PolitiFact

AllSides Media Bias Rating™: Lean Left
8426/6148
The bias meter value for PolitiFact is -2.00. -6 is the furthest "Left" value and 6 is the furthest "Right" value.
-2.00
Lean Left What does this mean?

How we determined this rating:

  • Independent Review
  • Editorial Review: Jun 2021
  • Community Feedback:   ratings
  • 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
PolitiFact
Bias Rating Lean Left
Type Fact Check
Region National
Owner Poynter Institute
Established 2007
Website politifact.com
Twitter @politifact
Facebook politifact
Wikipedia PolitiFact
What a Lean Left Bias Rating Means

The source displays media bias in ways that moderately align with liberal, progressive, or left-wing thought and/or policy agendas.

Learn more about Lean Left ratings
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About PolitiFact's Bias Rating

PolitiFact is a fact check source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Lean Left.

Fact checking sites display bias in what stories they choose to fact check, as well as how they interpret information. Often, fact check outlets will interpret information for the reader, drawing a conclusion rather than just giving the facts and allowing the reader to decide the meaning for themselves.

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.

Independent Reviews Find Lean Left Bias: 2020 & 2021

Numerous independent reviews by AllSides found that Politifact's bias is Lean Left.

In July 2021, PolitiFact issued a "fact check" with the headline "Biden, Harris distrusted Trump with COVID-19 vaccines, not the vaccines themselves." The piece argued that videos of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris expressing skepticism/hesitancy about a COVID-19 vaccine, should it be developed under Trump, did not constitute general vaccine hesitancy but rather, distrust of Trump. This "fact check" constitutes an interpretation of Biden and Harris' remarks, not a fact check. A fact check would have simply included the quotes from Biden and Harris, and allowed readers to interpret the meaning for themselves.

In a widely-criticized piece published April 2016, Politifact said it is false to describe a person by their biological sex if that person identifies with another sex. Assessing a presidential campaign ad by Ted Cruz, Politifact wrote that “it’s not accurate to say that transgender women are men.” Following criticism, the website issued an editor's note and then changed the article to state, "“it’s not entirely accurate for Cruz to define a transgender woman as ‘a grown man pretending to be a woman.’”

Coronavirus Lab Leak Theory

On May 17, 2021, amid calls for a deeper investigation of the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic started with a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China, Politifact removed a fact check from its database in which it had referred to the hypothesis as a "debunked conspiracy theory."

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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 PolitiFact. On average, those who disagree with our rating think this source has a Lean Left bias.

Confidence Level

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

As of March 2024, AllSides has low or initial confidence in our Lean left rating for PolitiFact. If we perform more bias reviews and gather consistent data, this confidence level will increase.

Additional Information

PolitiFact is a fact-checking website focused on American politics. It is owned by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. PolitiFact's website describes its mission to "give citizens the information they need to govern themselves in a democracy." PolitiFact's "Truth-O-Meter" labels claims as "True, Mostly True, Half True, Mostly False, False" or "Pants on Fire." "PolitiFact.com is a project operated by the Tampa Bay Times, in which reporters and editors from the Times and affiliated media outlets "fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups," according to its Wikipedia page.

Third-Party Accusations of Bias

In July 2018, 18% of Politifact's "fact" checks were actually checks of opinions, reports Investor's Business Daily, citing RealClearPolitics' Fact Check Review (a site that fact checks fact checkers).

A Capital Research Center piece about "Dishonest Fact Checkers" claims, "A Media Research Center analysis in June found that Trump received the “False”/“Mostly False”/ “Pants on Fire” label from PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter 77 percent of the time. Clinton received just “False”/“Mostly False” for 26 percent of her statements (Investors Business Daily, June 30, 2016)." AllSides has not independently examined Politifact's Truth-O-Meter labels.

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PolitiFact Ownership and Funding

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

Owner: Poynter Institute

Articles from PolitiFact

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