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NewsNation

0.20
CenterCenter biasWhat does this mean?

How we determined this 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 NewsNation's Bias Rating
  2. What a "Center" Rating Means
  3. Bias Reviews
  4. Confidence Level
  5. Additional Information

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 August 2026 Editorial Review

NewsNation was rated nearly dead Center (+0.2) in an August 2026 Editorial Review by a panel of expert bias reviewers on the left, center and right. 

Every reviewer on the panel rated NewsNation within the Center category and described the outlet as producing balanced news with diverse story choices. One panelist said there were “enough stories that were of interest to anyone on the left, center and right.” Another reviewer said the outlet was “balanced in both story choice, headline presentation, and sourcing” and added that “headlines consistently avoided sensationalism and used balanced, neutral language that captured the true meat of the story.”

Bias experts found that NewsNation avoids the most common media bias types, such as sensationalism, spin and subjective qualifying adjectives. When media bias types did occur, they were minor, and included word choice bias, story choice bias and viewpoint placement bias, along with some bias by omission where opposing perspectives were omitted. 

One panelist wrote that “many articles aggregated from mainstream outlets favored The Hill and Associated Press though AP’s bias in the aggregated articles viewed did not appear to skew NewsNation’s.” 

NewsNation’s reporting on immigration occasionally had a slight right-leaning bias. Sometimes the outlet used balanced word choice such as “unauthorized immigrant,” but also“illegal immigrant,” which is slightly more right-leaning word choice. 

Overall, NewsNation stories included multiple perspectives and produced enough stories that were of interest to a wide audience. 

Articles reviewed included:

  • GOP holdouts say they will back Blanche’s attorney general nomination after striking deal over fund
    • A Lean Left panelist rated this article Center.
    • Story choice is Center/balanced
  • Families call for accountability in Arizona sober living fraud
    • A Lean Right panelist rated this article Center, calling it an “underreported, unique” story. 
    • Mindreading: “The owners target Native Americans like Moody because they can bill Medicaid up to $8,000 a day.”  a Lean Left panelist said, “We don’t actually know that, and they don’t quote anyone saying that.”
    • Viewpoint Omission/Placement bias: The Lean Left panelist noted there were “lots of quotes from families and victims affected, but only one short quote from a state official at the bottom. There is no indication of how NewsNation tried to contact the state, so we don’t know if they didn’t try or if the state just didn’t respond. Very imbalanced without that notation.”
  • AI's impact on jobs may be shown through customer service impact 
    • No bias detected.
  • ICE surge expands across US, airports as crackdown on migrants grows
    • The Lean Left and Center panelists rated this story Center, while the Lean Right panelist rated it Lean Right.
    • A Lean Left panelist said the story was “impressively straightforward and fact-based on a very touchy subject,” while a Center panelist noted “Good balance: “a move the administration says will help reduce the backlog. Critics argue it removes an important step in the process and raises due process concerns.’”
    • A Lean Right panelist detected a few media bias types:
      • Viewpoint Placement: Gave voice to a Heritage Foundation spokesperson early on in the article with no juxtaposition on the left.
      • Negativity Bias/Information Placement: The graph – “Homan boasted about ICE making a record number of arrests in June, with 43,000 new ICE detentions added in the month alone and even more planned for July. The spike in arrests came in the wake of two fatal shootings involving ICE officers in Houston and Maine in June.” – Highlighting ICE shootings shows a negativity bias toward ICE (Lean Left bias), but placing this at the end of the article could show a Lean Right information placement bias.
  • How US unauthorized immigrant population reached 'new peak' of 15.8M 
    • Several panelists reviewed this story, rating it from right of Center to Lean Right.
      • Story Choice: Issue more likely to be of concern to the right.
      • Balanced Word Choice: Use of the term “unauthorized immigrant” instead of “illegal” or “undocumented” exhibits Center bias.
      • Viewpoint Bias: Critical of White House claims: “The Trump administration has continually blamed former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies for a spike in illegal border crossings and migrant newcomers. However, the surge came from several other factors and did not snowball as quickly as the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies often portray, Julia Gelatt, the associate director of MPI’s U.S. program, told NewsNation.”
  • Michigan officials confirm first 2 deaths in cyclosporiasis outbreak
    • Neutral headline and balanced reporting citing primary sources.

Additional articles reviewed included:

NewsNation Rated Center in May 2025 Blind Bias Survey

In a May 2025 Blind Bias Survey, NewsNation was rated Center (0.32). 

Respondents across all bias categories rated NewsNation as Center on average, except those who self-identified as Right, who rated it Lean Right. Among political affiliations, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all rated NewsNation as Center on average. 

The weighted average of all reviews was calculated, resulting in a final rating of Center (0.21) for NewsNation.

 

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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Confidence Level

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

As of August 2026, 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."

Some have described NewsNation as favoring niche or unconventional topics. In July 2023, Fortune writer Aden Ikram described NewsNation as a "little-known cable TV network" that was "far from mainstream media" and "cashing in" on renewed interest in UFOs. This included an "exclusive TV interview with military whistleblower David Grusch." NewsNation's coverage, Ikram wrote, was "in sharp contrast with traditional media’s patronizing UFO reports that discredit and ridicule witnesses."

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." On X, it describes itself as "America’s source for fact-based, unbiased news for all America." (Retrieved July 2024)

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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Who Owns and Funds NewsNation

NewsNation network is owned by the Nexstar Media Group, Inc., a publicly traded media company.