Courthouse News Service media bias and reliability
The rating organisations do not give Courthouse News Service one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are Ad Fontes Media: Leans left; Media Bias/Fact Check: Centre. We have seen it on 68 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is Courthouse News Service biased?
The rating organisations do not give Courthouse News Service one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are Ad Fontes Media: Leans left; Media Bias/Fact Check: Centre. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is Courthouse News Service left or right?
The rating organisations do not give Courthouse News Service one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are Ad Fontes Media: Leans left; Media Bias/Fact Check: Centre. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Left.
Is Courthouse News Service reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for Courthouse News Service are Media Bias/Fact Check: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What Courthouse News Service has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with Courthouse News Service’s own report linked underneath.
The California Supreme Court has ordered Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to return approximately 650,000 ballots seized from a November 2025 special election. The court ruled Bianco's seizure was unlawful, siding with the state's Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Courthouse News Service reported it asCalifornia justices slap down Riverside County sheriff over ballot grab (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, together with the State Board of Administration of Florida, filed a shareholder lawsuit in New York state court on 29 July 2026 accusing The New York Times of anti‑Israel bias in its Gaza war coverage. The Times says the suit has no merit.
Courthouse News Service reported it asNYT sued over ‘anti-Israel bias’ by Florida pension fund, conservative think tank (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
The International Criminal Court convicted Mahamat Said Abdel Kani on four counts of crimes against humanity, including torture and unlawful imprisonment. He oversaw a detention centre where detainees suffered severe maltreatment during the Central African Republic's civil war.
Courthouse News Service reported it asCentral African rebel commander convicted of torture, cleared of war crimes (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
The United States has refused visas to members of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's delegation, including his communications team, for the UN General Assembly. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson described the action as an 'unprecedented hostile move'. The US has authorised the delegation's travel but imposed restrictions.
Courthouse News Service reported it asIn historic UN speech, Iranian president accuses US and Israel of breaking international law (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
EU member states have provisionally agreed to lift sanctions on Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman. Ukraine's Foreign Minister stated this move is unacceptable and would send the wrong message to Moscow.
Courthouse News Service reported it asEU renews Russia sanctions but grudgingly drops 2 oligarchs from list (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
New York and New Jersey have joined a coalition of eight states suing the federal government over settlements that redirected over $1.4 billion from offshore wind development to fossil fuel projects. The lawsuits challenge the legality of these deals, arguing they are an improper use of taxpayer money.
Courthouse News Service reported it asNew York, Maine lead challenge against Trump offshore wind dealings (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
US President Donald Trump described Cuba as a 'failed state' and predicted 'freedom will come to Cuba' during his UN General Assembly speech. The Cuban delegation walked out of the assembly hall in response to his remarks.
Courthouse News Service reported it asTrump threatens Iran and Cuba in fiery UN speech (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
Saudi Arabia confirmed an attempted ballistic missile attack on its capital, Riyadh, by Houthi rebels. The Saudi-led coalition stated the missile was intercepted. The Houthis claimed to have targeted sensitive sites in Riyadh and oil facilities in Yanbu, reporting significant fires.
Courthouse News Service reported it asHouthis accuse Saudi Arabia of deadly strikes as thousands flee (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
Saudi Arabia's air defenses intercepted a drone south of Mecca, an act the kingdom attributed to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The Houthis have denied targeting the holy city, which Saudi Arabia declared a 'red line'.
Courthouse News Service reported it asHouthis accuse Saudi Arabia of deadly strikes as thousands flee (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
British prosecutors have charged a 65-year-old man with genocide-related offences allegedly committed during the 1994 Rwanda Tutsi killings. The man, identified as Vincent Brown, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team began an investigation in 2019.
Courthouse News Service reported it asRwandan doctor faces first UK genocide charges over 1994 killings (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
Paramount has settled lawsuits brought by state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America concerning its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The settlements pave the way for the $81 billion deal to proceed, pending final court approval.
Courthouse News Service reported it asParamount settles with state AGs over Warner Bros. merger (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
At least three people were killed and several more injured in a Pakistani airstrike on Afghanistan's Kunar province. Tolo News cited a provincial official for the casualty figures, while other reports mentioned an unnamed source and a specific civilian home being targeted.
Courthouse News Service reported it asPakistan launches deadly strikes on eastern Afghanistan (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed 13 election-protection bills on Saturday. The legislation aims to prevent interference in the state's midterm elections by creating new felony offenses for actions such as seizing ballots or directing interference with mail-in vote delivery.
Courthouse News Service reported it asCalifornia governor touts protection of democracy in bill signings (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
On 17 September 2026 a federal judge struck down a Trump‑era rule that required the US Education Department to terminate millions of dollars in diversity, equity and inclusion grants. The decision was first reported by Reuters and was covered by several centre and right outlets.
Courthouse News Service reported it asJudge blocks Trump’s $600 million cuts to DEI grant funding for teachers (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order mandating state agencies to develop recommendations for strengthening AI safety laws. The order calls for a team of experts to propose new regulations within two months, potentially including a 'kill switch' for AI programs.
Courthouse News Service reported it asCalifornia governor issues executive order on AI (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
Stanford University scientists have found that the human brain develops from two distinct progenitor cell populations, suggesting an evolutionary merging of two ancient nervous systems. This discovery could aid research into neurological diseases.
Courthouse News Service reported it asYour brain may actually be two brains in one (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended the mandate of experts monitoring sanctions on Iran. The vote creates a gap in oversight as the sanctions themselves remain in effect.
Courthouse News Service reported it asRussia and China veto US proposal for UN experts to keep monitoring sanctions on Iran (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
The U.S. Federal Reserve has raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points, marking the first such increase in over three years. The unanimous decision aims to combat inflation, and was followed by a significant drop in gold prices.
Courthouse News Service reported it asFed raises interest rates for first time in three years (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
House Speaker Mike Johnson has sent representatives home early for their pre-election recess. This move postpones a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which had been initiated by Rep. Thomas Massie over Hegseth's actions in Iran and Venezuela.
Courthouse News Service reported it asHouse Republicans send lawmakers home early ahead of Hegseth impeachment vote (opens Courthouse News Service in a new tab)
Federal authorities have unsealed an indictment charging five individuals linked to Russian intelligence services with plotting targeted killings in the United States and European nations supporting Ukraine. The FBI announced it disrupted the alleged plot.
Courthouse News Service reported it asFeds accuse Russia of backing murder-for-hire plot on US soil (opens Courthouse News Service 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.
Very high factuality
- Media Bias/Fact CheckhighCheck it
Who owns it
- Courthouse News ServiceIndependentdirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, United States
- Official site
- courthousenews.com
- Seen publishing on
- courthousenews.com
- Access
- Free to read
- Wikipedia
- Entry
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
- 68
- Reports listed
- 68
- We could read
- 0
- First seen
- 8 August 2026
68 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 0 we could open, not on everything it published.
On 16 of those stories, outlets rated left were largely absent from the coverage and Courthouse News Service ran the story anyway.
Across the 69 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than Courthouse News Service’s on 4 of them. Overall it filed a median of 13 hours after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 24 September 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 24 September 2026. Ratings pulled 10 September 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as Courthouse News Service, 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 Courthouse News Service 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.