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Mediaite

-1.53
Lean LeftLean Left biasWhat does this mean?

How we determined this rating:

  • Independent Review
  • Editorial Review: Mar 2026
  • AllSides has low or initial confidence in this bias rating.

Unless otherwise noted, this bias rating refers only to online news coverage, not TV, print, or radio content.

Learn about our bias rating methods
Contents
  1. About Mediaite's Bias Rating
  2. What a "Lean Left" Rating Means
  3. Bias Reviews
  4. Confidence Level
  5. Additional Information
  6. Ownership & Funding

About Mediaite's Bias Rating

Mediaite is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Lean Left.

What a "Lean Left" Rating Means

Sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating of Lean Left display media bias in ways that moderately align with liberal, progressive, or left-wing thought and/or policy agendas. A Lean Left bias is a moderately liberal rating on the political spectrum.

Learn more about Lean Left ratings

Bias Reviews

We use multiple methods to analyze sources. Learn how we rate media bias.

Mediaite Rated Lean Left in March 2026 Editorial Review

Mediaite’s bias was rated Lean Left (-1.53) on average in a March 2026 panel of Small Group Editorial Reviewers. A Left reviewer rated the outlet Left (-3.0), while the Center reviewer rated it Center (-0.6) and the Lean Right reviewer rated it Lean Left (-1.0), both falling closer to the center but still slightly to the left. The combined average placed the outlet in the Lean Left category.

Reviewers pointed to sensational headlines, story choice and subjective language as recurring patterns in the articles reviewed. Mediaite frequently frames stories around dramatic exchanges of politicians on cable news segments and other public appearances, often reproducing long quote blocks, according to the panelists. They noted that headlines regularly use charged verbs such as “rips,” “shreds,” “blasts,” or “scolds,” which inflame the stories reported. For example, one article covering Trump State Department nominee Jeremy Carl’s withdrawal from consideration for Assistant Secretary of State described the confirmation hearing as a “poor performance” and said Carl “sputtered through his answers,” language a reviewer said goes beyond straightforward reporting and inches closer to editorializing. 

A Left-Leaning reviewer said the outlet’s tabloid-style headlines were “giving New York Post of the left,” while a Center reviewer described Mediaite as “a sensational tabloid source” rooted more in “media and politics as entertainment than in pushing a particular ideology.” A Lean Right reviewer said many stories relied on “sensationalized quotes from political figures, television interviews and public statements” rather than original reporting.

Articles reviewed included:

  • Trump State Department Nominee Withdraws After Brutal Grilling in Confirmation Hearing
    • Subjective qualifying adjectives: “Carl has a history of controversial comments about race, women, and Jews. His decision to withdraw follows a tense Senate confirmation hearing in February, where his history of making incendiary statements about Jews and espousal of the anti-Semitic ‘great replacement theory’ became a sticking point.”
      • A Lean Right panelist wrote, “These descriptors evaluate Carl’s remarks for the reader rather than quoting the remarks themselves or explaining the context.”
  • [Opinion] Trump’s Meddling Threatens to Crumble Decades of GOP Dominance in Texas 
    • A left leaning panelist wrote the “Headline is anti-Trump,” pointing out negative word choice with “Meddling”.
  • Show Some Guts!’ Trump Sends Message to Tankers as Oil Prices Spike
    • The Center reviewer said the article largely recounted Trump’s remarks from a Fox & Friends clip and included some basic context about oil prices and the Iran conflict, but noted it relied almost entirely on the Fox segment as its source.
  • Jesse Jackson's Son Swipes at Obama and Biden After Politically-Charged Eulogies 
    • A Center panelist pointed to sensational wording, noting the phrase “Jesse Jackson Jr. took a not-so-subtle swipe” appearing in the article. The reviewer added that the article mostly strings together quotes from Jackson Jr., Kamala Harris, Obama, Clinton and Biden with little commentary, but frames Jackson’s remarks as criticism of “three former Democratic presidents.”

Additional articles reviewed included:

Mediaite Rated Lean Left in August-September 2023 Editorial Review

Mediaite was rated just barely in the Lean Left (-1.0) category in an August-September 2023 Small Group Editorial Review by a panel of expert left, center and right reviewers. 

Reviewers agreed that sensationalism was Mediaite's most defining type of media bias that appeared across coverage. Headlines routinely used charged, dramatic verbs, such as: "loses it," "rips," "battles," "bristles," including words in all caps. 

A Lean Left panelist said sensationalism was the "first thing" apparent on the site, which a Lean Right panelist also agreed with, adding it was "basically attached to every article.”

Story choice and spin were also cited as recurring media bias types. Coverage skewed heavily toward Republican figures and controversies, particularly during Trump's indictments and the Republican primary debates, which dominated the homepage during much of the review period. 

A Center panelist described the homepage as "almost entirely LL content."  A Lean Right reviewer said Mediaite “treats politics like sports,” with more content “focused on bashing the right than the left.” One Lean Left reviewer argued that Republicans provided more "crazy, sportsy, sensational" material during the review period, adding “Trump was/is a gold mine for them.”

Subjective qualifying adjectives and word choice bias was also noted across headlines and copy. Reviewers cited one-sided characterizations such as loaded adjectives applied to right-leaning figures, but not Democrat ones. 

It’s worth noting that the Lean Left panelists rated Mediaite at or near Center. They said that aside from sensationalism in the headlines, the articles themselves were sometimes more balanced than they looked, and noted the dramatic coverage wasn't always aimed at Republicans. Panelists across the board also agreed that Mediaite's strength was back-and-forth exchanges in full, rather than short clips, that gave readers more context than is typical for a media commentary outlet. Panelists also acknowledged that Mediaite covers stories other left-leaning outlets tend to avoid.

Articles reviewed included: 

Additional articles reviewed:

 

 

 

 

 

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Confidence Level

Confidence is determined by how many reviews have been applied and consistency of data.

As of October 2026, AllSides has low or initial confidence in our Lean Left rating for Mediaite. If we perform more bias reviews and gather consistent data, this confidence level will increase.

Additional Information

Mediaite is a news and opinion blog covering politics and entertainment in the media industry. According to Mediaite's "about" page, Mediaite is "a trusted source on the intersection of politics and media across the political spectrum." Mediaite.com features news as well as columns with opinions from different sides of the political spectrum.

Mediaite was founded and is published by ABC legal analyst Dan Abrams and is the flagship blog of Abrams Media. Abrams Media has several additional blogs such as Gossip Cop, Geekosystem, Styleite, Sports Grid, The Mary Sue, The Maude, and The Braiser. Notably, former Mediaite columnist A. J. Delgado was a senior advisor to the Donald J. Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Founding managing editor Colby Hall once described the site as "Huffington Post meets Gawker" in an interview with the Washington Post. 

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Mediaite Ownership and Funding

Funding and ownership do not influence bias ratings. We rate the bias of content only.

Owner: Abrams Media