Most Unbiased News Sources in 2026: 15 Outlets Ranked by Bias
The least biased mainstream news sources in 2026 are Reuters, BBC News, the Associated Press (AP), The Christian Science Monitor and The Wall Street Journal’s news pages, based on AllSides bias ratings and Ad Fontes Media’s bias and reliability scores. Each one stays close to the political centre on at least one major rating system and scores in the most reliable tier for original, fact-based reporting.
No outlet is perfectly neutral. Every newsroom decides which stories to cover, which sources to quote and which words to use in a headline, and those choices carry some slant. The useful question isn’t “who has zero bias?” but “who reports facts accurately, keeps opinion separate and shows the least political lean?”
That question matters more than ever. The Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2026 found that only 25% of Americans trust most news most of the time, the lowest US figure since tracking began in 2015. Below, we rank 15 outlets using the latest 2026 ratings, explain the contested cases honestly and show you how to check bias for yourself.
How we ranked these news sources
We combined two independent rating systems with a few basic quality checks. A source needed solid marks on both bias and reliability to make the list.
- AllSides Media Bias Rating: AllSides rates outlets Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right or Right using blind surveys of readers across the spectrum plus editorial panel reviews. A Center rating counted most.
- Ad Fontes Media scores: Ad Fontes analysts score individual articles on a bias scale from −42 (most left) to +42 (most right) and a reliability scale from 0 to 64. We looked for bias close to 0 and reliability above 40, the band Ad Fontes treats as reliable fact reporting.
- Original reporting: wire services and outlets with their own correspondents ranked above sites that mainly rewrite other people’s work.
- Corrections and standards: a public corrections policy and a clear line between news and opinion.
- Ownership and funding transparency: who owns the outlet and how it makes money.
Ad Fontes scores below come from the outlets’ individual rating pages, which were last updated between July and September 2026. AllSides ratings are current as of the review dates noted for each outlet. Where the two systems disagree, we say so.
The most unbiased news sources at a glance
| Rank | Outlet | Type | AllSides rating | Ad Fontes bias | Ad Fontes reliability | Free or paywall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reuters | Wire service | Center | −1.39 | 44.95 | Metered / subscription |
| 2 | BBC News | Public broadcaster | Center | −1.27 | 44.54 | Free in UK; paywall in US and Canada |
| 3 | Associated Press (AP) | Wire service | Lean Left | −2.60 | 44.28 | Free |
| 4 | The Christian Science Monitor | Nonprofit-owned newspaper | Center | −2.52 | 44.23 | Metered / subscription |
| 5 | The Wall Street Journal (news) | Newspaper | Center | +4.24 | 42.40 | Paywall |
| 6 | Bloomberg News | Business news service | Center (2026 update) | −2.81 | 40.90 | Paywall |
| 7 | NewsNation | Cable TV and website | Center | +0.95 | 41.78 | Free |
| 8 | The Hill | Political news site | Center | −1.65 | 41.57 | Free |
| 9 | Straight Arrow News | Digital news | Center | −0.11 | 40.42 | Free |
| 10 | Axios | Digital news | Lean Left | −3.34 | 42.38 | Free (Pro tier paid) |
| 11 | PBS NewsHour | Public broadcaster | Lean Left | −4.19 | 43.36 | Free |
| 12 | NPR | Public radio | Lean Left | −4.36 | 42.69 | Free |
| 13 | The Economist | Weekly magazine | Lean Left | −3.05 | 41.37 | Paywall |
| 14 | Forbes | Business magazine | Center | −2.95 | 39.97 | Metered |
| 15 | Newsweek | Magazine / website | Center | −1.78 | 36.28 | Metered |
Ad Fontes scores are site-wide averages for each outlet’s website (PBS score covers PBS overall). Negative numbers lean left, positive numbers lean right.
The 15 most unbiased news sources, ranked
1. Reuters
Reuters is a global wire service owned by Thomson Reuters, with about 2,600 journalists supplying news to thousands of other outlets. Because its customers span every political persuasion, its copy is written to be usable by all of them, which keeps opinion out of most stories.
It is one of the few outlets that both rating systems place near the centre. AllSides confirmed its Center rating in blind bias surveys in August 2025 and again in March 2026, when readers scored it −0.47. Ad Fontes gives it a bias score of −1.39 and a reliability score of 44.95, the highest of any outlet on this list.
