Daily Source Bias Check: Forbes

History

Launched in 1917, Forbes is a bi-weekly American financial and business magazine. Forbes features articles on the Billionaires, Innovation, Leadership, Money, Consumer, and Industry topics. They also annually publish a list of the richest people in America, as well as lists that contain a variety of different categories, ranging from the best colleges to The World’s Most Powerful People. Its headquarters is located in Jersey City, NJ-USA.

Scottish immigrant and financial journalist B.C. Forbes and his partner Walter Drey founded the magazine in 1917.  B.C. Forbes remained editor-in-chief until his death in 1954. After his death, his son Malcolm Stevenson Forbes became the publisher until his death in 1990.  Currently, the Forbes chair and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes, and its CEO is Mike Federle. The vice-chairman and strategic adviser is Michael Perlis.

Read our profile on United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

In 2014, the Hong Kong-based investor group called Integrated Whale Media Investments (IWM) purchased a majority stake in Forbes Media.  The Forbes business model consists of a paid contributor network making money per article based on traffic benchmarks. Here are the details of how the model works by Forbes magazine editor Randall Lane, “Why Forbes Is Investing Big Money In Its Contributor Network.” Forbes also generates revenue through subscriptions and advertising.

Analysis / Bias

In review, Forbes’ Coverage of China has been criticized due to Chinese ownership, with the Washington Post reporting that it “raises questions about their editorial independence”. Forbes publishes controversial articles such as a cover story by Dinesh D’Souza, which have been criticized by Columbia Journalism Review: “Forbes’ Shameful Piece on Obama as the “Other”  and another article was written by editor-in-chief Steve Forbes, that compares former President Obama to Lenin. Forbes also publishes news articles with minimally loaded words such as this: “Google CEO Sundar Pichai Answered Congressional Questions On China, Privacy, Political Bias And More”, and “ U.S. Arresting Huawei CFO Creates Huge Uncertainty For The Markets And Trade Talks.” They also source to credible media outlets such as judiciary.house.gov, financialpost.com, and Politico.

Politically, Forbes presents a reasonable balance through their contributors, however, when looking at articles pertaining to Trump there are more in favor of his policies than against.

A factual search reveals that Forbes has produced a misleading claim according to an IFCN fact-checker. Although Forbes is usually evidence-based when it comes to science, they do not always support the consensus when it comes to climate change. For example, they have employed James Taylor as a columnist who writes anti-climate science propaganda and has connections to the questionable Heartland Institute and Exxon-Mobil. They have also published articles by Roy Spencer, who has a long track record of human-influenced climate change denial. Spencer has also been a speaker for the Heartland Institute and has connections to the fossil fuel industry. Lastly, Forbes has published several articles that are rated Very Low for Science Credibility by IFCN fact checker Climate Feedback.

Failed Fact Checks

• President Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – False

Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources