LEAST BIASED
These sources have minimal bias and use very few loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes). The reporting is factual and usually sourced. These are the most credible media sources. See all Least Biased Sources.
- Overall, we rate Kialo as least biased due to its structured debate format emphasizing balanced viewpoints and reasoned discourse. It is rated as mostly factual rather than high due to a lack of transparency with funding and the reliance on user-contributed sources, which can vary in credibility.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: LEAST BIASED
Factual Reporting: MOSTLY FACTUAL
Country: United States
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
Kialo was established in 2011 by Errikos Pitsos as a research project to improve public discussions through structured debate. With headquarters in Berlin and New York, Kialo’s primary mission is to create a more thoughtful world by facilitating civil and structured debates.
The platform became publicly accessible in 2017 with the launch of Kialo.com, an argument-mapping tool designed to enhance the quality of online debates. In 2019, Kialo expanded into the educational sector with Kialo-edu.com, intended for educators and students (13 years old and older) to enhance critical thinking and argumentation skills in an academic setting.
Read our profile on the United States government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
Kialo is self-funded, according to a 2018 interview with the Financial Times. Details on its funding as of 2024 remain undisclosed. The platform, including Kialo Edu, is ad-free and free to use, with founder Errikos Pitsos playing a significant role in its development, as evidenced by patents in his name.
Analysis / Bias
Kialo organizes debates starting with a central thesis statement, splitting arguments into supporting (Pro) and opposing (Con) sections. Participants can add their views to either side, and their contributions are ranked by their impact on the thesis statement. The platform’s design encourages constructive participation and filters out irrelevant comments. Using “claims” as debate currency and encouraging counterpoints, Kialo promotes self-reflection and a balanced discussion, considering multiple viewpoints. Kialo aims for reasoned discourse and positions itself as an educational tool for developing critical thinking; the diversity of its user base and represented viewpoints ultimately influences its neutrality. The platform hosts various topics, from historical evaluations to contemporary issues.
For instance, debates on Kialo range from historical assessments of the British Empire, such as “The British Empire did more harm than good to the people it ruled over” to the impact of AI on democracy, such as “Is Artificial Intelligence a threat to democratic governance?”, illustrating the platform’s capacity for nuanced discussions that weigh various perspectives. In these debates, participants are urged to cite credible sources, enhancing the critical evaluation of information. Examples of the cited sources are Al Jazeera, Amnesty USA, the Arms Control Center Business Insider, Brennan Center for Justice, BBC, The Economist, GZERO Media, Wikipedia, a piece from Built In, and data from Google Trends and Twitter’s API. The varying credibility of these sources introduces a mix of factual accuracies into the discussions.
In general, they present balanced viewpoints but sometimes rely on factually mixed sources that can impact the factuality of information.
Failed Fact Checks
- None in the Last 5 years
Overall, we rate Kialo as least biased due to its structured debate format emphasizing balanced viewpoints and reasoned discourse. It is rated as mostly factual rather than high due to a lack of transparency with funding and the reliance on user-contributed sources, which can vary in credibility. (M. Huitsing 02/16/2024)
Source: https://www.kialo.com/
Last Updated on February 16, 2024 by Media Bias Fact Check
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