Creating a "healthy, well rounded" World News Media Diet.

May 2, 2011 4:44 AM

News broadcasting biases? Creating a "healthy, well rounded" world news media diet.

Hello Hive!

I was wondering if anyone knows of a table or site or graphic that I can find online detailing the media biases (or leanings) of (all the) major news broadcasting companies like the BBC, Al-Jazeera, CNN, MSNBC, FOX..etc.

I am putting together a "healthy well rounded" world news media diet and this will really help me formulate something I think is appropriate. But any suggestions are GREATLY appreciated if you do this yourself.

The diet will preferably be implemented in RSS feeds (for easy consolidated access) and radio iPhone apps (to listen while at work or on the go).

Thanks again in advance!!

posted by xicana63 to society & culture (7 answers total)

For the US only:


Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS' "Evening News," The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal.

Only Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and The Washington Times scored right of the average U.S. voter.


Not to say their techniques weren't the tiniest bit questionable (ther conclude that the Drudge Report is centrist, which I think I would disagree with). It's hard to find a non-biased study of the bias, I'd bet.

The best solution is probably to choose 4-5 major news networks (probably including either Fox or Drudge Report as one of your US to ensure you get the conservative view) and then follow them all. Every outlet is going to have it's own biases.
posted by CharlieSue at 5:06 AM on May 2, 2011

I would also suggest you get on the FAIR e-mail list (signup is at the top left of the page). They send out regular notices of media biases, omissions, errors, and occasionally even corrections and apologies from media companies.
posted by exhilaration at 6:22 AM on May 2, 2011

The problem with taking media criticism offered by groups such as FAIR, Media Matters, and Newsbusters at face value is that they are themselves heavily biased and pushing an agenda at least as strongly as reporting outlets. They're not "correcting" news, they merely tend to select an item that doesn't favor their own narrative and try to spin it their way.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 7:13 AM on May 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

It you're looking for world news coming from local sources, Global Voices is sort of a crowd-sourced news blog. They have translators working to compile blogs, local coverage, twitter feeds, etc. from all around the world. Their one-off articles are kind of cool (I know way more about what's going on in Central Asia, like Tajikistan, than I ever expected), and they do really excellent coverage of ongoing news, including Cote d'Ivoire, the Arab Spring, and the tsunami in Japan because they compile from so many sources. I also like the Arabist for news from the Middle East - I don't know very much about the region. I'm sure that both of these sources lean left, however.
posted by ChuraChura at 10:25 AM on May 2, 2011

The site MondoTimes has enough information to let you set up what you're looking for, with a bit of work. Here's their list of the 100 most-read newspapers in the world. Clicking on any one will give a bit of background, including perceived or self-described political leaning. You can search the site for media from anywhere in the world. Prepare for information overload.
posted by Corvid at 12:17 PM on May 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

Are there any aggregators which are searchable like Google News or Yahoo which are far more well rounded and not dominated by rural US news? Even if one goes to Google News for Kenya or India or Singapore one ends up with mostly US based content. Even if they aren't global and/or region or continent specific, I'd appreciate any suggestions, thank you. (thought my question made more sense here than opening another AskMe)
posted by infini at 11:26 AM on June 12, 2011

not exactly what you're looking for, but :


media lens:

"We show how news and commentary are ‘filtered’ by the media’s profit-orientation, by its dependence on advertisers, parent companies, wealthy owners and official news sources.

We check the media’s version of events against credible facts and opinion provided by journalists, academics and specialist researchers."
posted by glassy sesames at 9:18 AM on July 18, 2011