Daily Beast

The bias meter value for Daily Beast is -4.10. -6 is the furthest "Left" value and 6 is the furthest "Right" value.
-4.10
Left What does this mean?

How we determined this rating:

  • Independent Review
  • Editorial Review: Nov 2022, May 2017
  • Community Feedback:   ratings
  • Blind Survey: Feb 2017
  • AllSides has high confidence in this bias rating.

Unless otherwise noted, this bias rating refers only to online news coverage, not TV, print, or radio content.

Learn about our bias rating methods
Daily Beast
Daily Beast
Bias Rating Left
Type News Media
Region National
Owner IAC
Established 2008
Website thedailybeast.com
Twitter @thedailybeast
Facebook thedailybeast
Wikipedia Daily Beast
What a Left Bias Rating Means

The source displays media bias in ways that strongly align with liberal, progressive, or left-wing thought and/or policy agendas. A Left rating is our most liberal rating on the political spectrum.

Learn more about Left ratings
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About Daily Beast's Bias Rating

Daily Beast is featured on the AllSides Media Bias Chart™.

Daily Beast is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Left.

What a "Left" Rating Means

Sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating of Left display media bias in ways that strongly align with liberal, progressive, or left-wing thought and/or policy agendas. This is our most liberal rating on the political spectrum.

Learn more about Left ratings

Bias Reviews

We use multiple methods to analyze sources. Learn how we rate media bias.

The Daily Beast Rated Left in November 2022 AllSides Small Group Editorial Review

An AllSides November 2022 Small Group Editorial Review returned a bias rating of Left for The Daily Beast. 

All reviewers on the multipartisan panel noted a clear Left bias in news content published by The Daily Beast. In its politics section, it claims to be “non-partisan, but not neutral.” Many stories display sensationalist tags, such as “Ok Boomer,” “Did Nazi That Coming,” and “Freako.”

Coverage consistently framed former President Donald Trump negatively, including several instances of opinion stated as fact. An article titled, “Trump Blasts Out Racist Attack on Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin” claims that “Trump has gone on a racist screed against his political foes,” showing criticism of the former president in a way right-leaning voices often do not. Similarly, an article titled, “Trump’s Candidates Fell on Their Faces. Is This the Final Straw?” is heavily critical of the GOP, claiming that “Trump himself, of course, has defiantly resisted any accountability for his role in the midterm disappointment.”

Additionally, a reviewer from the center noted mudslinging, sensationalism, and opinion stated as fact bias indicators in a piece about the 2022 elections. The article, titled “Elections Will Be Apocalyptic Thunderdomes for a While,” states (emphasis ours):

A spoiler alert at the end of yet another teeth-grinding, needle-watching, soul-sucking election full of pre-apocalyptic tension, with everything done now but the counting: Donald Trump is back as the anti-hero that Democrats need, hitting the same old fan-service beats to squeeze the last dollars and votes out of a steaming service reboot of a semi-nostalgic piece of worn-out and thin-to-start-with intellectual property…What the last two cycles have made clear is that Republicans can’t get by on that weak stuff—‘look what a menace THOSE people are’—if they’re led by an emotionally unhinged, personally troubled, and frequently repugnant weirdo elevating candidates like himself.

The Daily Beast Rated Left in May 2017 AllSides Blind Bias Survey, Editorial Review

Although The Daily Beast maintains that they are “independent,” their reporting has grown increasingly partisan. During the 2016 presidential election, AllSides started to note the shift, but waited to see if it was just a momentary phase. However, a year after the election of President Trump, the Daily Beast's articles are still heavily biased.

The results of a May 2017 AllSides Blind Bias Survey placed The Daily Beast's media bias as Left. We followed up on these results by conducting an Editorial Review. Our team found that the media bias of The Daily Beast's articles, headlines and images all fall under the Left rating. 

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Community Feedback

Feedback does not determine ratings, but may trigger deeper review.

As of March 2024, people have voted on the AllSides Media Bias Rating for Daily Beast. On average, those who disagree with our rating think this source has a Lean Left bias.

As of February 2022, 14,002 AllSides readers agree that The Daily Beast has a Left media bias. 

AllSides previously rated The Daily Beast as having a Center media bias; we moved The Daily Beast's media bias rating to Left in January 2018

Confidence Level

Confidence is determined by how many reviews have been applied and consistency of data.

As of March 2024, AllSides has high confidence in our Left rating for Daily Beast. Two or more bias reviews have affirmed this rating or the source is transparent about bias.

Additional Information

Former editor-in-chief John Avlon described The Daily Beast's editorial approach in a February 2015 interview: "We seek out scoops, scandals, and stories about secret worlds; we love confronting bullies, bigots, and hypocrites." (Source: Wikipedia) In an April 2018 interview, Avlon described the publication's political stance as "nonpartisan but not neutral ... what that means is we’re going to hit both sides where appropriate, but we're not going for mythic moral equivalence on every issue."

In November 2016, Avlon published an editorial, "How The Daily Beast Will Stand Up to President Donald Trump." 

"We were earlyprincipled, and unapologetic opponents of Donald Trump’s divisive and demagogic campaign," Avlon wrote. "But if he is our next president, we will not question his legitimacy or hope he fails. Instead, we will count ourselves members of the loyal opposition—loyal to the United States of America and opposed to the policies proposed by the president-elect during his campaign. And we will reflect on what has led so many of our fellow Americans to embrace such a messenger."

On July 18, 2018, Alex Griswold, reporter and sports editor at the Washington Free Beacon, tweeted a screenshot of a Daily Beast advertisement that appeared to refer to President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. It read, "With a Supreme Court nomination that could upend decades of progress in civil rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and more, you need a news site that's on your side. Join The Daily Beast's membership program to support our journalism." The Daily Caller reported on the advertisement and wrote that "the ad clearly betrays the site’s liberal bias."

The Daily Beast is an American news website focusing on politics, media, and pop culture. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008.

The name of the site was taken from a fictional newspaper in Evelyn Waugh's novel Scoop.

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Daily Beast Ownership and Funding

Funding and ownership do not influence bias ratings. We rate the bias of content only.

Owner: IAC

Articles from Daily Beast

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