San Francisco Chronicle Bias and Reliability Overview

San Francisco Chronicle is the largest newspaper in northern California, covering the San Francisco Bay area. Founded in 1865, the newspaper became part of Hearst Communications in 2000. The newspaper has been awarded six Pulitzer Prizes. Its daily circulation is approximately 176,000, with 211,000 on Sundays and 521,000 on its digital platform. The website records 9.2 million visits per month. Ad Fontes Media rates San Francisco Chronicle as skews left in terms of bias and as most reliable in terms of reliability.

Overall Score

A team of analysts at Ad Fontes Media regularly reviews articles and news programs to rate them in terms of bias and reliability. A weighted average of these ratings results in the overall score for the media source.

The bias rating, demonstrated on the Media Bias Chart^®️ on the horizontal axis, ranges from most extreme left to neutral to most extreme right. The reliability rating, demonstrated on the chart’s vertical axis, rates sources on a scale from original fact reporting to analysis, opinion, propaganda and inaccurate/fabricated information.

The following are San Francisco Chronicle’s overall bias and reliability scores according to our Ad Fontes Media ratings methodology.

Reliability: 45.85

Bias: -6.72

Reliability scores for articles and shows are on a scale of 0-64. Scores above 24 are generally acceptable; scores above 32 are generally good.

Bias scores for articles and shows are on a scale of -42 to + 42, with higher negative scores being more left, higher positive scores being more right, and scores closer to zero being the most neutral and/or balanced.

Individual Article Scores

The following articles were reviewed by Ad Fontes Media analysts on the basis of reliability and bias. Each article was reviewed by at least three analysts: one conservative, one liberal and one moderate.

The team considers a variety of factors when rating a news article. To determine its reliability score, we consider the article’s veracity, expression, and its headline and graphics. We add each of these scores to the chart on a sliding scale, with the average of those creating the article’s overall reliability score.

To determine an article’s bias score, we consider its language, its political position and how it compares to other stories from other sources on the same topic. We add each of these scores to the chart on a sliding scale, with the average of those creating the article’s overall bias score.