Hoover Institution – Bias and Credibility

These media sources are slightly to moderately conservative in 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 conservative causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Right-Center sources.

• Overall, we rate Hoover Institution as right-center biased based on economic positions that align with the conservative right, coupled with left-leaning libertarian social stances. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to a failed fact check and other examples of false claims.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: RIGHT-CENTER (4.0)
Factual Reporting: MIXED (5.0)
Country: USA
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Organization/Foundation
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY

History

Founded in 1919, The Hoover Institution is an American public policy think tank and research institution located at Stanford University in California. It began as a library founded in 1919 by Republican and Stanford alumni Herbert Hoover before becoming president of the United States. Hoover is No. 18 (of 90) in the “Top Think Tanks in the United States” The current director is Thomas W. Gilligan.

Read our profile on the United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

The Hoover Institution receives nearly half of its funding from private gifts, primarily from individual contributions, and the other half from its endowment. The organization’s funders include the Taube Family Foundation, the Koret Foundation, the Howard Charitable Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Walton Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and the William E. Simon Foundation. According to the Center for Responsive Politics (open secrets), the Hoover Institution gave 94% of donations to Republican candidates during the 2016 election cycle.

Analysis / Bias

In review, The Hoover Institution publishes research that almost always favors the right such as this: A Progressive Plan That Aids Loan Sharks. Although this is classified as research, a review demonstrates an opinion piece that is not strongly sourced—most articles on this website link to other sources rather than original writing from Hoover. Hoover links articles to various left-leaning sources such as the New York Times, San Jose Mercury News, and The Atlantic. They also link to right-leaning sources such as Fox News, Wall St. Journal, and National Review.

In general, Hoover Institution supports a free market economy and holds Libertarian positions regarding gay marriage and abortion. Although the Hoover Institution sometimes presents a skeptical view of climate change, they also link to articles like this: Doing Nothing About Climate Change The Most Expensive Option.

A recent report by Drop Site News highlights three instances where Hoover has written false information regarding jobs and the minimum wage. They further indicate that Hoover Institution has retracted six stories in total. The same author writes all of these. The three false claims are as follows:

1. Government jobs account for 96.5% of job growth in California over 2.5 years,
2. California lost 410,000 jobs from February 2020-February 2024, and
3. California lost 10,000 jobs in the fast food sector since the minimum wage law was signed in September 2023.

In general, Hoover Institution is usually reasonably accurate. However, the author of the above articles has routinely published false information, resulting in a decrease in factual reporting and credibility.

Failed Fact Checks

• Much of the U.S. population has immunity to the coronavirus due to previous exposure to similar viruses. – False

Overall, we rate Hoover Institution as right-center biased based on economic positions that align with the conservative right, coupled with left-leaning libertarian social stances. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to a failed fact check and other examples of false claims. (7/14/2016) Updated (D. Van Zandt 12/31/2024)

Source: https://www.hoover.org/