NewsNation

AllSides Media Bias Rating™: Center
1951/1888
The bias meter value for NewsNation is 0.37. -6 is the furthest "Left" value and 6 is the furthest "Right" value.
0.37
Center What does this mean?

How we determined this rating:

  • Independent Review
  • Editorial Review: Sep 2022
  • Community Feedback:   ratings
  • Blind Survey: Nov 2023, Jun 2023, Aug 2022
  • AllSides has high 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
NewsNation
Bias Rating Center
Type News Media
Region National
Website newsnationnow.com
What a Center Bias Rating Means

The source either does not show much media bias, displays a balance of articles with left and right biases, or equally balances left and right perspectives in its reporting.

Center doesn't mean better! A Center media bias rating does not necessarily mean a source is totally unbiased, neutral, perfectly reasonable, or credible, just as Left and Right don't necessarily mean extreme, wrong, unreasonable, or not credible. AllSides encourages people to read outlets across the political spectrum.

Learn more about Center ratings
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About NewsNation's Bias Rating

NewsNation is featured on the AllSides Media Bias Chart™.

NewsNation is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Center.

Note: AllSides rates online, written content only, not broadcast content.

What a "Center" Rating Means

Sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating of Center either do not show much predictable media bias, display a balance of articles with left and right biases, or equally balance left and right perspectives.

Center doesn't mean better! A Center media bias rating does not necessarily mean a source is totally unbiased, neutral, perfectly reasonable, or credible, just as Left and Right don't necessarily mean extreme, wrong, unreasonable, or not credible. AllSides encourages people to read outlets across the political spectrum.

Learn more about Center ratings

Bias Reviews

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

NewsNation Rated Center in Nov. 2023 Blind Bias Survey

NewsNation was rated Center (-0.14) in the Nov. 2023 Blind Bias Survey of Americans across the political spectrum. AllSides created a weighted average from -0.14 and .88 (the rating from the June 2023 Blind Survey), to arrive at a new AllSides Media Bias Meter™ rating of 0.37 for NewsNation.

In the Nov. 2023 survey, the normalized average for NewsNation was -0.14 on a scale from -9 to +9, with 0 representing Center. That average is in the Center category.

Overall, 31% of respondents rated the outlet as left of center, 48% rated it in the exact center, and 21% rated it as right of center.

NewsNation Rated Center in June 2023 Blind Bias Survey

NewsNation's bias was rated Center (.88) in the June 2023 Blind Bias Survey

Respondents who rated their own bias as Left, Lean Left, Center and Lean Right rated NewsNation as Center. Respondents who rated their own bias as Right rated NewsNation as Lean Right. On average, Democrats, Independents and Republicans rated NewsNation as Center.

A total of 698 people across the political spectrum took the survey, including 101 respondents with a self-reported Left bias; 163 with a Lean Left bias; 178 with a Center bias; 190 with a Lean Right bias, and 66 with a Right bias.

NewsNation rated Center in Sept. 2022 Small Group Editorial Review

An AllSides September 2022 Small Group Editorial Review returned a bias rating of Center for NewsNation. All panelists observed a mostly balanced story choice that covered topics of interest to both the right and left. However, a reviewer on the left said they saw the outlet as leaning a bit to the right in its story choice

Panelists did not observe the use of spin, slant, or sensationalism in headlines, which were straightforward and factual:

Stories about immigration and the border were labeled “Border Report,” which was seen as a neutral word choice (as opposed to terms that would convey a viewpoint, such as “Immigration Crisis”). A panelist from the center and a panelist from the right noted that some analysis pieces, such as this article on the COVID-19 pandemic (which was seen as a Lean Right viewpoint) and this piece on Hispanic voters were not clearly labeled as analysis.

NewsNation Rated On Border of Center, Lean Left in Aug. 2022 Blind Bias Survey

NewsNation was rated on the border of Center and Lean Left in the Aug. 2022 AllSides Blind Bias Survey. AllSides rated NewsNation as Center at the time. The results triggered a Small Group Editorial Review, in which the team opted to keep NewsNation's rating Center.

On average, respondents who self-reported their own political leanings as Left, Lean Right, and Right perceived NewsNation as Lean Left, while respondents who are Lean Left and Center perceived it as Center.

Democrats and Independents rated NewsNation as Center, on average, though virtually on the border of Lean Left and Center. Republicans rated NewsNation as Lean Left.

A total of 901 people from across the political spectrum – people who identified as Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, or Right – rated the bias of NewsNation. The weighted average was -1.04, which is on the border of Lean Left and Center. The middle 50% of responses lied between -2.09 (Lean Left) and -0.36 (Center) – an interquartile range of 1.73.

During an AllSides Blind Bias Survey, people from all sides of the political spectrum and a diverse array of ages and geographic locations rate the bias of content from a media outlet blindly, meaning all identifying branding information is removed. Sign up for a Blind Bias Survey here.

Feb. 2022 Independent Review Finds NewsNation has Center Bias

AllSides rated NewsNation Center following a Feb. 2022 independent review by AllSides editors.

Overall, we found little evidence that NewsNation's bias pushed more to the left or the right overall. The team found:

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Community Feedback

Feedback does not determine ratings, but may trigger deeper review.

As of March 2024, people have voted on the AllSides Media Bias Rating for NewsNation. On average, those who disagree with our rating think this source has a Center bias.

Confidence Level

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

As of March 2024, AllSides has high confidence in our Center rating for NewsNation. Two or more bias reviews have affirmed this rating or the source is transparent about bias.

Additional Information

Third-Party Allegations of Bias

Note: This section describes third-party accusations and reports of bias. Third-party accusations do not factor into AllSides Media Bias Ratings™.

In March 2021, Variety reported on "conservative bias concerns" at NewsNation. Variety did not attribute the concerns to an on-the-record source, pointing only to staff departures and the fact that Fox News executive Bill Shine is a consultant to NewsNation but has no formal role at the company. Variety pointed to a New York Times article that also asserted there were "staff complaints of a right-wing tilt and concern over the involvement of the former Fox News chief Bill Shine." This was allegedly according to anonymous inside sources: "Six people at the network, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions, said “NewsNation” has increasingly become a venue for right-wing views," New York Times said. The NYT article also says there were "staff complaints of a right-wing tilt and concern over the involvement of the former Fox News chief Bill Shine."

The Variety article cites sources familiar with internal meetings and says Nexstar chairman-CEO Perry Sook "told staffers that the goal from the start was to produce a telecast that reflects centrist views. As such, NewsNation would naturally lean more to the right than other mainstream news outlets because, in Sook’s view, the political perspectives of journalists in most newsrooms lean to the left." 

Variety further stated, "Another source at NewsNation blasted the criticism, arguing that there was no movement from the pledge to offer down-the-middle news headlines outside of shows specifically designed for more opinion and commentary."

About NewsNation

NewsNation was formerly known as Superstation WGN and WGN America. On March 1, 2021, the channel was relaunched from WGN America to NewsNation with expanded programming.

According to a press release, as of Jan. 2021, WGN was reaching 75 million U.S. television households.

NewsNation bills itself as unbiased, describing itself on its website as "...America’s source for unbiased news, where engaged citizens get news that represents the full range of perspectives across the country." During the launch of NewsNation, Sean Compton, Nexstar Inc.’s Networks Division President, said, “Rebranding WGN America as NewsNation underscores the network’s clearly defined mission of delivering fact-based and unbiased news, while making it easier for viewers to find this new informative source for news."

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Articles from NewsNation

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