- Best for: fast, factual breaking news, markets and world events
- Bias rating: AllSides Center; Ad Fontes −1.39 / 44.95
- Cost: some free articles with registration; full access needs a subscription
2. BBC News
The BBC is the UK’s public broadcaster, funded mainly by the licence fee and bound by a charter that requires due impartiality. Its international news operation covers more countries in more languages than almost any other newsroom.
AllSides rates BBC News Center after a July 2024 editorial review. Ad Fontes scores it −1.27 for bias and 44.54 for reliability. The BBC still faces regular impartiality complaints from both left and right in Britain, so treat its domestic political coverage with the same care as any other source.
One practical change: since June 2025, BBC.com has run a paywall for US readers, later extended to Canada. UK readers still get the news site free.
- Best for: international news and a non-American perspective
- Bias rating: AllSides Center; Ad Fontes −1.27 / 44.54
- Cost: free in the UK; paid tier for heavy US and Canadian users
3. Associated Press (AP)
AP is a nonprofit news cooperative whose stories run in roughly half the world’s newspapers and broadcasters. Its AP Stylebook sets writing rules for much of American journalism, and it is the default source for US election results.
This is the most contested entry on the list. Ad Fontes scores AP −2.60 for bias and 44.28 for reliability, firmly in its “fact reporting” zone. AllSides, however, moved AP to Left in 2025 and then back to Lean Left (−2.93) after a May 2026 editorial review, citing word choice and story selection on political topics.
AP has also been at the centre of a press-freedom fight. In February 2025 the White House restricted AP’s access to the Oval Office and Air Force One after AP kept using “Gulf of Mexico” in its style guidance. A federal judge ordered access restored in April 2025, but an appeals panel partly paused that order in June 2025, and the case was still being litigated in 2026.
- Best for: straight breaking news, election results and US state coverage
- Bias rating: AllSides Lean Left; Ad Fontes −2.60 / 44.28
- Cost: free
4. The Christian Science Monitor
Despite its name, the Monitor is a general news outlet, not a religious one. It is owned by the Church of Christ, Scientist but has published secular, award-winning journalism since 1908, with a stated goal of explaining news without sensationalism.
AllSides rates it Center, and Ad Fontes gives it −2.52 for bias and 44.23 for reliability. Its slower, explanatory style makes it a good antidote to outrage-driven coverage.
- Best for: calm, context-heavy explainers on US and world news
- Bias rating: AllSides Center; Ad Fontes −2.52 / 44.23
- Cost: limited free articles, then a subscription
5. The Wall Street Journal (news pages)
The Journal, owned by News Corp, has two very different halves. Its news reporting is widely respected for accuracy, while its opinion pages are openly conservative.
AllSides rates WSJ news Center and its opinion section separately as Lean Right. Ad Fontes’ website score of +4.24 bias and 42.40 reliability blends both, which partly explains the slight rightward lean. Stick to the news sections if neutrality is your goal.
- Best for: business, economics and investigative reporting
- Bias rating: AllSides Center (news); Ad Fontes +4.24 / 42.40
- Cost: subscription required for most articles
6. Bloomberg News
Bloomberg’s newsroom exists mainly to serve finance professionals who pay for its terminals, so its reporting leans heavily on data, markets and policy detail. It is owned by Michael Bloomberg, a former New York City mayor and Democratic presidential candidate.
In a March 2026 blind survey, AllSides readers scored Bloomberg Center (−0.39), and AllSides announced a move from Lean Left to Center in a 2026 update. Ad Fontes scores it −2.81 for bias and 40.90 for reliability.
- Best for: markets, companies and economic policy
- Bias rating: AllSides Center; Ad Fontes −2.81 / 40.90
- Cost: subscription, with a few free articles
7. NewsNation
NewsNation is a cable and streaming network launched by Nexstar in 2020 with an explicit pitch of “unbiased” news. It mixes straight newscasts with personality-led shows from hosts across the spectrum.
AllSides readers rated it Center (+0.32) in a 2025 blind survey. Ad Fontes scores its website +0.95 for bias and 41.78 for reliability, and several of its weekday programmes sat in the most neutral area of Ad Fontes’ TV charts in 2025 and 2026.
