Helena Independent Record media bias and reliability
AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place Helena Independent Record in the centre. We have seen it on 69 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is Helena Independent Record biased?
AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place Helena Independent Record in the centre. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is Helena Independent Record left or right?
AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place Helena Independent Record in the centre. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Centre.
Is Helena Independent Record reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for Helena Independent Record are Ad Fontes Media: Very high factuality; Media Bias/Fact Check: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What Helena Independent Record has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with Helena Independent Record’s own report linked underneath.
Democrat Gina Hinojosa has defeated Republican incumbent Greg Abbott in the 2026 Texas governor's race. Her victory makes her the first Democrat elected governor in more than 30 years and the third woman to hold the office.
Helena Independent Record reported it asNot even Elon Musk has enough money to stop Democratic wave (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Democrats are projected to win a majority in the House of Representatives and have taken control of the Senate following the US midterm elections. The results mark a significant setback for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
Helena Independent Record reported it asA Democratic wave and more takeaways from the US midterm elections (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Republican Kurt Alme has won the U.S. Senate election in Montana, succeeding outgoing Senator Steve Daines. Alme secured 47.7% of the vote against his opponents, with the race being called early Wednesday morning.
Helena Independent Record reported it asRepublican Kurt Alme declares victory in Montana Senate race; Bodnar in strong second place (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Democrats hope midterm elections will curb President Trump's power, but Canadians may be disappointed as bilateral tensions are likely to remain. Experts point to persistent protectionist policies and potential presidential unpredictability as reasons for continued strain.
Helena Independent Record reported it asWhat early voting does and doesn’t tell us about the 2026 midterms (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Donald Trump has acknowledged that the war with Iran, alongside the cost of living, played a role in the Republican Party's defeat in the midterm elections. The conflict's financial toll was also noted.
Helena Independent Record reported it asWhat early voting does and doesn’t tell us about the 2026 midterms (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Polls have opened across the United States for midterm elections, with a potential 'Blue Wave' threatening Republican control of Congress. President Trump made a final campaign address as his approval ratings hover near a record low.
Helena Independent Record reported it asWhat early voting does and doesn’t tell us about the 2026 midterms (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed will campaign with former primary rival Rep. Haley Stevens in Detroit. This marks their first joint public appearance in months, with Rep. Jim Clyburn also set to attend a get-out-the-vote event.
Helena Independent Record reported it asMichigan endorsement roils Senate race (opens Helena Independent Record 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.
Helena Independent Record reported it asRussia frees retired US schoolteacher held since 2022 (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Attorneys for Representative Ilhan Omar accused the Justice Department of violating court orders during a search of her Washington, D.C. home. They demanded the return of seized property and preservation of search recordings, calling the investigation politically motivated.
Helena Independent Record reported it asDOJ broke legal norms in Omar home search (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
An international study projects that annual new dementia diagnoses will more than double by 2050, reaching an estimated 24.7 million cases. The research also found that women and individuals in low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected.
Helena Independent Record reported it asDementia cases to double by 2050. Here's why (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Kyiv will no longer abide by US President Donald Trump's demand not to strike Russian oil refineries. He met European leaders in Brussels to rally support as relations with Washington have soured.
Helena Independent Record reported it asEU leaders rally around Zelenskyy as Trump calls Ukrainian strikes on Russia a 'disgrace' (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
President Donald Trump announced plans for a new defense "super range" in Montana to test advanced military technologies. The facility will focus on autonomous weapons, space systems, electronic warfare, and hypersonic weapons. Trump made the announcement at a campaign event ahead of the midterm elections.
Helena Independent Record reported it asMontana to get weapon testing 'super range,' president says (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Katie Zacharia, President Trump's new press secretary, has stated she is a lawyer. An investigation found no record of her being licensed to practice law in any US state or Washington D.C. She told reporters she passed the bar exam when she moved to China.
Helena Independent Record reported it asWhite House press secretary Katie Zacharia draws scrutiny (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
President Donald Trump stated Kimberly Guilfoyle was not a member of his family and that he did not like the allegations against her. The White House had requested her resignation as US ambassador to Greece.
Helena Independent Record reported it asWhite House says it asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Hassan Kariem, a teacher at Wesley International Academy, died after falling from the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia. Police stated he was ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling. Six Flags temporarily closed nine similar roller coasters.
Helena Independent Record reported it asSix Flags closes multiple roller coasters similar to one linked to Georgia park death (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Shannon O'Brien stepped down as chair of the Montana Democratic Party on Monday, effective immediately. In an op‑ed published by MS NOW she endorsed independent Senate candidate Seth Bodnar, criticised the party’s nominee Alani Bankhead, and noted that early voting was already under way.
Helena Independent Record reported it asMontana Democratic chair resigns, backs Bodnar’s independent campaign over party's nominee (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
A planet described as a gas giant has been discovered orbiting a white dwarf star approximately 250 light-years away. This 'second-generation' planet is believed to have formed from material expelled by its dying star, offering new insights into planet formation.
Helena Independent Record reported it asAlien 'phoenix planet' was born from the ashes of a dying star (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
President Donald Trump is campaigning in Texas for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, visiting the state for the third time in less than a month. Republicans face unexpectedly close midterm election contests in Texas as they aim to maintain control of Congress.
Helena Independent Record reported it asMost Republicans in tight midterm races distance themselves from Trump, Reuters review finds (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Republican candidates are distancing themselves from Donald Trump in competitive races ahead of the US midterm elections. The party faces internal divisions and concerns about losing control of Congress due to economic issues and fallout from the Iran conflict.
Helena Independent Record reported it asMost Republicans in tight midterm races distance themselves from Trump, Reuters review finds (opens Helena Independent Record in a new tab)
Governor Gavin Newsom has called for President Donald Trump's removal from office, citing the 25th Amendment. Newsom described Trump as 'mentally ill' and 'deranged and dangerous' after the president suggested Iran could attack Los Angeles or San Diego.
Helena Independent Record reported it asTRUMP SAYS IRAN COULD "TAKE OUT" LOS ANGELES AND SAN DIEGO (opens Helena Independent Record 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.
Very high factuality
Who owns it
- Lee EnterprisesMedia Conglomeratedirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana, United States
- Official site
- helenair.com
- Seen publishing on
- helenair.com
- Access
- Paywalled
- 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
- 69
- Reports listed
- 69
- We could read
- 0
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
69 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.
A blindspot is measured against one side of the spectrum. Helena Independent Record is rated centre, so there is no side for it to be counted against and we publish no figure here.
Across the 69 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than Helena Independent Record’s on 1 of them. Overall it filed a median of 2 days after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 5 November 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 5 November 2026. Ratings pulled 6 October 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as Helena Independent Record, 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 Helena Independent Record 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.