NZ Herald media bias and reliability
Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place NZ Herald in the centre. We have seen it on 73 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is NZ Herald biased?
Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place NZ Herald in the centre. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is NZ Herald left or right?
Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place NZ Herald in the centre. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Centre.
Is NZ Herald reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for NZ Herald 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 NZ Herald has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with NZ Herald’s own report linked underneath.
The United States, Denmark and Greenland plan to sign a security pact at the UN General Assembly next week. President Donald Trump says the deal gives the US permanent control over security matters, while other outlets report no sovereign US control. A joint working group will discuss future cooperation.
NZ Herald reported it asTrump claims ‘infinite’ Greenland security deal with Denmark (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
President Donald Trump was photographed on Air Force One looking at a poster that appeared to read 'Kennedy Center DEMOLIS[HED]'. The image emerged as the Kennedy Center has been surrounded by fencing and amid a court examination of its controversial closure.
NZ Herald reported it asTrump spotted looking at (large print) plans to demolish Kennedy Centre (opens NZ Herald 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Three supporting acts have withdrawn from Ed Sheeran's tour following the removal of rapper Macklemore.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.
NZ Herald reported it as'Free Palestine': Macklemore asks Kraft to match $1m donation (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
The United Nations General Assembly has voted to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the 81st session via video link. The decision follows the United States' denial of a visa to Abbas, preventing his in-person attendance in New York.
NZ Herald reported it asUS again denies Palestinian leader Abbas visa to attend UN assembly (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour has seen all supporting artists withdraw after the removal of rapper Macklemore. Macklemore was reportedly dropped due to his pro-Palestine stance. Greta Thunberg and Shane MacGowan's widow have commented on the situation.
NZ Herald reported it asGreta Thunberg leads the pro-Palestinian backlash aimed at Ed Sheeran (opens NZ Herald 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.
NZ Herald reported it asUS Fed raises rates to battle inflation in move likely to anger Trump (opens NZ Herald 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.
NZ Herald reported it asTour fallout: All support acts quit Sheeran's shows after Macklemore dropped (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
The Trump administration is preparing to sell Israel a $2.8 billion arms package that includes 40,000 heavy aerial bombs. The sale, reported by The Washington Post, involves munitions that have been linked to civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon.
NZ Herald reported it asTrump’s planned sale of controversial bombs to Israel is largest in years (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
A former Google DeepMind employee has joined a growing chorus of AI researchers warning that artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat to humanity. Bilal Chughtai stated that time may be running out to avoid this outcome.
NZ Herald reported it asEx-Google worker adds to AI alarm, warns of ‘potential to kill us all' (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
Leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru, and Sinn Féin met in Cardiff to sign a memorandum of understanding calling for self-determination and independence referendums. The meeting followed US President Donald Trump's public support for Irish unity.
NZ Herald reported it asScottish, Welsh, N. Irish party leaders claim right to choose independence (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
A Russian drone struck a train near the Ukrainian-Polish border. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other European officials had travelled on a train that passed through the area shortly before the attack, according to reports. Poland's Prime Minister warned of intensified Russian attacks.
NZ Herald reported it asRussian drone strikes train behind Boris Johnson and other dignitaries near Ukraine border (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
During a visit to Dublin, President Donald Trump said he would "love" a unified Ireland and that it would happen eventually. The comment triggered unionist leaders to reject interference, while Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called the remarks timely and urged preparation for reunification.
NZ Herald reported it as'Deeply unhelpful': Badenoch attacks Trump's united Ireland call (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
Documents obtained by multiple outlets reveal that Atlantic Industrial Coatings admitted its own design and workmanship flaws caused the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool liner to blister and detach. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said the damage resulted from a botched installation, and the government agreed to a $14.7 million repair payment.
NZ Herald reported it asTrump’s contractor admits blame for failed reflecting pool renovation (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that the government is studying the latest U.S. tariffs and import bans. He indicated that Canada is considering whether to adjust its own retaliatory tariffs and called the U.S. trade bans 'modest'. Carney recently spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump.
NZ Herald reported it asCarney stays in touch with Trump, Canada ready for 'fair' trade deal (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
Jordan's armed forces stated that 18 out of 20 ballistic missiles launched from Iran were intercepted and destroyed by air defence systems. Two missiles landed in unpopulated areas without causing casualties. Iran's IRGC claimed to have targeted a US military base in Jordan.
NZ Herald reported it asTrump accuses Iran of meddling in midterms as wave of missiles targets US base in Jordan (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
August 2026 was the hottest month on record globally, tying with July 2023, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The record heat was attributed to human-caused climate change and a strong El Niño event, with sea surface temperatures also reaching new highs.
NZ Herald reported it asAugust hottest month ever recorded globally: EU monitor (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
A 27-year-old British researcher, Jacob Coxon, has resigned from Anthropic and the AI industry, citing concerns over the rapid, irresponsible development of self-improving superintelligence. He fears this race poses a significant risk to humanity, with some reports suggesting an existential threat by the end of the decade.
NZ Herald reported it as‘Gambling with our lives’: AI researcher quits Anthropic, says AI could 'kill us all' (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
Jacob Coxon has resigned from AI company Anthropic, warning that the rapid development of artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to humanity. His departure and warnings have been reported across several outlets, highlighting concerns about AI safety and the race for superintelligence.
NZ Herald reported it as‘Gambling with our lives’: AI researcher quits Anthropic, says AI could 'kill us all' (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
An Anthropic researcher has warned of a greater than 10% chance of AI causing human extinction in the next ten years. The warning follows a colleague's resignation over concerns about reckless AI development.
NZ Herald reported it as‘Gambling with our lives’: AI researcher quits Anthropic, says AI could 'kill us all' (opens NZ Herald in a new tab)
Jacob Coxon, a researcher formerly with OpenAI and Anthropic, has resigned, stating that leading AI developers are acting irresponsibly and "gambling with our lives." His departure has drawn comparisons to the Skynet scenario from the Terminator film.
NZ Herald reported it as‘Gambling with our lives’: AI researcher quits Anthropic, says AI could 'kill us all' (opens NZ Herald 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
Who owns it
- NZME LimitedMedia Conglomeratedirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Official site
- nzherald.co.nz
- Seen publishing on
- nzherald.co.nz
- 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
- 73
- Reports listed
- 76
- We could read
- 0
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
76 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. NZ Herald is rated centre, so there is no side for it to be counted against and we publish no figure here.
Across the 73 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, another outlet was always ahead of NZ Herald: its report arrived a median of 22 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.
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 NZ Herald 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.