- Best for: TV viewers who want cable news without a strong partisan tilt
- Bias rating: AllSides Center; Ad Fontes +0.95 / 41.78
- Cost: free website; TV via cable or streaming bundles
8. The Hill
The Hill, owned by Nexstar, covers Congress, campaigns and policy in Washington, and publishes opinion columns from both parties. Its high story volume makes it a quick way to follow political news.
Its rating is borderline. A December 2025 AllSides blind survey scored it Lean Left (−1.15), but an April 2026 editorial panel kept it at Center with an overall score of −0.95. Ad Fontes scores it −1.65 for bias and 41.57 for reliability.
- Best for: day-to-day Washington and campaign news
- Bias rating: AllSides Center; Ad Fontes −1.65 / 41.57
- Cost: free
9. Straight Arrow News
Straight Arrow News (SAN) is a newer digital outlet that builds its brand around neutral, fact-first reporting. It publishes short video and text stories plus clearly labelled commentary from left and right.
AllSides rates it Center (+0.04) following a May 2025 audit, and Ad Fontes gives it a bias score of −0.11, the closest to zero of any outlet here, with 40.42 reliability. It is smaller than legacy outlets, so its original reporting depth is more limited.
- Best for: short, neutral video summaries of the day’s news
- Bias rating: AllSides Center; Ad Fontes −0.11 / 40.42
- Cost: free
10. Axios
Axios, now owned by Cox Enterprises, is known for “smart brevity”: short stories built around bullet points that explain why a story matters. It also runs local newsletters covering dozens of US cities.
AllSides moved Axios from Center to Lean Left in February 2023. Ad Fontes scores it −3.34 for bias and a strong 42.38 for reliability. It’s a fast read, but pair it with a centre or right-leaning source on hot-button issues.
- Best for: quick, scannable briefings on politics, tech and business
- Bias rating: AllSides Lean Left; Ad Fontes −3.34 / 42.38
- Cost: free; Axios Pro is a paid professional tier
11. PBS NewsHour
PBS NewsHour is a nightly public television newscast known for long interviews and its Friday analysis segment pairing a left- and right-leaning commentator. Its pace is slower and less sensational than commercial cable news.
AllSides rates its online news Lean Left, confirmed by a 2025 blind survey. Ad Fontes scores PBS −4.19 for bias and 43.36 for reliability.
PBS is also under financial pressure. In July 2025 Congress rescinded about $1.1 billion previously approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which then announced it would wind down. Federal money made up about 15% of PBS’s budget, and local member stations, especially rural ones, were hit hardest.
- Best for: in-depth TV interviews and nightly analysis
- Bias rating: AllSides Lean Left; Ad Fontes −4.19 / 43.36
- Cost: free on air, online and on YouTube
12. NPR
NPR produces national programmes such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered, which air on hundreds of local public radio stations. Its reporting is careful and well sourced, which is why its reliability score is high.
AllSides rates NPR’s online news Lean Left, a rating its readers confirmed in a 2025 blind survey (−1.88). Ad Fontes scores it −4.36 for bias and 42.69 for reliability. Critics on the right point to story selection and framing, while NPR says its newsroom follows strict ethics guidelines.
The 2025 federal funding cuts affect NPR less directly than local stations: federal grants were around 1% of NPR’s own budget, but many member stations relied on them to pay NPR programming fees.
- Best for: audio news, podcasts and long-form radio reporting
- Bias rating: AllSides Lean Left; Ad Fontes −4.36 / 42.69
- Cost: free
13. The Economist
The Economist is a London-based weekly that covers global politics, business and science. It doesn’t hide its worldview: it describes itself as classically liberal, favouring free markets and free trade alongside socially liberal positions.
AllSides rates it Lean Left (−1.40), while Ad Fontes scores it −3.05 for bias and 41.37 for reliability. Because it mixes reporting and argument in the same articles, read it as smart analysis rather than neutral wire copy.
- Best for: global context and weekly big-picture analysis
- Bias rating: AllSides Lean Left; Ad Fontes −3.05 / 41.37
- Cost: subscription
14. Forbes
Forbes is best known for its billionaire lists and business coverage, and it also runs a large breaking news desk. Its site includes a lot of contributor content, which varies in quality and is not held to the same standards as staff reporting.
An AllSides editorial panel rated it Center in July 2022. Ad Fontes scores it −2.95 for bias and 39.97 for reliability, just under the 40 mark, largely because of its analysis-heavy articles.
