These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation.  They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports, and omit information that may damage liberal causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Left Bias sources.

• Overall, we rate Left Foot Forward Left biased based on editorial positions that favor the progressive left. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to a lack of hyperlinked sourcing and a failed fact check.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: United Kingdom
Press Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Minimal Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY

History

Launched in 2009 by Will Straw, Left Foot Forward (LFF) is a liberal/progressive political blog in the UK. It compares to sister blogs ThinkProgress in the United States and Chifley in Australia. According to their about page, “We’re here to shine a light on the right, to be a space for open debate among progressives, and to act as an evidence-based balance to the right-wing press.” LFF is edited by Josiah Mortimer and Basit Mahmood

Read our profile on UK media and government.

Funded by / Ownership

They are transparent, stating Left Foot Forward is “funded by grassroots reader support, partnerships, and advertising. Before 2018, LFF was funded largely through our membership of media cooperative Political Pixel, which was funded largely by trade unions. We are committed to transparency and publish details of any donors who contribute more than £5,000 in any calendar year. In 2020, we received donations above £5,000 from two sources, Betterworld Ltd, which gave a total of £10,000, and the Unite union, which gave £6,000. We also received £16,770 with the closure of Political Pixel.”

Analysis / Bias

Left Foot Forward provides original news reporting that focuses on left-leaning principles such as social justice and equity. Articles and headlines often feature-loaded emotional wording such as this Alistair Carmichael MP: Plans for voter ID are a ‘dagger at the heart of our democracy’. When it comes to sourcing, they do not rely on hyperlinks, which is strange given they are an online publication.

Editorially, all stories favor the left and progressive perspectives. For example, they feature a weekly post called the “Radical Roundup” that focuses on stories the media missed, such as this Radical Roundup: 10 stories that have got buried – Week 3, May 2021. The subheading for these publications is “Our roundup of the progressive news the media missed.” In general, Left Foot Forward publishes reasonably factual news that appeals to the progressive left.

Failed Fact Checks

• NHS staff do 11 hours a week unpaid overtime on average. – Incorrect

Overall, we rate Left Foot Forward Left biased based on editorial positions that favor the progressive left. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to a lack of hyperlinked sourcing and a failed fact check. (D. Van Zandt 5/13/2016) Updated (02/24/2023)

Source: https://leftfootforward.org/