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Media Ownership & Bias

Unbiased media, unbiased news doesn't exist.

When thinking about different information sources, it is important to consider who owns what media. One facet of this issue is what corporate or private ownership a certain news or media outlet may have.

Studies show that consuming partisan news tends to influence viewers' opinions on different issues, often reinforcing confirmation bias, that is, confirming preconceived opinions on different topics. Partisan news, especially that which is right-leaning, can "polarize consumers in their sociopolitical positions, sharpen political divides, and shape public policy (Earle & Hodson, 2022).

In the past, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations placed limits on the number of broadcast news outlets (TV or radio) a single entity could own. Lobbyist groups backed by corporate media conglomerates have lobbied Congress to support deregulation efforts, leading to significant changes in the media landscape (Telecommunications Act of 1996).

Local TV News & Corporate Ownership

Ownership of local news affiliates continues to be an important and controversial topic. While most Americans assume that their local news affiliate is reliable, some corporately owned networks require their news teams to air specific segments, feature specific partisan guests, and otherwise toe a party line. See the video above from PBS News Hour to learn more about this issue.

What about the Fairness Doctrine?

The Fairness Doctrine was a Federal Communications (FCC) policy established in 1949 and required American news broadcasters, namely ABC, CBS, and NBC, to present multiple viewpoints on controversial issues, in the interest of fairness and creating an informed American public. Because there were so few news broadcasters, this governmental oversight was intended to help prevent one-sided programming. As the number of television channels and prevalence of paid cable subscriptions increased, while other deregulation efforts were in full swing, lobbyists pushed the FCC to reevaluate whether the Doctrine interfered with First Amendment Free Speech rights, and repealed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987.

There have been multiple calls to reinstate or reimagine the Fairness Doctrine, especially in response to the proliferation of "fake news," a term originally used to describe types of mis- and disinformation.

For more information about the Fairness Doctrine, check out these resources:

Fairness Doctrine Topic Guide - Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Fairness Doctrine Topic Overview - Gale Encyclopedia of American Law
Media Bias Topic Overview - Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection

Media Bias Charts

Many organizations evaluate Media Bias on different criteria. View these charts' methodology and determine if you find their assessments rigorous, accurate, and current. Since media ownership, content, and coverage change constantly, we can anticipate some fluctuation in these assessments overtime.

Ad Fontes Media employs over 50 analysts from a wide political spectrum to rate media. The full version of the chart is interactive, updated regularly, and allows users to select a number of sources to compare.

Methodology for ratings of factuality and bias are available in both text and in two videos: a five minute version and a 30 minute deep dive.

 

A 2025 version of the Media Bias Chart from Ad Fontes Media, linking to the interactive version of the Chart.

 

Criticism & Responses to Criticism of the Media Bias Chart

AllSides also provides an interactive Media Bias Chart, but does not consider accuracy or reliability of claims. Instead, AllSides Media Bias Chart is  an interactive chart that shows where written, political, online content from 1400 US news outlets fall on a scale of left, center, or right. AllSides also tracks shifts over time of a particular publication's political leaning on specific topics.

This 2025 version of the AllSides Media Bias Chart links to the interactive version, as well as other AllSides "checkers.

 

Criticism & Responses to Criticism of AllSides Media Bias Chart

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