CNN media bias and reliability
AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place CNN as leaning left. We have seen it on 330 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is CNN biased?
AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place CNN as leaning left. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is CNN left or right?
AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place CNN as leaning left. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Left.
Is CNN reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for CNN are Ad Fontes Media: High factuality; Media Bias/Fact Check: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What CNN has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with CNN’s own report linked underneath.
U.S. Representative Haley Stevens has faced significant backlash after endorsing Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan's U.S. Senate seat. Several members of her staff have resigned in protest, and some Jewish Democrats have publicly disavowed her endorsement.
CNN reported it asStevens’ chief of staff quits after GOP endorsement (opens CNN in a new tab)
Cook Political Report shifts twelve House races toward Democrats and forecasts up to 240 seats
Trust 86The Cook Political Report moved twelve House contests closer to Democrats, projecting a possible 240‑seat majority, the strongest since 2009. It also gave Democrats a slight Senate advantage and reported that President Trump reinstated two rallies in red states that had been cancelled.
CNN reported it asMidterms live updates: Trump revives two red state rallies after earlier cancellations (opens CNN in a new tab)
Scientists have identified an icy object, named 2026 ED138, orbiting the sun beyond Pluto. The object's size is estimated between 600 and 1,500 kilometres in diameter. Classification as a dwarf planet depends on further study.
CNN reported it asScientists discover a never-before-seen potential dwarf planet in our solar system (opens CNN in a new tab)
Ryan Higgins, a senior adviser to Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, has shared online posts containing racist, homophobic, and conspiratorial views. These posts include comments about LGBTQ+ people and illegal immigrants.
CNN reported it asPete Hegseth’s faith adviser shared racist, homophobic posts (opens CNN in a new tab)
A federal appeals court has rejected the Justice Department's request to set aside approximately 20,000 California mail-in ballots alleged to be from noncitizens. The case has been sent back to a district court for further proceedings.
CNN reported it asAppeals court rejects Trump DOJ demand to set aside 20,000 California mail ballots (opens CNN 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.
CNN reported it asAnthropic set to make stock market debut as questions swirl about safety of AI (opens CNN in a new tab)
Average gasoline prices during Donald Trump's second term have surpassed those during Joe Biden's term. This development comes as voters express dissatisfaction with fuel costs, with a significant majority disapproving of Trump's handling of the issue.
CNN reported it asGas under Trump 2.0 is now more expensive than it was under Biden (opens CNN in a new tab)
US military forces in the Middle East are reportedly prepared to launch a major offensive against Iran within 96 hours of receiving an order from President Donald Trump. The decision on whether to proceed has not yet been made by the president.
CNN reported it asUS has plans for major Iran strikes if Trump chooses (opens CNN in a new tab)
Anna Mochalova, 32, has been arrested and charged with hate crimes after allegedly stabbing two Jewish men in separate incidents in Midtown Manhattan. The attacks occurred within minutes of each other on West 47th Street and Sixth Avenue.
CNN reported it asWoman charged with hate crimes in attack on two Jewish men in NYC (opens CNN in a new tab)
Former President Barack Obama criticized Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods during a rally in Detroit, Michigan. He joked about Canada being a 'well-known evil empire' and discussed the impact of tariffs on automakers.
CNN reported it asObama jokes about the ‘well-known evil empire, Canada’ (opens CNN in a new tab)
Rapper Nicki Minaj announced her continued support for Donald Trump at a Republican rally in Michigan. She stated she would back him if he runs for president again, appearing alongside him at the event.
CNN reported it asTrump comments on Nicki Minaj’s appearance at Michigan rally (opens CNN in a new tab)
France deployed thousands of police officers to manage protests over living costs and school funding. A planned march in Paris was rerouted to the city's southeastern edge, with authorities citing concerns over potential unrest and damage to businesses.
CNN reported it asMore than 100 detained in France with protest underway in Paris (opens CNN in a new tab)
Israeli soldiers shot and killed two men near Hebron in the occupied West Bank. At least five people were injured. Israel's military stated the men carried firearms. Following the incident, Israel ordered its army to prepare for a full closure of the West Bank.
CNN reported it asNetanyahu orders closure of West Bank after two soldiers killed in shooting attack (opens CNN in a new tab)
More than 50,000 people are estimated to have died across European cities during this summer's heat waves. A new analysis attributes about two-thirds of these deaths directly to climate change, driven by fossil fuel pollution, making it the region's deadliest heat summer on record.
CNN reported it as‘Worst on record’: Brutal summer heat wave killed more than 50,000 in Europe’s cities (opens CNN in a new tab)
Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations of contract misconduct at the Department of Homeland Security, focusing on the role of Corey Lewandowski. The investigation stems from a criminal referral by the DHS Inspector General.
CNN reported it asJustice Department investigating Republican operative Corey Lewandowski over alleged contract misconduct at DHS, sources say (opens CNN in a new tab)
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Department of Homeland Security from conducting field operations to identify noncitizen voters in nine states. The order cites concerns that the department's efforts rely on flawed data that may include U.S. citizens.
CNN reported it asJudge curbs Trump administration’s hunt for noncitizen voters in some states, citing flawed data (opens CNN in a new tab)
The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from former National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox, who challenged her dismissal by President Donald Trump. The court's decision upholds a lower court's ruling that validated Trump's executive authority in the firing.
CNN reported it asSupreme Court blocks Trump from suspending transgender medical care in federal prisons (opens CNN in a new tab)
Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American teacher, has been released by Russia after nearly five years of detention. He was convicted of serving as a mercenary. The release was announced by former President Donald Trump, who stated Russia demanded nothing in return.
CNN reported it asRussia frees 74-year-old US man after plea from Trump (opens CNN in a new tab)
Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign has confirmed it produced an ad featuring his opponent Amy Acton's estranged mother. The ad includes criticism of Acton and insinuations about her mental health. The campaign plans a significant advertising spend around the video, which has drawn criticism.
CNN reported it asVivek Ramaswamy launches $4 million ad campaign of controversial video featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother (opens CNN in a new tab)
Relations between the United States and Ukraine are strained, with reports of disagreements between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The exact nature of these tensions remains unclear across the coverage.
CNN reported it asUS relationship with Ukraine faces deepening strain (opens CNN in a new tab)
Who says so
3 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
- WarnerMediaMedia Conglomeratedirect owner
- Warner Bros. DiscoveryMedia Conglomerateparent group
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
- 330
- Reports listed
- 340
- We could read
- 13
- First seen
- 3 August 2026
327 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 13 we could open, not on everything it published.
On 84 of those stories, outlets rated left were largely absent from the coverage and CNN ran the story anyway.
Across the 330 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than CNN’s on 12 of them. Overall it filed a median of 20 hours after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 2 November 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 2 November 2026. Ratings pulled 3 October 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as CNN, also publishing from United States, ordered by how often we have seen them on a story. Sharing a rating is not the same as being alike.
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 CNN 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.