Vox

About Vox's Bias Rating

Vox is featured on the AllSides Media Bias Chart™.

Vox 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.

• Vox Rated Left in Aug. 2023 Blind Bias Survey
• Vox Rated Left in Apr. 2022 Independent Review
• Vox Rated Left in Sept. 2018 Editorial Review

Vox Rated Left in Aug. 2023 Blind Bias Survey

Vox was rated Left (-3.49) on average in the Aug. 2023 Blind Bias Survey, which had 1,181 participants across the political spectrum. This confirmed AllSides' current rating for the source.

Respondents across all bias groups rated Vox as Left on average, with the exception of those who rated their own bias as Lean Left or who identified as Democrats; these groups on average rated Vox as Lean Left.

Vox Rated Left in Apr. 2022 Independent Review

In April 2022, a member of the AllSides team conducted an independent review of Vox's bias and confirmed the Left bias rating.

The reviewer noted that Vox's content often argued in favor of more government spending and more regulations on corporate power. Vox's coverage rarely framed stories the way conservatives would. Vox always argued in favor of LGBTQ rights and often criticized laws pushed by social conservatives. 

The reviewer also noted that Vox covered a wide range of cultural, scientific and policy issues despite publishing relatively few articles each day. 

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Vox Rated Left in Sept. 2018 Editorial Review

In Sept. 2018, the AllSides team conducted an extensive Editorial Review and decided to shift Vox from a Lean Left to a Left media bias rating.

The AllSides team found that Vox consistently wrote favorably about left-leaning policies and never included a right-leaning perspective. Articles on Vox.com tied President Trump to fascism, and its "Explainers" section almost never included right-leaning opinions or viewpoints. Vox's Explainers provided only one side of an issue, making it seem as if the information provided is all readers need to know, when in reality, right-leaning individuals would likely include other facts or make different points about the topic, amounting to bias by omission. This prevented readers from getting a holistic understanding of the highlighted issues.

The AllSides team noted that Vox often framed news and issues as if the left perspective were the only perspective, and its hard news articles included commentary that was subjective in nature. Vox often blurred the line between news and editorial. One AllSides team member noted Vox "seems like advocacy outlet for the Democratic Party, showing all the "news" you'd like to hear as a Democrat."

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

Prior to Sept. 2018, AllSides rated Vox media bias as Lean Left. A large majority (about 3,700 community members) disagreed with AllSides' media bias rating of Lean Left for Vox. As of April 2017, the number of those who disagreed with Vox's Lean Left media bias rating had grown to 4,362. However, among those who disagreed and rated the source on their own, their answers averaged to a Lean Left rating.

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

Additional Information

Vox, officially Vox.com, was founded in 2014 by Ezra Klein (Left bias), a columnist from the Washington Post (Lean Left bias), along with Melissa Bell and Matthew Yglesias (Lean Left bias). Run by the digital media company Vox Media, Vox.com currently has eight editorial brands including the sports website SB Nation and the technology news website The Verge.

In founding Vox, Klein said he hoped to “improve the technology of news” and build an online platform better equipped for making news understandable. Vox.com, therefore, aims to “explain the news” rather than simply report it.

Third-Party Accusations of Bias

Some conservatives have argued that Vox's coverage leaves out opposing viewpoints and differing perspectives. For example, the Washington Times (Lean Right bias) and conservative media watchdog groups have heavily criticized Vox.com’s perceived liberal bias. Additionally, The Week (Center bias) and The Federalist (Right bias) framed the website as having a progressive worldview. Vox's coverage of then-candidate Donald Trump during and after the 2016 election also garnered criticism from conservatives.

According to a study by The Economist, which looked at whether news outlets used words more often associated with Democrats and Republicans and assigned those outlets an ideological score, Vox had a Democratic leaning of around 7 Democrat-leaning phrases per 10,000 from 2017-2022.

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Owner: Vox Media

Vox is owned by Vox Media, which was founded in 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett. As of 2022, Vox Media owns several other media properties including New York Magazine (Left bias), The Verge (Lean Left bias), Polygon (Not Rated), NowThis (Not Rated) and SB Nation (Not Rated). 

In August 2015, NBC Universal made a $200 million equity investment in Vox Media. Comcast owns NBC Universal. Brian L. Roberts is the chairman, president, and CEO of Comcast. Comcast is publicly traded.

In August 2022 Vox received a grant of $200,000 from Sam Bankman-Fried's foundation for a project called Future Perfect — “if and when a restitution fund is created.” Since SBF was arrested and charged with fraud, Vox said they intended to return nearly all $200,000. They say they already spent $14,000 on a reporting project. Spending money linked to SBF has led to accusations of bias from some who say they have not reported on SBF enough. 

Financing and ownership information last updated January 4, 2023. If you think this information is out of date or needs to be updated, please contact us.