RIGHT-CENTER BIAS
These media sources are slight 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 Racket News as slightly Right-Center biased due to its adversarial tone, populist framing, and consistent distrust of establishment institutions and mainstream media. While the outlet generally supports its reporting with verifiable evidence and primary documents, it often presents findings in a manner that overstates the implications of its evidence, leading to interpretive or exaggerated conclusions. Therefore, we rate Racket News as Mostly Factual rather than High for factual reporting, reflecting that its claims are largely evidence-based but sometimes framed with greater certainty or significance than the available documentation fully supports.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: RIGHT-CENTER (2.8)
Factual Reporting: MOSTLY FACTUAL (2.6)
Country: USA
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
Racket News is an independent Substack publication founded by journalist Matt Taibbi, a longtime Rolling Stone reporter and author of several political books. Originally launched as “TK News,” the platform rebranded to Racket News and now publishes essays, investigations, interviews, and the America This Week podcast co-hosted with author Walter Kirn. The site’s About page emphasizes Taibbi’s intent to revive the tradition of independent muckraking, inspired by I.F. Stone, with a focus on media criticism, political reporting, and government oversight.
Read our profile on the United States media and government.
Funded by / Ownership
Racket News is wholly owned and operated by Matt Taibbi and declares itself to be “100% subscriber-supported” with no outside investment or advertising revenue. Subscribers pay monthly or annual fees for full access to content, including serialized books such as Hate Inc. and The Business Secrets of Drug Dealing. The site occasionally features paid freelance contributions and multimedia collaborations.
Analysis / Bias
Racket News combines investigative reporting with editorial commentary, placing a strong emphasis on press accountability, government transparency, and free speech. It operates as an anti-establishment, adversarial outlet that critiques both political parties and the traditional press.
Matt Taibbi’s writing often examines systemic failures within government and media institutions. For example, in The Media is Busted, Taibbi argues that legacy outlets like Politico and CNN are “collapsing under the weight of their hypocrisy,” calling for “the end of corporate press dominance.” This piece illustrates his recurring theme that mainstream journalism has become corrupted by political incentives and reliance on government sources.
Racket also frequently challenges intelligence agencies and law enforcement, particularly in the context of past political investigations. In James Comey Was Sure He Was Above The Law, Taibbi frames the former FBI Director’s actions as emblematic of an unaccountable bureaucracy that “criminally investigated first, and looked for reasons later.” The article sympathizes with concerns over institutional overreach but largely reflects Taibbi’s distrust of federal power, a position often shared by libertarians and populist conservatives.
In Brennan, MSNBC Can’t Stop Lying About Trump and Russia, Taibbi scrutinizes media coverage of the Trump–Russia investigation, accusing outlets like The New York Times and MSNBC of perpetuating “falsehoods” about former CIA Director John Brennan. He argues that mainstream outlets misled the public about the origins and conclusions of the Russia probe, portraying the story as “the biggest intelligence fiasco of our time.” This skeptical stance toward intelligence and legacy press aligns him with journalists such as Glenn Greenwald and Bari Weiss, who share a free-speech and anti-censorship orientation rather than a consistent partisan identity.
At the same time, Taibbi maintains left-leaning economic skepticism of corporate power, continuing themes from his Rolling Stone reporting on Wall Street. He opposes state surveillance and corporate monopolization but also denounces progressive “cancel culture” and the “Censorship-Industrial Complex,” a term he used to describe public-private coordination to police misinformation online. His coverage of the Twitter Files positioned him against major tech firms and government agencies, a stance that gained him praise from conservatives but criticism from progressive media.
Podcast discussions, such as in America This Week, often feature cultural commentary and humor targeting figures across the political spectrum. These conversations mix libertarian skepticism of authority with social commentary that occasionally mocks progressive orthodoxy, further supporting a Right-Center but primarily independent bias.
While Taibbi’s tone is political and emotionally charged, Racket often references official documents, Senate reports, and transcripts to support its claims with verifiable evidence. However, the absence of clear labeling between straightforward reporting and opinion, along with a consistent portrayal of “mainstream media” as corrupt or deceitful, indicates a degree of moderate bias.
Some critics argue that Taibbi’s framing of the Twitter Files as evidence of a “censorship-industrial complex” exaggerates coordination among government and tech platforms, but the reporting itself relied on internal company documents provided by Elon Musk. Taibbi has publicly corrected at least one factual error (confusing CISA with CIS) and remains transparent about his editorial stance.
Failed Fact Checks
- No verified third-party failed fact checks were found. Racket News issues corrections within articles when warranted.
Overall, we rate Racket News as slightly Right-Center biased due to its adversarial tone, populist framing, and consistent distrust of establishment institutions and mainstream media. While the outlet generally supports its reporting with verifiable evidence and primary documents, it often presents findings in a manner that overstates the implications of its evidence, leading to interpretive or exaggerated conclusions. Therefore, we rate Racket News as Mostly Factual rather than High for factual reporting, reflecting that its claims are largely evidence-based but sometimes framed with greater certainty or significance than the available documentation fully supports. (D. Van Zandt 10/12/2025)
Source: https://www.racket.news/
Last Updated on October 12, 2025 by Media Bias Fact Check
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