Little Green Footballs – Bias and Credibility

These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation.  They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports and omit reporting of information that may damage liberal causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Left Bias sources.

• Overall, we rate Little Green Footballs Left Biased based on story selection and editorial points that frequently favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing of information, a clean fact-check record, and use as a resource by IFCN fact-checkers.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEFT
Factual Reporting: HIGH
Country: USA
Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Minimal Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

Founded in 2000, Little Green Footballs (LGF) is an American political blog run by web designer Charles Johnson. In its beginning years, the site had a right-wing orientation and known for its advocacy of the War on Terrorism and the Iraq War, as well its strident criticism of political Islam. The blog moved away from the right around 2009, with Johnson rejecting the far right and began publishing information more favorable to the left.

According to their about page, “For 22 years Little Green Footballs has been a leading source of unique stories and opinion about news, politics, art, culture and music, as well as a host for one of the best commenting communities on the web, wonderfully free of the trolls and haters that plague most comment sections.”

Read our profile on the United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

Little Green footballs are owned by Charles Johnson. Revenue is derived from advertising, subscription fees, and donations.

Analysis / Bias

In review, Little Green Footballs is a blog with a long history that features debunking viral stories and exposing doctored photographs. There are two primary sources of content on the website. Those written by owner Charles Johnson and those written by member bloggers. We will first cover Mr. Johnson’s work. Charles Johnson presents news from a left-leaning perspective. His articles frequently feature loaded emotional wording favorable to the left and derogatory toward the right, especially former President Donald Trump. Below are a few selections:

• Great Segment From Rachel Maddow: White House Struggles to Clean Up After Trump’s Incoherent Spectacle at G7
• A Selection of the Embarrassing Bad Craziness of Trump at the G7
• The GOP’s Gun Violence Talking Points Revealed: Blame the Left, Don’t Talk About White Supremacism

These three sample stories are properly sourced to the Tampa Bay Times, MSNBC, and Tweets.

When not reporting on politics, Johnson frequently covers music news.

A review of other bloggers on the Little Green Footballs’ website reveals a similar leftward tilt in story selection and wording. Below are a few examples:

• Does Anyone Understand the 2020 Race? This Scholar Nailed the Blue Wave (links to Salon)
• Why White Supremacists Love Tucker Carlson (Links to Vox)
• ‘No Blame?’ ABC News Finds 36 Cases Invoking ‘Trump’ in Connection With Violence, Threats, Alleged Assaults. (link to ABC News)

In general, the news information on Little Green Footballs frequently favors the left and denigrates the right through story selection and editorial points.

Failed Fact Checks

• None in the Last 5 years

Overall, we rate Little Green Footballs Left Biased based on story selection and editorial points that frequently favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing of information, a clean fact-check record, and use as a resource by IFCN fact-checkers. (D. Van Zandt 1/22/2017) Updated (03/10/2019)

Source: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/