LEFT-CENTER BIAS
These media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Left-Center sources.
- Overall, we rate Süddeutsche Zeitung as Left-Center due to consistent center-left framing and story selection. Its factual reporting is High based on routine use of credible sources and major investigations; the August 2025 Gaza images piece reflects a wording/framing issue, not fabrication, so ratings remain unchanged.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER (-3.4)
Factual Reporting: HIGH (1.8)
Country: Germany
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
The Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) is a national German daily founded in 1945 and based in Munich. Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) covers a wide range of news from politics, sports, and business to tech and science. It is divided into different sections, including Politics, Culture, Economy, and Sports.
Süddeutsche Zeitung is known for its sizeable physical paper format, long and detailed articles, and investigative journalism (known for the Panama Papers, among other stories). According to the editorial statute, although it does not specify the newspaper’s political line in detail, the Süddeutsche Zeitung states that it strives for “free, democratic forms of society based on liberal and social principles.”
Read our profile on Germany’s media and government
Funded by / Ownership
Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) is owned by Südwestdeutsche Medien Holding SWMH. Südwestdeutsche Medien Holding’s main shareholders are Medien Union and the Württemberg publishers group. The Friedmann family of publishers holds the remaining shares. Revenue is derived through advertising and subscription fees.
Analysis / Bias
MBFC currently rates SZ Left-Center with High factual reporting (last reviewed October 16, 2023). Our review still supports a left-of-center editorial lean, visible in frequent critical coverage of the AfD and arguments for robust democratic counter-measures (e.g., “The AfD is ‘certainly right-wing extremist’ – what are the consequences now?”, May 2, 2025; “The AfD will portray itself as a victim. But a ban against it is necessary and right”, September 30, 2024).
These examples illustrate story selection and commentary that often align with center-left positions on the rule of law and anti-extremism.
The Gaza staging controversy: On August 3, 2025, Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) published “War and the media: How real are the images from Gaza?”, which affirms real hunger but suggests that some photos are “not fakes” yet staged. Bild then amplified this framing on August 5. Independent reviews—CORRECTIV (August 8) and Snopes (August 12)—authenticated the key imagery and reinforced that severe hunger is documented, so the “staging” insinuation lacks evidentiary weight and risks diluting verified humanitarian evidence. Because independent fact-checkers verified the images and the underlying conditions, we treat this as a framing/weighting issue rather than a factual failure; we retain SZ’s factual rating while noting elevated risk in Biased Wording/Headlines.
Failed Fact Checks
- MBFC’s page shows no failed fact checks in the last 5 years (as of its 2023 update). The 2025 Gaza debate prompted counter-analysis from Snopes and CORRECTIV, but those articles primarily dispute the interpretation and downstream claims rather than document a concrete, false factual assertion by SZ; we therefore do not log this as a failed fact check for SZ at this time.
Overall, we rate Süddeutsche Zeitung as Left-Center due to consistent center-left framing and story selection. Its factual reporting is High based on routine use of credible sources and major investigations; the August 2025 Gaza images piece reflects a wording/framing issue, not fabrication, so ratings remain unchanged. (M. Huitsing 12/31/2022) Updated (08/31/2025)
Source: sueddeutsche.de
Last Updated on August 31, 2025 by Media Bias Fact Check
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Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources