Think Progress – Bias and Credibility

These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation.  They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports and omit reporting of information that may damage liberal causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Left Bias sources.

Update: Think Progress stopped publishing new content in 2019.

• Overall, we rate ThinkProgress Left biased based on story selection that always favors the left and Mixed for factual reporting based on a few failed fact checks

Detailed Report

Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: USA
World Press Freedom Rank: USA 45/180

History

Founded in 2005 by Judd Legum, ThinkProgress is an American political news website. It is a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization founded by John Podesta, who was Chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential campaign. ThinkProgess states they are editorially independent.

According to the ThinkProgress about page they are a “news site dedicated to providing our readers with rigorous reporting and analysis from a progressive perspective. Over the past decade, the site has evolved from a small rapid response blog to a newsroom of reporters and editors covering the intersections of politics, policy, and social justice.”

ThinkProgess has been cited for its in-depth journalism by major publications such as the New York Times. You can view their masthead here.

Update: On September 5, 2019, Think Progress ceased publication.

Funded by / Ownership

ThinkProgress is a project of the Non-Profit Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP), which advocates for liberal causes. CAP is funded through donations. Major individual donors include George Soros, Peter Lewis, Steve Bing, and Herb and Marion Sandler. Large donors include Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as the Ford Foundation. CAP lists all supporters on their website who have given more than $5,000. 

Analysis / Bias

In review, ThinkProgress publishes breaking news and investigative reports with a left-leaning bias in story selection. There is the moderate use of loaded language that favors the left in headlines, such as this: Trump calls immigration at southwest border an ‘invasion,’ echoing New Zealand gunman’s rhetoric. This article is properly sourced to US News and World Report and The Center for Strategic and International Studies. In another article, also critical of President Trump, there is again a moderately biased headline: Trump’s new budget abandons all pretense of being fiscally responsible. This story is also properly sourced to Whitehouse.gov, Politico, and The Washington Post. 

A review of several stories shows consistent favoritism for liberal/progressive policies, with negative stories about conservatives. In particular, there is a considerable amount of negative stories regarding President Trump. Although ThinkProgress has a consistent bias against conservatives, they also portray further left progressives in a more a negative light. In general, ThinkProgress always favors the left and denigrates the right. In particular, they favor the more moderate wing of the Democratic party.

Failed Fact Checks

• Says U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy is among seven “Tea Party freshmen” who “spent an average of $15,000 on cars for themselves.” – Pants on Fire
• “The Green Bay Packers are a socialist organization.” – Mostly False
• In most states, you can buy an assault rifle with no proof of ID, but in every state, you need proof of ID to vote. – Mostly False
• The government of New Zealand pulled Sky News Australia off the air in March 2019. – Mostly False

Overall, we rate ThinkProgress Left biased based on story selection that always favors the left and Mixed for factual reporting based on a few failed fact checks. (5/15/2016) Updated (D. Van Zandt 9/30/2019)

Source: https://thinkprogress.org/