LEFT-CENTER BIAS
These media sources have a slight to moderate progressive/liberal bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes) to favor progressive/liberal causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information, but may require further investigation. See all Left-Center sources.
- Overall, we rate Information Is Beautiful as Left-Center biased based on topic selection that moderately favors the left. We also rate them as Mostly Factual rather than High due to the occasional use of sources that are rated as factually mixed.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MOSTLY FACTUAL
Country: United Kingdom
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
Launched in 2008, Information is Beautiful is a visual blog founded by David McCandless, a London-based data journalist and information designer. It focuses on distilling data, information, and knowledge into visualizations, infographics, and diagrams in an accessible and aesthetically pleasing way. McCandless, who previously worked for publications such as The Guardian and Wired.
Read our profile on UK media and government.
Funded by / Ownership
Information is Beautiful is a for-profit design company founded by David McCandless. The site does not explicitly detail its funding sources or ownership structure beyond this information. However, there is a store on the website that sells art and charts.
Analysis / Bias
Information is Beautiful is recognized for its presentation of complex data in an aesthetically pleasing manner, covering a diverse range of topics such as arts, entertainment, culture, current affairs, politics, science, technology, and health. The platform prioritizes transparency and accessibility regarding data sources, facilitating user verification and further data exploration.
For instance, the diagram ” Over Two-Thirds of Refugees in Germany Are in Work after Five Years” sheds light on Germany’s approach to integrating a significant number of asylum seekers, with an emphasis on unity and labor. At the end of the article, Information is Beautiful offers additional resources related to this topic, including access to the underlying data and sources and options to download the graphic. Clicking on ‘View the data’ leads to a spreadsheet, while ‘See the source’ directs to the original data source, in this case, dw.com.
Another example is a collection of articles and graphics related to the Ukraine-Russia war. This collection is a curated set of resources offering various perspectives and data visualizations on the conflict. Like the previous diagram, the reader can view the article’s datasets on topics like major natural gas and oil producers, Russian gas and oil imports, dependency levels on Russian energy, and comparisons of Ukrainian cities. Sources vary from mixed (like Wikipedia) and unknown sources like warsawinstitute.org to credible (BP,.opec.org, Statista, oec.world, and NY Times).
Finally, a chart titled “Left vs. Right (US)” from Information is Beautiful visualizes the United States’s political spectrum through a flower-like diagram. It uses emotionally loaded terms such as ‘fairness’ and ‘aggression to depict ‘votes for fairness’ for the left and ‘votes for aggression’ for the right. Labeling one political side as voting for ‘fairness’ and the other for ‘aggression’ could be seen as biased because it assigns inherently positive and negative characteristics to the respective sides. This labeling can influence the viewer’s perception of the political ideologies.
In general, based on the analysis of the content and sources used by Information is Beautiful, we rate them as left-leaning due to the subjective presentation of certain topics, which may lean towards a liberal perspective.
Failed Fact Checks
- None in the Last 5 years
Overall, we rate Information Is Beautiful as Left-Center biased based on topic selection that moderately favors the left. We also rate them as Mostly Factual rather than High due to the occasional use of sources that are rated as factually mixed. (M. Huitsing 01/05/2024)
Source: informationisbeautiful.net
Last Updated on January 5, 2024 by Media Bias Fact Check
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Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources