Tampa Bay Times – Bias and Credibility

These media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias.  They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appealing to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes.  These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Left-Center sources.

• Overall, we rate The Tampa Bay Times Left-Center biased based on editorial positions that mostly favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing of information and a clean fact check record.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: HIGH
Country: USA
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

Founded in 1884, The Tampa Bay Times, previously named the St. Petersburg Times through 2011, is an American broadsheet newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida. The paper has won the Pulitzer Prize 12 times in its history.

In 2007, the then-St. Petersburg Times launched IFCN fact-checker Politifact, which also won a Pulitzer for fact-checking. In 2018, Politifact was acquired by Poynter Institute.

Read our profile on the United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

The Tampa Bay Times is published by the Times Publishing Company, owned by The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a nonprofit journalism school directly adjacent to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus. Poynter is funded by many donors, including The Charles Koch Foundation on the Right and Open Societies Foundation on the Left. The newspaper generates revenue through advertising and subscription fees.

Analysis / Bias

The Tampa Bay Times publishes original news and investigative reporting covering the Tampa Bay and Florida region. National and International news is republished through the Associated Press. Original local and state news is delivered with minimal bias in wording and story selection: Motorcyclist hospitalized, lanes closed after accident on U.S. 19 in Pinellas Park. When covering political news, they often report with neutral wording: Ron DeSantis endorses Florida bills allowing college athletes to make money.

Editorially, The Tampa Bay Times typically endorses Democratic candidates. For example, they have endorsed the Democratic Presidential Candidate every time since 1980. Further, in local elections, such as in 2018, they endorsed all Democratic candidates. A review of the Opinion section also reveals a left-leaning bias with most editorials favorable to liberal policies such as this: Two steps up, one step back on Florida voting rights | Editorial. The Tampa Bay Times generally reports news factually and with minimal bias; however, editorially, they lean moderately left.

Failed Fact Checks

• None in the Last 5 years

Overall, we rate The Tampa Bay Times Left-Center biased based on editorial positions that mostly favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing of information and a clean fact check record. (D. Van Zandt 5/18/2016) Updated (12/21/2022)

Source: https://www.tampabay.com