San Francisco Chronicle

About San Francisco Chronicle's Bias Rating

San Francisco Chronicle is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Left.

What a "Left" Rating Means

Sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating of Left display media bias in ways that strongly align with liberal, progressive, or left-wing thought and/or policy agendas. This is our most liberal rating on the political spectrum.

Details

San Francisco Chronicle has a Left AllSides Media Bias Rating.

May 2022 Independent Review

A May 2022 Independent Review by an AllSides reviewer on the right confirmed the Left rating, though a reviewer on the left argued Lean Left was a better rating for the outlet. The reviewers noted that on the Chronicle's Politics page, there were indicators of a left bias:

• Word choices typically favored on the left, such as "restorative justice programs", "abortion rights", "reproductive healthcare" (to describe abortion), "pro-choice activists" (instead of "pro-abortion," the phrase typically used by conservatives); there was a positive description of pro-choice marchers: "The demonstration drew thousands of people, who were united in their desire to elevate the national conversation around reproductive health care."
• Negative coverage of anti-abortion activists (but no mention of actions by pro-choice activists that had made local San Francisco news in recent weeks): "Antiabortion activists ‘barged’ into UCSF women’s clinic, recorded patients and stalked a doctor,..."
• Negative coverage of people who didn't want the covid vaccine: "S.F. firefighters who refused vaccines fought their firings with misinformation and conspiracy theories..."
• Positive coverage of a "New Deal ballot proposal" 
• Critical coverage of a company that "made millions more in profit than allowed"

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As of April 2024, people have voted on the AllSides Media Bias Rating for San Francisco Chronicle. On average, those who disagree with our rating think this source has a Lean Left bias.

As of April 2024, AllSides has low or initial confidence in our Left rating for San Francisco Chronicle. If we perform more bias reviews and gather consistent data, this confidence level will increase.