- Best for: business, wealth and company news
- Bias rating: AllSides Center; Ad Fontes −2.95 / 39.97
- Cost: metered free articles, then a subscription
15. Newsweek
Newsweek publishes a very high volume of fast-turnaround online stories alongside its magazine. That speed is useful for keeping up, but it also produces more aggregated and headline-driven pieces than traditional newsrooms.
Its bias rating is close to the line. A December 2025 AllSides blind survey scored it Lean Left (−1.53), but a March 2026 editorial review placed it at Center (−0.63). Ad Fontes scores it −1.78 for bias but a lower 36.28 for reliability, so check its stories against original reporting.
- Best for: fast takes on trending political and culture stories
- Bias rating: AllSides Center; Ad Fontes −1.78 / 36.28
- Cost: metered free articles
News aggregators and tools that show bias
If you don’t want to rely on one outlet, these tools let you compare coverage side by side or check a source’s rating in seconds.
- AllSides: rates more than 1,400 outlets and writers and publishes daily headline roundups showing how the left, centre and right cover the same story. Its AllSides Media Bias Chart is now in its 12th version.
- Ad Fontes Media: scores outlets on both bias and reliability. Its flagship Media Bias Chart (August 2026) shows 134 web, podcast and TV sources out of more than 4,800 it has rated.
- Ground News: an app that groups articles about the same event and shows how many left, centre and right outlets covered it, plus a “Blindspot” feed of stories one side is ignoring.
- Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC): a free database with bias labels and a separate factual-reporting rating for thousands of sites.
- NewsGuard: a browser extension that gives news sites a 0–100 trust score based on nine journalistic criteria.
- Tangle and 1440: daily newsletters that AllSides added to its chart as Center in December 2025. Tangle summarises arguments from the left and right on one issue a day; 1440 delivers a short, neutral digest.
For more options on your phone, see our guide to the best news apps.
Outlets with a strong left or right lean
The outlets below aren’t “bad” sources, and several do excellent original reporting. They do lean clearly in one direction, so they’re most useful for understanding a viewpoint and work best read alongside the centre sources above.
Left-leaning outlets
| Outlet | AllSides rating | Ad Fontes bias | Ad Fontes reliability |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNN (website) | Lean Left | −6.26 | 41.90 |
| The New York Times (news) | Lean Left | −7.80 | 40.87 |
| The Washington Post | Lean Left | −6.95 | 38.62 |
| CBS News | Lean Left | — | — |
| HuffPost | Left | −10.80 | 37.92 |
| MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) | Left | −13.74 | 34.33 |
Two of these outlets changed in ways readers noticed. In February 2025 Jeff Bezos said the Washington Post opinion section would focus on “personal liberties and free markets,” and the opinion editor resigned; the paper then announced major newsroom cuts in February 2026. At CBS News, the July 2025 Paramount–Skydance merger was followed by Bari Weiss becoming editor-in-chief in October 2025. AllSides reviewed CBS News in early 2026 and kept it at Lean Left (−1.69), while CBS’s trust score in the Reuters Institute’s US survey fell 10 points.
Right-leaning outlets
| Outlet | AllSides rating | Ad Fontes bias | Ad Fontes reliability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Examiner | Lean Right | +11.15 | 34.19 |
| New York Post (news) | Right | +9.56 | 30.08 |
| Fox News (website) | Right | +11.43 | 33.83 |
| The Daily Wire | Right | +13.14 | 30.84 |
| Breitbart | Right | +13.56 | 30.47 |
AllSides moved the New York Post from Lean Right to Right after a June 2026 editorial review. For a fuller list of right-of-centre sites, see our roundup of the best conservative news sites.
Most trusted news sources by country
The Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2026, published on 16 June 2026, surveyed online news users in 48 markets. Trust across all markets fell to 37%, the lowest since the survey began measuring it.
| Country | Overall trust in news (2026) | Most trusted brands |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 25% (down 5 points) | Local TV news (56%), local newspapers (53%), BBC News (47%) |
| United Kingdom | 30% (down 5 points) | BBC News, ITV News, Channel 4 News, Financial Times |
| Canada | 37% (down 2 points) | Public broadcasters (CBC/Radio-Canada) trusted by a majority |
| Australia | 43% (little changed) | ABC and SBS, plus regional newspapers |
| India | 39% (down 4 points) | Legacy print publishers and public broadcasters |
In the US brand data, BBC News was the most trusted named national or international brand at 47%, ahead of ABC News, NBC News and NPR (44% each) and The New York Times and Wall Street Journal (43% each). The Reuters Institute stresses that it only asks about around 15 brands per country, so this isn’t a complete ranking.
