The Guardian – Bias and Credibility

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 The Guardian as Left-Center biased based on its story selection, which moderately favors the left. We also now rate them High for factual reporting due to minimal failed fact checks in the last five years.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER (-3.6)
Factual Reporting: HIGH (1.8)
Country: United Kingdom
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

Launched in 1821, The Guardian is a British daily newspaper published in London, UK. Its original name is The Manchester Guardian, and cotton merchant John Edward Taylor founded it. Taylor’s nephew Charles Prestwich Scott (CP Scott) was the first editor and later became the paper owner (1846 –1932). He was also a Liberal Member of Parliament. After CP Scott, his son John Russell Scott became the Manchester Guardian’s manager and founder of the Scott Trust. The Manchester Guardian was renamed the Guardian in 1959. In 1993 the Guardian Media Group acquired the Observer.

The Guardian U.S. was launched in 2011 in New York. They also have an Australia Edition (Launched in 2013, digital edition) and an International edition. The paper focuses on politics, policy, business, and international relations. Their coverage includes News and Opinion, Sports, Culture, Lifestyle, Podcasts, and more.

You can view the Guardian U.S. editorial team here.

Read our country and media profile.

Funded by / Ownership

The Guardian and its companion publication, the Sunday newspaper The Observer, are owned by Guardian Media Group plc (GMG). Scott Trust Limited was created in 1936 to ensure the editorial independence of the publications and owns Guardian Media Group plc (GMG). The Guardian states that “The Scott Trust is the sole shareholder in Guardian Media Group, and its profits are reinvested in journalism and do not benefit a proprietor or shareholders.” Donations and advertising fund the Guardian.

The Guardian switched to a tabloid print format in 2018 to cut costs. According to The New York Times, The Guardian “refused to set up a paywall — the preferred strategy of many of its rivals, from The Times of London to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times — opting instead to ask its readers for donations, even setting up a nonprofit arm to help fund its journalism.”

Analysis / Bias

The Guardian has always been a left-leaning publication throughout its history, as they have stated in various articles.

In review, story selection favors the left but is generally factual. They utilize emotionally loaded headlines such as “The cashless society is a con – and big finance is behind it” and “Trump back-pedals on Russian meddling remarks after an outcry.” The Guardian typically utilizes credible sources such as thoughtco.com, gov.uk., and factually mixed sources such as HuffPost and independent.co.uk.

A Pew Research Survey found that 72% of The Guardian’s audience is consistently or primarily liberal, 20% Mixed, and 9% consistently or mostly conservative. This indicates that a more liberal audience strongly prefers the Guardian. Further, a Reuters Institute survey found that 52% of respondents trust their news coverage and 19% do not, ranking them #7 in trust of the major UK news providers.

The Guardian has a left-leaning editorial bias and sometimes relies on sources that have failed fact-checks. Furthermore, while The Guardian had failed numerous fact checks before 2020, it has significantly improved, with only one failed fact check and one retraction, upgrading its rating to High factual and High credibility.

Failed Fact Checks

• Nine percent of parents surveyed say their children have started self-harming in response to the cost of living crisis. – False
• The Guardian has retracted quotes from a source said to have known Tyler Robinson that claimed the alleged Charlie Kirk shooter was “really leftist.” – Retraction

Overall, we rate The Guardian as Left-Center biased based on its story selection, which moderately favors the left. We also now rate them High for factual reporting due to minimal failed fact checks in the last five years. (5/18/2016) Updated (M. Huitsing 09/26/2025)

Source: https://www.theguardian.com