The Hill – Bias and Credibility

• Overall, we rate The Hill Least Biased based on balanced editorial positions and news reporting that is low-biased. We also rate them Mostly Factual in reporting, rather than High, due to previous opinion columns promoting unproven claims and a lack of full transparency in distinguishing opinion headlines from news.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEAST BIASED (0.4)
Factual Reporting: MOSTLY FACTUAL (2.2)
Country: USA
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

The Hill is an American political journalism newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., since 1994. The Hill focuses on politics, policy, business, and international relations. Their coverage includes the U.S. Congress, the presidency, and election campaigns.

Read our profile on the United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

In 2021, The Hill was purchased by Nexstar, which owns around 200 TV stations and media outlets nationwide. The founder, chairman, president, and CEO of Nexstar is Perry A. Sook. According to Open Secrets, Nexstar Media group gave more money to Republicans in the 2018 election cycle (45% to Democrats, 55% to Republicans). However, in 2020 they gave more to Democrats (55% Democrats, 45% to Republicans). The paper and website are funded through a subscription and advertising model.

Analysis / Bias

The Hill covers both sides of the political spectrum and generally sources information properly; however, it sometimes rushes stories and has had to revise or update breaking news coverage after publication. The Hill rarely uses loaded words in straightforward news reporting, such as the headline “Trump says he won’t sign GOP’s compromise immigration bill.” News stories are typically attributed to staff journalists or credible media outlets, consistent with standard political journalism practices.

Over the past several years, The Hill has expanded its contributor and opinion network. While opinion content sometimes includes more emotionally charged or speculative commentary, the outlet clearly labels opinion articles in the Opinion section. However, opinion headlines themselves do not always begin with “Opinion:,” which may cause some readers to misinterpret commentary as news. This approach is common in the industry but may still limit transparency for casual readers.

The Hill’s high-volume digital publishing model can also contribute to framing issues in news stories, especially when articles lead with conflict-focused details before later providing clarifying context. This structure is a conventional newswriting technique—emphasizing the most attention-grabbing elements early—but it may lead readers to form impressions before they reach a fuller explanation later in the article. This reflects editorial style rather than clear partisan intent.

The Hill has also faced past criticism related to its opinion contributors. The outlet previously employed John Solomon, whose columns were criticized as conspiratorial and later placed under internal review for containing misleading claims. Additional reporting indicated that former owner Jimmy Finkelstein monitored coverage to ensure it was not overly critical of President Trump in his first term. Solomon left the publication in 2019, and under current owner Nexstar Media Group, no similar allegations have surfaced.

In general, The Hill’s straight news reporting remains generally balanced and factual, and its Op-Ed section continues to feature a broad range of viewpoints from both the left and the right. While certain opinion pieces have promoted unproven claims and the absence of “Opinion:” in headlines may affect reader perception, The Hill continues to meet the criteria for a Least Biased designation due to balanced story selection and largely neutral news coverage.

Failed Fact Checks

• None in the last 5 years. However, they have rushed to publish breaking news that needed to be corrected or removed in the past. The Hill also published an editorial that other sources have labeled conspiratorial; however, this columnist is no longer with the paper.

Overall, we rate The Hill Least Biased based on balanced editorial positions and news reporting that is low-biased. We also rate them Mostly Factual in reporting, rather than High, due to previous opinion columns promoting unproven claims and a lack of full transparency in distinguishing opinion headlines from news. (5/18/2016) Updated (D. Van Zandt 12/05/2025)

Source: https://thehill.com/