Other US polls tell a similar story. Gallup found trust in mass media hit a record low of 28% in 2025 before recovering to 33% in its September 2026 poll, with Republicans at 22% and Democrats at 50%. Pew Research Center’s June 2025 study of 30 sources found Democrats trust most major outlets, while Republicans distrust most of them and concentrate their trust in Fox News. YouGov’s 2025 trust poll, meanwhile, ranked The Weather Channel as America’s most trusted news source by net score.
How to spot bias in any news story
Ratings help, but you can learn to spot slant yourself in a minute or two. Run any story through this checklist.
- Check the label. Is it news, analysis or opinion? Many outlets mark this in small text above the headline.
- Read past the headline. Headlines are written to get clicks and often frame a story more strongly than the article itself.
- Watch the adjectives. Words like “slammed,” “radical,” “extreme” or “devastating” signal spin. Neutral reporting uses plain verbs such as “said” or “criticised.”
- Count the sources. Does the story quote people on more than one side, or only those who agree?
- Look for what’s missing. Story selection is the most common form of bias. Ask which relevant facts or perspectives were left out.
- Find the original. Follow links to the actual report, court filing, poll or data. If none is cited, be cautious.
- Compare three outlets. Read the same story from a left-leaning, centre and right-leaning outlet, or use an aggregator that does it for you.
- Check who owns it. Ownership and funding can shape priorities, even when they don’t change individual stories.
- Check the corrections. Reliable outlets fix errors openly and date their updates.
You can find more coverage of how the media works in our news section.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most unbiased news source?
Reuters is the strongest overall pick in 2026. AllSides rates it Center, and Ad Fontes gives it a bias score of −1.39 and a reliability score of 44.95, among the best of any major outlet. BBC News and the Associated Press are close behind.
Is there truly unbiased news?
Not completely. Every outlet makes choices about which stories to cover and how to frame them, so some bias is unavoidable. The goal is to choose sources with minimal, transparent bias and high factual accuracy, and to compare coverage across the political spectrum.
Are AP and Reuters unbiased?
They are among the least biased sources available, because wire services write for customers across the spectrum. Ad Fontes places both near the centre with high reliability. AllSides rates Reuters Center but rates AP Lean Left after a May 2026 review, mainly because of word choice and story selection in political coverage.
What is the best unbiased news app?
Ground News and AllSides are the best-known apps for seeing bias, because they show how left, centre and right outlets cover the same story. The AP News and Reuters apps are good choices if you want straight reporting from a single source.
Is NPR biased?
Both major rating systems find a modest left lean. AllSides rates NPR’s online news Lean Left, and Ad Fontes scores it −4.36 for bias, while still rating it highly reliable at 42.69. Its factual reporting is strong, but its story selection and framing lean somewhat left.
What is a news bias chart?
A news bias chart plots outlets by political lean. The AllSides Media Bias Chart sorts outlets into five columns from Left to Right, while the Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart plots them on two axes: bias from left to right and reliability from low to high.
Which news source do Americans trust most?
Local TV news and local newspapers are the most trusted in the Reuters Institute’s 2026 US data, at 56% and 53%. Among national and international brands, BBC News scored highest at 47%. YouGov’s 2025 poll ranked The Weather Channel first by net trust.
Sources: AllSides Media Bias Ratings and blind bias surveys (2024–2026, including AP review May 2026, CBS News analysis February 2026, The Hill review April 2026, Newsweek review March 2026, Version 11 chart December 2025); Ad Fontes Media per-source bias and reliability pages (updated July–September 2026) and Flagship Media Bias Chart (August 2026); Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026 (June 2026); Gallup confidence in mass media (2025 and 2026); Pew Research Center, “The Political Gap in Americans’ News Sources” (June 2025); YouGov Trust in Media 2025; court records in Associated Press v. Budowich; reporting on the Rescissions Act of 2025 and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Ratings change over time; check AllSides and Ad Fontes for the latest.