the bias of content only. We provide financial and ownership information as an FYI to our readers. In October 2019, The Dispatch had pooled $6 million in investment capital. Stephen Hayes is the CEO, co-founder, and editor of The Dispatch. Financing and ownership information last updated March 31, 2021. If you think this information is out of date or needs to be updated, please contact us.