People across the political spectrum blindly rated the media bias of content from The Columbus Dispatch in the AllSides Dec. 2021 Blind Bias Survey.
During an AllSides Blind Bias Survey, participants from all sides of the political spectrum are asked to rate the content of a media outlet blindly, so they are not influenced by preconceived notions of a brand's bias.
Survey Results
The Columbus Dispatch was rated on the border of Lean Left and Center.
A total of 1,216 people from across the political spectrum rated the bias of Columbus Dispatch. The raw average of the ratings from the different bias segments was 2.41 on a scale 0 - 6 from left to right. That average is between Lean Left and Center – Lean Left on a Bell Curve range, and barely Center on a Flat Curve range.
A plurality of all respondents rated Columbus Dispatch as Lean Left. A plurality of respondents who identify as Left, Lean Left, Lean Right, and Right rated the outlet as Lean Left, and a plurality of Center respondents rated the outlet as Center. When normalized, the most common rating was Lean Left (31%), followed by Center (24%) and Left (21%).
About The Survey
A total of 1,578 people across the political spectrum took the survey. Each survey participant was asked to self-report their personal political bias – 217 participants with a self-reported Left bias; 368 with a Lean Left bias; 487 with a Center bias; 370 with a Lean Right bias, and 136 with a Right bias. These responses were normalized so that unequal sizes of these groups would not skew the results.
Results are not assessed by majority rule; we calculate pluralities and averages, both within respondent groups and across all respondent groups, to arrive at final determinations.
For this survey, AllSides collected 12 pieces of content from media outlets: top headlines taken on two different days at the same time of day, and top stories the outlet ran around two major national news stories. Stories and headlines were stripped of branding and any information that would allow participants to identify the outlet. Participants were asked to rate the bias of the source on a scale of Left, Lean Left, Center, Lean Right, and Right.
Note About Blind Bias Surveys
Blind surveys are robust, but do have limitations. They alone do not always determine our ratings. These surveys ask respondents to assess a relatively small snapshot of the source's content in time. The surveys don't include photos, content published over a long period of time, or other crucial elements for determining bias. Therefore, we often use blind survey data in conjunction with other methods to arrive at a final bias rating, such as Editorial Reviews, third party data and independent reviews by AllSides reviewers.
AllSides uses multiple methods for calculating media bias ratings.
Our Blind Bias Survey, described in the graphic below, represents one of our most robust media bias rating methods, but it is not the only method we use. A source might openly share its bias, or it may be determined by third party research, an independent review, or an Editorial Review. Take a look at the multiple methods AllSides uses to measure and rate media bias.
