We rate the news for bias and reliability using a rigorous methodology and a politically balanced team of analysts. Our focus is on analyzing the news content of articles and shows.
Ad Fontes is Latin for “to the source,” because we rate the news by looking at the source itself.
Ad Fontes Media in the News
Interactive Media Bias Chart®
The public beta version of the Media Bias Chart (version 5.0) is now live. See where the news sources fall on the map of the media landscape.
What is Ad Fontes Media?
At Ad Fontes Media, our mission is to make news consumers smarter and news media better.
This is a tall order, because we have a big problem in our news media landscape: too much junk news. Junk news is like junk food, and just like junk food has caused massive health epidemics in our country, junk news is causing a massive polarization epidemic.
We are optimistic that together, we can rise to this challenge. It is imperative that we do.
A problem this big requires a multi-pronged solution and participation from all the stakeholders in good journalism. Our focus is on the following:
We analyze and rank news content and display those rankings in a way that is easy for people to understand.
This allows us to provide solutions for:
Citizens
To help them navigate the current complex media landscape and make healthy news choices
There are more news sources now than ever. At Ad Fontes, we analyze news content using a rigorous, non-partisan methodology to rank news for overall reliability and bias. The Media Bias Chart is a resource to help you navigate the complex media landscape. Find news sources, explore our data and methodology, and request ratings at the Interactive Media Bias Chart main page.
Educators
To help teach critical thinking and news literacy to younger generations
It’s not enough for us to measure and rank news sources; students need to learn the critical thinking skills to distinguish between news sources themselves. Our Content Analysis Rating Tool (CART) platform is a low-cost, easy-to-use ratings interface that teaches students how to rank news articles like we do at Ad Fontes. Corresponding training, lesson plans, and assignments are provided year-round.
To see how it works, click here.
Brands
To help keep their brands safe by supporting good journalism and avoiding junk news
For better or worse, brands are the financiers of news content. And lately, it’s been for worse.
There is growing concern in the marketing industry about the role advertisers have played in the rise of polarizing news and the struggles of quality journalism outlets.
Polarizing news content is risky for brands. Too often, polarizing content turns extreme and offensive, causing consumer boycotts and negative brand perception of the advertisers on that content.
As a result, 43% of media buyers say they now avoid buying news content altogether*, which hurts quality news publishers.
Ad Fontes Media can help keep brands safe by supporting good journalism and avoiding junk news. You can increase ROI and feel good about responsibly improving the news landscape. To find out how, contact us.
Contribute
You can help people navigate the news landscape and contribute to a healthy democracy.
You can do something about our nation’s hyper-polarization by helping people understand the news they consume.
Founder Vanessa Otero explains the origins of the Media Bias Chart and where we’ll go in the future.
Interactive Media Bias Chart
The public beta version of the Media Bias Chart (version 5.0) is now live. See where the news sources fall on the map of the media landscape.
Don’t see a source you are looking for?
You can help us pick the next sources that appear on the Media Bias Chart by subscribing and voting for your top picks.
The top voted sources will be added to the next update of the Media Bias Chart in the following month!
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