Forgotten Fact Checks (National Review)

Forgotten Fact Checks Rated Right in October 2023 Small Group Editorial Review

In October 2023, the AllSides team conducted a Small Group Editorial Review of National Review’s (Right bias) weekly Forgotten Fact Checks column that returned an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Right with a numerical rating of 4.1.

A small group of AllSides reviewers — one person each with a bias on the left, center, and right — reviewed fact check content from National Review for media bias.

Forgotten Fact Checks often criticized Democrats and liberal publications like Washington Post (Lean Left bias) and New York Times (Lean Left bias), but rarely criticized Republicans or conservative publications. Forms of bias most apparent in the Forgotten Fact Checks column were story choice, sensationalism, bias by omission, presenting opinion as fact, and slant.

During the review, the team noted much of the content featured in the weekly Forgotten Fact Checks column was not explicitly fact checking. The column, which is run by National Review’s news desk (Lean Right bias), typically featured media commentary in the form of opinion or analysis as the main angle for its weekly story. After this main portion, articles included two smaller sections distinguished by subheadings, “Headline Fail of the Week” and “Media Misses” (these featured several brief instances of media commentary), which sometimes included fact checking.

At the time of review topics covered frequently included U.S. politics, the Israel-Hamas conflict, liberal media, and the Biden administration.

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Forgotten Fact Checks Rated Right in July 2021 Small Group Editorial Review

In July 2021 the AllSides team conducted a Small Group Editorial Review of National Review’s Forgotten Fact Checks column that returned an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Right with a numerical rating of 4.0.

While it did fact-check the right, it fact-checked the left more often. Further, it often showed bias through dramatic/subjective language such as “cue the woke mob,” “blatant display of questionable reporting,” or “the Democratic double standard.” Weekly segments called “Headline Fail of the Week” and “Media Misses” consistently target Left and Lean Left media outlets with critiques like “this honor goes to the Washington Post for carrying on the public-opinion war against DeSantis.”

Click here to see our overall rating for National Review.