QUESTIONABLE SOURCE
A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, a complete lack of transparency, and/or is fake news. Fake News is the deliberate attempt to publish hoaxes and/or disinformation for profit or influence (Learn More). Sources listed in the Questionable Category may be untrustworthy and should be fact-checked per article. Please note sources on this list are not considered fake news unless specifically written in the reasoning section for that source. See all Questionable sources.
- Overall, we rate the Grunge Questionable due to lack of sourcing, sensational headlines, and with minimal bias due to the desire to induce clicks. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting for the same reasons.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: USA
Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY
History
Grunge.com is a website that reports on weird and strange news. The primary goal is to produce clicks through the website, which is probably the goal of every website. According to their about page, “The world is pretty weird…in fact, it’s a whole lot weirder than you think. If you haven’t learned something new today, you’re missing out. Grunge is the place to immerse yourself in weird news, fun facts, and cool tidbits on history, entertainment, science, and plenty more.”
The website discloses authors’ names and lists short bios but does not indicate who the editor is.
Read our profile on the United States government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
Grunge is owned by ZergNet, which is a contextual advertising company. ZergNet is featured at the bottom of the website content, clearly labeled as “From Around The Web.” It works like this. A person sees the ad, clicks on it, and is directed to ZergNet, who then re-directs you to their source, which displays advertising for revenue. Long story short, ZergNet gets the initial traffic and then filters to other websites they own.
Analysis / Bias
In review, the Grunge is a clickbait news website that derives traffic through sensational or weird content. For example, in this story, PEOPLE WHO KNEW A PANDEMIC WAS COMING BEFORE IT HAPPENED. Obviously, nobody knew this virus was coming, but the headline is intriguing and hence derives clicks. Some stories endorse pseudoscience, such as this SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN SIDE EFFECTS A MAN GETS SHAVING THEIR HEAD. This story is minimally sourced to outside links. In general, Grunge.com is a clickbait website that does not source properly.
Failed Fact Checks
- None found.
Overall, we rate the Grunge Questionable due to lack of sourcing, sensational headlines, and with minimal bias due to the desire to induce clicks. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting for the same reasons. (D. Van Zandt 4/1/2020) Updated (07/31/2022)
Source: https://www.grunge.com/
Last Updated on May 24, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
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