Truthdig – 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.

• Overall, we rate Truthdig Left Biased based on story selection and editorial positions that favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to excellent sourcing and a clean fact-check record.

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: HIGH
Country: USA
Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Minimal Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY

History

Founded in 2005, Truthdig is a news website that provides a mix of long-form articles, interviews, and blog-like commentary on current events delivered from a politically progressive point of view. The current editor is Robert Scheer, who has a nationally syndicated column for publications such as the Huff Post and The Nation. Robert Scheer also ran for political office in the 1960s and for Senate in 1970 for the liberal Peace and Freedom Party. Truthdig won the Webby Award in 2013 for Best Political Site and several other excellence awards.

Read our profile on the United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

Truthdig is held through Truthdig LLC and generates revenue through advertising, donations, and grants, which are not disclosed on the website.

Analysis / Bias

In review, Truthdig states openly in its mission statement that they are progressive: “The website’s mission is to dig beneath the headlines, provide expert reporting and commentary from a progressive point of view and offer an outlet for original work by exceptional journalists.”

Truthdig writes original content that uses moderately loaded language such as this: The Real Russian Menace Is Just Hypercapitalism. This story is properly sourced to the Washington Post and Forbes and clearly labels it as an opinion piece. In another story with loaded language, The GOP’s White Supremacy Now Has a Smoking Gun, there is again proper labeling as an opinion piece and proper sourcing from The Hill and Pew Research.

Straight news mostly comes from other sources, such as the Associated Press, ProPublica, and the Independent Media Institute. News is broken down into categories such as education, environment, health, and politics, to name a few. In general, straight news favors the left, and editorially there is a strong left-leaning bias through the issues they advocate.

Failed Fact Checks

• None in the last 5 years

Overall, we rate Truthdig Left Biased based on story selection and editorial positions that favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to excellent sourcing and a clean fact-check record. (11/18/2016) Updated (D. Van Zandt 12/01/2022)

Source: https://www.truthdig.com/