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 appealing 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 TheRighting Left-Center Biased based on editorial positions that moderately favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting with original content due to proper sourcing and a clean fact-check record.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: HIGH
Country: USA
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Minimal Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
Launched in 2017 by Howard Polskin, TheRighting is a website that informs “middle-of-the-road and liberal audiences about stories and viewpoints not on their radar that are shaping political opinion across a wide swath of America.” The website features a tagline, “Alerting mainstream audiences to today’s headlines from the right.”
According to their about page, “TheRighting is a media company that aggregates articles from various right-wing media outlets and also publishes original reporting on the world of conservative media.”
Howard Polskin states that “He spent the first half of his career as a journalist, writing extensively about television news for TV Guide magazine.” He has also worked as a publicist for CNN and J.K Rowling.
Read our profile on the United States media and government.
Funded by / Ownership
Howard Polskin owns the website and claims TheRighting has a relationship with a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit and is open to accepting support from qualified foundations. The website lacks transparency as it does not disclose who the relationship is with; however, according to an article in the Associated Press, he received a “Ford Foundation grant in May (2022), which provides the bulk of the funding.” Currently, the website does not rely on display advertising or solicit donations.
Analysis / Bias
TheRighting publishes a newsletter consisting of curated news and opinion stories from right-leaning media sources. However, the newsletter is intended for a mainstream or left-leaning audience to educate them on what the right is reporting and their political narrative. The Newsletter consists of stories from sources that Media Bias Fact Check has deemed questionable, such as Fox News, American Thinker, Big League Politics, and WND. They also curate news stories from more credible right-leaning sources such as National Review, the Washington Examiner, and the Wall Street Journal. An example article is as follows: Here’s How Conservatives Can Dominate on Twitter in the Musk Era.
TheRighting publishes original news stories covering conservative media, such as Traffic Slips at Most Right Wing News Outlets in October and this, which displays a left-leaning bias Empty Words: Right Wing Media’s Tough on Crime Talking Points Ring Hollow in Wake of Mass Shootings. The website also features a Right-Wing Media Guide that lists and details 130 conservative media sources. They also have a guide for Left-Leaning Media. Another example of bias can be found in how they label them differently, with conservative sites being “Right-Wing” and liberal sites as “Left-Leaning” (as opposed to Left-Wing.)
Further, the website features conservative media metrics that track how much traffic the websites receive. For example, October 2022 shows that The Federalist had 67% less traffic than one year ago, while the Epoch Times grew by 13%.
Editorially, the website’s purpose is to negatively portray right-leaning media to a liberal audience. Though TheRighting is not overtly biased in favor of the left, their original reporting features loaded emotional wording that is negative toward the right such as this Right-Wing Media Echo GOP in Scaring Senior Citizens. While the information on the website is factual, there is moderate left-leaning editorial bias through wording and purpose.
Failed Fact Checks
- None in the Last 5 years with original content. (The curated news stories used to inform often come from poor sources which fail fact checks.)
Overall, we rate TheRighting Left-Center Biased based on editorial positions that moderately favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting with original content due to proper sourcing and a clean fact-check record. (D. Van Zandt 05/06/2024)
Source: https://www.therighting.com/
Last Updated on May 6, 2024 by Media Bias Fact Check
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