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 very untrustworthy and should be fact-checked on a per-article basis. 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.
- We rate Newsmax Right Biased and Questionable based on the promotion of conspiracy theories and pseudoscience as well as numerous failed fact checks.
Detailed Report
Questionable Reasoning: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, Propaganda, Fake News, Failed Fact Checks
Bias Rating: RIGHT
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: USA (45/180 Press Freedom)
Media Type: TV Station
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY
History
Newsmax is an American conservative biased news and opinion website founded by Christopher Ruddy in 1998 and based in West Palm Beach, Florida. Christopher Ruddy is the president and CEO of Newsmax Media. According to an Atlantic article, Ruddy is also a close friend of Donald Trump. The website is divided into four main sections: Newsmax, Newsmax Health, Newsmax Finance, and Newsmax World, divided into various subsections. Newsmax Media also operates a print magazine called Newsmax and the cable news channel Newsmax TV.
On 4/30/2021, Newsmax apologized to Dominion Voting Systems for claims that they manipulated voting machines and counts to thwart the re-election of President Donald Trump. The statement reads, “Newsmax has found no evidence that Dr. Coomer interfered with Dominion voting machines or voting software in any way, nor that Dr. Coomer ever claimed to have done so,” it said in a statement. “Nor has Newsmax found any evidence that Dr. Coomer ever participated in any conversation with members of ‘Antifa,’ nor that he was directly involved with any partisan political organization.”
Through this apology, Dominion Voting Systems dropped the defamation lawsuit against Newsmax.
Read our profile on the United States government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
Newsmax is owned by Christopher Ruddy, who is the CEO of Newsmax Media. Newsmax is funded through advertising and via a paid subscription to their platinum plan, allowing more access to content.
Analysis / Bias
Newsmax has a category on their sidebar called Around the Web, which is deceptive advertising. It looks like news links and leads to fake pseudo-science information and products. For example: “Suffer with Low Energy, Weight Gain & Fatigue” leads to a new website promoting products. In another category called Specials, they publish news with sensational headlines resulting in headlines such as these: “Nobel Prize-Winning Discovery Makes Your Cells Nearly “Immortal” SPECIAL: New way to grow biologically younger,“ which again leads to an advertisement.
When reporting real news, Newsmax uses minimally loaded words in their headlines and articles such as “NYT: Growing Puerto Rican Population Could Offset GOP Cubans” and moderately loaded: “FEMA’s Long: No Time For San Juan Mayor’s ‘Political Noise.’ Newsmax also aggregates news stories from credible sources such as Reuters and the AP. Newsmax holds a strong right editorial bias. The majority of editorials favor conservatives, such as “Could Google Lose the Left?” which first appeared in the right biased Conservative Review.
Newsmax does not always align with experts’ consensus in the given field when it comes to science. For example, they often promote “no global warming,” which is simply untrue. Further, they have promoted misinformation regarding vaccines’ safety, chemtrails, CoronaVirus conspiracies, and unproven 2020 election fraud disinformation. In general, Newsmax is not a credible source that holds a strong right-leaning editorial bias.
Failed Fact Checks
- Does President Barack Obama support taxing motorists based on the number of miles they drive? – False
- World Health Organization (WHO) has rescinded its advice which urges isolation for COVID-19 patients and social distancing in public. – False
- Government Fast-Tracked $29 Million to Charleston – Misleading
- Hillary Clinton refused to meet with a contingent of Gold Star mothers. – False
- The Obama administration provided a $3.7 million grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. – Mostly False
- Will a COVID-19 vaccine alter your DNA? – False
- “He basically controls global health policy. What’s the plan? Using vaccines to track people.” – False
- As an example of voter fraud, “we have literally 9,000 people who voted in this election (in Nevada) who don’t live in Nevada.” – Pants on Fire
- Says Joe Biden is on video “admitting to” election fraud in a “confession.” – False
We rate Newsmax Right Biased and Questionable based on the promotion of conspiracy theories and pseudoscience as well as numerous failed fact checks. (M. Huitsing 10/8/2017) Updated (05/01/2021)
Source: https://www.newsmax.com/
Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources