NME media bias and reliability
Ad Fontes Media places NME in the centre. We have seen it on 9 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is NME biased?
Ad Fontes Media places NME in the centre. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is NME left or right?
Ad Fontes Media places NME in the centre. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Centre.
Is NME reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for NME are Ad Fontes Media: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What NME has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with NME’s own report linked underneath.
HarperCollins has confirmed it will no longer publish or sell David Walliams's entire back catalogue of books. The decision follows allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards young women, which Walliams denies. Remaining copies will be withdrawn from sale.
NME reported it asDavid Walliams' back catalogue dropped by book publisher HarperCollins after 'inappropriate conduct' claims (opens NME in a new tab)
The animated series South Park began its 29th season with a name change to South America, a new theme song, and a plot involving e-bikes and a Donald Trump cameo. The episode saw Kenny die when his e-bike exploded.
NME reported it as'South Park' debuts updated theme song with Donald Trump cameo in season premiere (opens NME in a new tab)
Three supporting acts have withdrawn from Ed Sheeran's tour following the removal of rapper Macklemore. Macklemore was dropped by tour promoters for pro-Palestinian comments made during a performance. The departing acts cited solidarity with Macklemore and opposition to perceived silencing of voices speaking out against Israeli actions.
NME reported it asMacklemore donates entire $1million earnings from Ed Sheeran tour to Palestine people – billionaire Robert Kraft matches with $2million (opens NME in a new tab)
Three supporting acts have withdrawn from Ed Sheeran's tour following the removal of rapper Macklemore. Macklemore was dropped by tour promoters for pro-Palestinian comments made during a performance. The departing acts cited solidarity with Macklemore and opposition to perceived silencing of voices speaking out against Israeli actions.
NME reported it asSupport acts and backing band pull out of Ed Sheeran's tour over Macklemore Palestine controversy (opens NME in a new tab)
Alex Gibney's documentary 'Musk' features an original song by David Byrne titled 'Let Me Sell You a Dream.' The lyrics are exclusively composed of Elon Musk's own quotes. The 235-minute film is set for a U.S. theatrical release on October 16.
NME reported it asDavid Byrne has written a song using only Elon Musk quotes for “scathing” new documentary (opens NME in a new tab)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has cancelled its planned 2027 Met Gala exhibition featuring designer John Galliano. The decision follows significant backlash over the designer's past antisemitic and racist comments.
NME reported it asMet Gala’s 2027 John Galliano theme cancelled after backlash (opens NME in a new tab)
Tennessee's governor has proposed renaming Nashville International Airport for Dolly Parton, days after her death. The proposal faces a policy hurdle regarding naming rights for recently deceased individuals and will be discussed by the airport authority on September 17.
NME reported it asNashville airport to be renamed for Dolly Parton after petition reaches over 160,000 signatures (opens NME in a new tab)
Actress Hayden Panettiere, 36, was found dead in her Greenville, South Carolina apartment on 16 August 2026. Police and the coroner’s office reported no signs of foul play. Her father confirmed her death in a statement to ABC News, and tributes followed from co-stars and fans.
NME reported it asHayden Panettiere, 'Heroes' and 'Scream' star, has died aged 36 (opens NME in a new tab)
A documentary about Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker includes footage of the 2008 South Carolina plane crash he survived. The film traces his six-month hospital stay, surgeries, and return to music and flying, ending with family photos.
NME reported it asWatch the emotional trailer for ‘Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear’ – featuring Blink-182, the late Taylor Hawkins and more (opens NME in a new tab)
Usher responded to social media speculation that he sent a lookalike to perform at his New Jersey concert, calling the theory 'funny' and stating artificial intelligence is not advanced enough to clone him. Fans compared video clips, noting differences in appearance and mannerisms.
NME reported it asUsher responds to viral claims that he was replaced by a body double at one of his concerts (opens NME in a new tab)
Who says so
One organisation has published a rating for this outlet. Where they disagree, the disagreement is the useful part and it is left standing.
- Ad Fontes MediacenterCheck it
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
- Ad Fontes MediahighCheck it
Who owns it
- BandLab TechnologiesMedia Conglomeratedirect 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
- 9
- Reports listed
- 10
- We could read
- 1
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
9 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 1 we could open, not on everything it published.
A blindspot is measured against one side of the spectrum. NME is rated centre, so there is no side for it to be counted against and we publish no figure here.
Across the 9 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, another outlet was always ahead of NME: its report arrived a median of 19 hours after the earliest one we logged.
Measured 19 September 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 19 September 2026. Ratings pulled 4 September 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as NME, also publishing from United Kingdom, 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 NME 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.