National Review (News)

NOTE: AllSides rates National Review's opinion content separately as Right.

• National Review Bias Rated Lean Right in Nov. 2024 Editorial Review
• National Review Bias Rated Right in Oct. 2024 Blind Bias Survey
• National Review News Section Rated Lean Right in Sept. 2023 Editorial Review; AllSides Rates Opinion Separately as Right
• National Review Fact Check Section Also Shares Right Bias: July 2021 Editorial Review
• May 2021 Editorial Review: National Review Bias Remains Right
• April/May 2021 Blind Bias Survey: National Review Rated Lean Right
• Third Party Claims of Bias

National Review Bias Rated Lean Right in Nov. 2024 Editorial Review

National Review was rated Lean Right (2.2) by a multipartisan review panel in Nov. 2024. AllSides opted to keep National Review's overall rating as Lean Right (2.5) after considering the results of the Oct. 2024 Blind Survey, which put National Review at Right (5.27), as Blind Bias Surveys assess a much smaller amount of content.

Reviewers saw clear Lean Right story choice and bias by viewpoint, with NR largely omitting perspectives on the left. The review team noted National Review has an ideological bias that is neoconservative, not populist ror MAGA.

A Center reviewer stated that some stories read as straight Center, but stories on social issues revealed more of a bias. A Lean Left reviewer stated, "The main thing moderating National Review from being fully Right is its need to maintain an intellectual reputation...But NR usually does not include the arguments of the other side, let alone meaningfully analyze them. Its effect is to reinforce a narrow worldview rather than inform a wide one."

Reviewers did not see other types of bias such as sensationalism, emotionalism, photo bias, or subjective qualifying adjectives.

Articles revieweed included but were not limited to:

• FEMA Contractor Told Georgia Family to Remove Trump Yard Signs, Whistleblower Says
• Pete Hegseth’s Tattoo Isn’t a Reason to Oppose Him
• Los Angeles City Council Passes Sanctuary-City Ordinance as Trump Prepares for Mass Deportations
• Women’s Volleyball Players Deprived of Scholarships, Physical Privacy Sue University System over Male Teammate
• Senate Votes Down Bernie Sanders’s Resolutions to Restrict Arms Sales to Israel
• Gavin Newsom Claims to Be a Champion for Women. But His Company Covered Up a Rape, Waitress Says
• UVA Interrogated Student after Receiving Complaint about His ‘Make America Christian Again’ Hat
• Republicans Plan to Grill Trump’s HHS Pick, RFK Jr., about Views on Abortion, Vaccines, Pesticides
• Texas AG Sues Dallas over Voter-Approved Amendment to Decriminalize Marijuana
• Progressive Delusions Die Hard
• Male Athlete Allowed to Play in Women’s College Volleyball Tournament, Judge Rules

National Review News Bias Rated Right in Oct. 2024 Blind Bias Survey

National Review was rated Right (5.27) by 682 respondents across the political spectrum on average in the Oct. 2024 Blind Bias Survey, contradicting AllSides' existing rating of Lean Right for National Review. Further review is underway. 

All bias groups rated National Review as Right, on average. Republicans, Democrats and Independents all rated National Review as Right. 

National Review News Section Rated Lean Right in Sept. 2023 Editorial Review; AllSides Rates Opinion Separately as Right

While AllSides previously rated all of National Review as Right, in Sept. 2023, National Review's news content was rated Lean Right in an Editorial Review by a multipartisan panel of six AllSides reviewers. The AllSides team opted to rate National Review's opinion content separately as Right. What this means: Any content appearing in National Review's section explicitly labeled "News" had a Lean Right bias overall (some individual content varied), and any opinion and some analysis content was generally Right biased. Note that the majority of National Review's content is analysis and opinion content.

The panel agreed that content in National Review's strictly "News" section showed Lean Right story choice bias but was largely written in a Center way, just giving facts. National Review sometimes used sensationalist words such as "blasts," and showed Lean Right word choice bias such as "illegal immigration," a term not used by the left. A reviewer on the right said National Review overall is "anti-Trump, anti-covid lockdowns/restrictions, pro-segregation of spaces and sports by sex, anti-open borders."

