Roll Call – Bias and Credibility

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 Roll Call Least Biased based on straightforward, factually based news reporting. We also rate them Very-High for factual reporting due to strong sourcing and a clean fact check record.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEAST BIASED
Factual Reporting: VERY HIGH
Country: USA
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

Founded in 1955, Roll Call is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill and political coverage of congressional elections across the country. According to their about page, “As the leading provider of congressional news, legislative tracking and advocacy services, CQ Roll Call is the only media company that connects policy professionals and opinion leaders with the information and tools they need to understand and influence Congress.”

In 2009, Roll Call merged with CQ (Congressional Quarterly) and became known as CQ Roll Call.

The current editor is Ed Timms.

Read our profile on the United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

In 2018, Roll Call was purchased by FiscalNote, a privately held software, data, and media company headquartered in Washington, D.C. Revenue is generated through advertising.

Analysis / Bias

Roll Call is a solid “just the facts” news source featuring a writing staff with an impressive set of credentials in political journalism. The articles are well-sourced, and the information is presented “as is” with very minimal bias, such as this Trump to skip Poland trip and monitor Hurricane Dorian as it heads toward Florida. While looking through the articles, one, in particular, caught my attention. The article addressed the much-hyped, on both sides, possibility of using National Guard troops to assist ICE in finding and deporting illegal immigrants. There is no real substance to the claim at this point, which came from an early draft of a “what if” style memo that never reached any official level. I’ve read numerous articles on the issue, and Roll Call’s article was the fairest and least biased I have seen.

The only “negative” I found was in the editorial content. For a site that is so balanced in other areas, the editorials reveal a slight left bias. While I understand that op-ed pages are just opinions, I wouldn’t mind seeing some opposing views. Still, if you stick with the articles, I have to say that Roll Call is the best site I’ve found in quite some time for fair, factual, and informative journalism.

Failed Fact Checks

• None in the Last 5 years

Overall, we rate Roll Call Least Biased based on straightforward, factually based news reporting. We also rate them Very-High for factual reporting due to strong sourcing and a clean fact check record. (D. Kelley 2/18/2017) Updated (09/28/2023)

Source: https://www.rollcall.com