CGTN media bias and reliability
Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place CGTN as leaning left. We have seen it on 289 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is CGTN biased?
Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place CGTN as leaning left. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is CGTN left or right?
Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place CGTN as leaning left. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Left.
Is CGTN reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for CGTN are Ad Fontes Media: High factuality; Media Bias/Fact Check: Mixed factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What CGTN has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with CGTN’s own report linked underneath.
Russian strikes on energy infrastructure left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power on Sunday, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported significant damage to an industrial facility in the Nizhny Novgorod region following a Ukrainian drone attack.
CGTN reported it asRussia, Ukraine trade drone strikes as Zelenskyy urges air defense aid (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Donald Trump stated that the US has neutralized much of Iran's military but still needs to address one or two targets, including a suspected nuclear site. He suggested these could be dealt with quickly.
CGTN reported it asTrump says US still has to 'take care' of one or two targets in Iran (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Russia vetoed a US-drafted resolution aimed at ending the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara and establishing a new political one. A subsequent Russian proposal to extend the existing mission for a year also failed to pass.
CGTN reported it asUN Security Council fails to extend mandate of Western Sahara mission (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Tehran is in close contact with mediators regarding a seven-day plan to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump denied directing peace talks but approved outreach for medical supplies.
CGTN reported it asTrump says conflict with Iran will 'end very soon' (opens CGTN in a new tab)
The Liberal government is set to release a new national security strategy. The plan will address safeguarding Canada's economy and handling traditional security threats like espionage.
CGTN reported it asCanada unveils first national security strategy in over 20 years (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Tehran is in close contact with mediators regarding a seven-day plan to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump denied directing peace talks but approved outreach for medical supplies.
CGTN reported it asIran says in contact with mediators to ensure 7-day plan's implementation (opens CGTN in a new tab)
US Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Iran's top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, in an effort to restart peace negotiations and prevent potential US bombings. President Donald Trump has denied directing Vance to initiate these talks.
CGTN reported it asVance contacts Iranian security chief to restart peace talks, WSJ reports (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 30, 2026, for a G20 Foreign Ministers meeting. He plans to use the forum to call for the lifting of international sanctions against Russia. The meeting is a precursor to a larger G20 leaders' summit in Miami.
CGTN reported it asRUSSIA'S LAVROV TO ATTEND G20 FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING IN US ON OCT 30-31, ZAKHAROVA SAYS (opens CGTN in a new tab)
A new Lancet report indicates 710,000 heat-related deaths occurred globally in 2023, with over 70% attributed to human-caused climate change. Researchers are urging a formal declaration of a global health emergency to address accelerating climate harms.
CGTN reported it asDeclare climate change a health emergency, Lancet report urges (opens CGTN in a new tab)
US CENTCOM chief Admiral Brad Cooper visited the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that key transit routes are clear of Iranian mines. The command also announced support for over 3,000 commercial vessel transits and 1.5 billion barrels of oil exports in six months.
Oxfam’s new study says the world’s richest 0.1% produce more carbon than the poorest 3.5 billion, that the richest 1% account for 20% of warming since 1990, and that their emissions could cause 1.9 million excess heat‑related deaths, mostly in low‑income nations.
CGTN reported it asOxfam: World's richest 0.1% produce more carbon than poorest 3.5 billion (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Vladimir Putin stated that attempts to remove Russia from the global gas market have serious consequences, primarily increased costs for foreign consumers. He used a Russian proverb to describe the EU's energy situation, asserting the bloc is harming its own industry and social sector.
CGTN reported it asPUTIN: WE NEED TO CONSIDER BRINGING AN END TO ONGOING CONFLICTS AND LIFTING SANCTIONS (opens CGTN in a new tab)
President Vladimir Putin announced Russia is exploring the possibility of cooperation with the United States in the Arctic. The statement was made at the Forum of Gas Exporting Countries summit in Moscow, though details on specific projects remain unspecified.
CGTN reported it asThe Russian Federation is working on the possibility of joint work with the United States in the Arctic, Putin said. - Russian media (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Asian stock markets saw a significant rise following Anthropic's initial public offering filing, which disclosed strong revenue growth alongside substantial losses. Meta Platforms' large equity fundraising also contributed to the positive sentiment.
CGTN reported it asAnthropic files for IPO, reveals soaring revenue, massive net losses (opens CGTN in a new tab)
An oil spill from a tanker has affected beaches in Umm Al Quwain, the UAE's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment announced. Coastal areas have been temporarily closed as a precaution, while residents reported unpleasant odours.
CGTN reported it asOil spill off UAE widens, satellite images show, prompting more beach closures (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Israeli forces raided multiple towns in the northern West Bank and forced dozens of Palestinians to evacuate their homes in Hebron. The operation, which began after two soldiers were killed, is expected to continue for several days.
CGTN reported it asIsraeli operation displaces more than 2,600 Palestinians in West Bank's Hebron (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Skirmishes between Indian and Chinese troops persist in Arunachal Pradesh, confirmed by the ITBP Director General. The Congress party has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of cowardice and silence on the issue, while also raising concerns about China's actions.
CGTN reported it asChina hopes India will work in same direction to safeguard border peace (opens CGTN in a new tab)
The US Department of Defense has designated Confucius Institutes as a threat to national security. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that 80 new propaganda cells were identified across 30 universities and have been dismantled.
CGTN reported it asChina opposes US smearing, stigmatization of Confucius Institutes (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has secured a fourth term as Brazil's president, defeating right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro challenged the election results, while international leaders congratulated Lula on his victory and commitment to democracy.
CGTN reported it asLula declares victory in Brazil's presidential runoff, Bolsonaro refuses to concede (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Saudi airstrikes in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, killed 11 people, according to Houthi media. The Saudi-led coalition stated it intercepted two missiles launched by the Houthis towards Saudi cities shortly after the strikes.
CGTN reported it asHouthis and Saudi-led coalition exchange heavy strikes, fresh casualties reported (opens CGTN in a new tab)
Who says so
2 organisations have published a rating for this outlet, in their own words. Where they disagree, the disagreement is the useful part and it is left standing.
How reliably it reports fact
A rating of the newsroom in general, by others, and a different thing from the Trust score we publish on each story, which judges one piece of reporting.
High factuality
Who owns it
- Chinese Communist PartyGovernmentdirect owner
Where it publishes from
What we have seen ourselves
Counted across the stories this site has published, which is the only denominator a reader can check: every one of them has a page, and every page lists the reports it was written from.
- Stories
- 289
- Reports listed
- 306
- We could read
- 61
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
245 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 61 we could open, not on everything it published.
On 154 of those stories, outlets rated left were largely absent from the coverage and CGTN ran the story anyway.
Across the 289 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than CGTN’s on 5 of them. Overall it filed a median of 29 hours after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 2 November 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 2 November 2026. Ratings pulled 5 October 2026.
Think this page is wrong?
The leanings above are published by AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check, and we republish them rather than make them. If you think one is misapplied, the strongest place to say so is with the organisation that made it, and every verdict here links to their page.
What we are responsible for is everything else: the ownership chain, where CGTN publishes from, which of our stories we have listed it on, and whether we have the right publisher at all. Tell us what is wrong and an editor reads it.
Report something wrong on this page
Anything we correct is written up in the public corrections log. We do not publish reader votes as a rating, because an unattributed rating is the thing this site exists to argue against.
Every rating on this page is a named third party’s published work, republished with its author and, where one exists, a link to it. Our own coverage record is the section we measure ourselves. Neither is a judgement of any individual report: those are scored story by story, and the reasoning is on our methodology page.