Some articles reviewed included but were not limited to:

• FDA Approves New Covid Vaccine Booster to Combat Emerging Variants
• California State Assembly Passes Controversial Transgender Youth Bill
• David Hogg Blasts New Mexico Governor over Emergency Order Banning Carry of Firearms
• Department of Education Opens Civil-Rights Probe into New College of Florida following DeSantis Overhaul
• Are Trump’s or Biden’s Lies Worse?
• Covid Restrictions Can’t Be Allowed to Return
• Just Say No to New Mandatory Covid Restrictions
• Sweden Avoided Covid Lockdowns, and Now Reaps the Benefits

National Review Fact Check Section Also Shares Right Bias: July 2021 Editorial Review

The National Review’s fact check section, Forgotten Fact Checks, has a Right bias, according to a July 2021 Small Group Editorial Review by AllSides editors on the left, center, and right.  

May 2021 Editorial Review: National Review Bias Remains Right

After the April/May 2021 Blind Bias Survey returned a Lean Right rating for National Review, AllSides conducted an Editorial Review. We opted to keep National Review rated Right.

The decision was largely unanimous, with one reviewer who has a Lean Right bias arguing NR should be rated Lean Right — citing its philosophy, which is a civic libertarian and constitutional/establishment conservative perspective, rather than a populist right perspective. We noted calls to end the War on Drugs and legalize marijuana, as well as an article arguing for a pluralistic society rather than an explicitly Christian state, titled "State Support Weakens Christianity." There are different kinds of right-wing political ideologies —National Review is not populist right, they are more neo-conservative, and their pieces largely reflect that perspective. The team noted NR was highly critical of President Donald Trump during his tenure as well, which differentiates them from others on the right. (Read about different types of ideological bias here.)

NR is transparent about its bias, calling itself a conservative publication. The team noted a consistent right-wing story choice, and headlines with perspectives such as “CDC's New Outdoor Mask Guidance is a Joke", "Democrats Continue to Mislead Americans about the Israel-Hamas Conflict," and, "Is Coke Rethinking Woke?"

Some team members with a Lean Left bias said they saw some sensationalism in headlines, as well as a pro-Israel bent. 

April/May 2021 Blind Bias Survey: National Review Rated Lean Right

The results of our April/May 2021 Blind Bias Survey returned a Lean Right rating for National Review's bias.

On average, 1,093 people across the political spectrum rated National Review firmly Lean Right. People on the left and in the center all rated National Review as Lean Right on average; people on the right rated National Review between Center and Lean Right on average.

Pluralities across all bias groups rated National Review's bias as Lean Right; the second most common response among people on the left was Right, and the second most common response among people on the right was Center.

The National Review is a bi-weekly conservative magazine founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. in 1955. Buckley started the magazine with the goal of making conservative ideas respectable at a time in which he believed “literate America [had] rejected conservatism in favor of radical social experimentation.” 

During the magazine’s early years, it aimed to fuse different schools of conservative thought in order to combat what were perceived as their common opponents. In addition to the magazine, free content is produced on the website National Review Online. The website features a digital version of the magazine, articles updated daily by National Review writers, and posts from several blogs including The Corner, and Bench Memos. 

Third Party Claims of Bias and Misinformation

Some on the left, such as a writer at The New Republic, have called The National Review the "bible of American conservatism."

At times, National Review has been accused of spreading misinformation. In 2020, a National Review article incorrectly described a former Kamala Harris staffer as the Twitter employee who decided to suspend former President Donald Trump from the platform. The writer later apologized.

In a conversation published by the American Enterprise Institute in 2022, National Review was described as especially “central” to “both the intellectual and the political fortunes of the conservative movement.” 

In this conversation, National Review editor Ramesh Ponnuru said the magazine “midwifed and nurtured the modern conservative movement into being,” adding that it steered American conservatism toward “constructivity.” Ponnuru also said he thought National Review would “be among the many people who will try to articulate” and defend “sensible and intelligent” immigration policy for the Republican Party. 

National Review is owned by The National Review Institute. National Review Institute was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. as a nonprofit in 1991. Rich Lowry is the current editor-in-chief of National Review.

Financing and ownership information last updated April 22, 2023 If you think this information is out of date or needs to be updated, please contact us.