SFist media bias and reliability
The rating organisations do not give SFist one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are Ad Fontes Media: Centre; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans left. We have seen it on 27 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is SFist biased?
The rating organisations do not give SFist one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are Ad Fontes Media: Centre; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans left. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is SFist left or right?
The rating organisations do not give SFist one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are Ad Fontes Media: Centre; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans left. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Left.
Is SFist reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for SFist 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 SFist has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with SFist’s own report linked underneath.
Rapper Macklemore stated that nine major U.S. venues, including Madison Square Garden, declined to host his "Free Palestine" tour. MSG Entertainment responded that Macklemore is not an "arena-level act" and cited limited availability.
SFist reported it asRapper Macklemore Claims Chase Center Refuses to Host His 'Free Palestine' Tour (opens SFist in a new tab)
European stock markets saw significant gains following the US midterm elections, with banking and clean energy sectors leading the advance. The dollar weakened against major currencies as Democrats secured control of both chambers of Congress.
SFist reported it asHumpday Headlines: Stocks Rally After Midterm Rout By Dems (opens SFist in a new tab)
A federal judge ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release UC Berkeley student Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez, who was detained at San Francisco International Airport. The judge found that her detention violated due process.
SFist reported it asUC Berkeley Student Seeking Asylum Detained by ICE at SFO (opens SFist in a new tab)
California Governor Gavin Newsom has threatened to arrest and prosecute federal agents and others who interfere with the state's elections. The move comes after ICE warned it would pursue individuals who vote illegally.
SFist reported it asNewsom, Possibly Afraid of Pelosi's Wrath, Declines to Endorse In SF Congressional Race (opens SFist in a new tab)
The first polling stations in the US closed in parts of Indiana and Kentucky at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Millions of Americans voted in advance of the midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.
SFist reported it asElection Day Headlines: 6.5M Ballots Already Cast In CA (opens SFist 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.
SFist reported it asAnthropic Files For IPO, Reveals $80B Loss (opens SFist in a new tab)
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed new laws aimed at protecting workers from artificial intelligence risks. The legislation bans the use of AI to predict a worker's emotional state using biometric data and requires employers to notify staff about AI-driven mass layoffs.
SFist reported it asNewsom Sticks It to Trump, Signs ‘No Robo Bosses Act’ and Several Other AI Bills (opens SFist in a new tab)
Meta has classified its artificial intelligence data centers as 'pilot models' or 'experimental' to claim federal research tax credits. This strategy reportedly saved the company approximately $6 billion in taxes over 2024 and 2025, though its own accountants have flagged the approach as potentially risky.
SFist reported it asMeta Saved Nearly $4 Billion In Taxes Last Year By Calling Its AI Data Centers ‘Experimental’ (opens SFist in a new tab)
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law prohibiting law enforcement officers from using shock gloves. The ban is set to take effect next year and will remain in place until 2030, following a period where ICE awarded a contract for such devices.
SFist reported it asNewsom Signs Laws That Will Tax Detention Centers, Make It Easier to Sue ICE Agents (opens SFist in a new tab)
A federal judge terminated the 23‑year federal monitoring of Oakland’s police force after the department satisfied every reform required by the 2003 settlement of the Riders scandal, a case that also saw the city pay $11 million to victims.
SFist reported it asOakland Police Department's 23-Year-Long Federal Oversight Is Over (opens SFist in a new tab)
Stanford University's Residential & Dining Enterprises used AI to alter a promotional photo, replacing a Latino student with an AI-generated Black woman and digitally slimming other students. The student stated the changes made him feel 'silenced and erased'.
SFist reported it asStanford Receives Backlash For Replacing Latino Student In Photo With AI-Generated Black Student (opens SFist in a new tab)
President Donald Trump vetoed CNN, Politico, and MS NOW, impacting audiovisual coverage of his UN trip. In response, CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox halted their joint television coverage of Trump, citing solidarity with the banned outlets.
SFist reported it asDay Around the Bay: BART's 2026 Ugly Holiday Sweater Is On Sale (opens SFist in a new tab)
A manhunt is underway in Placer County, California, for Derek Spencer, 44, who is wanted for multiple felonies including pointing a firearm at people. Residents were advised to shelter in place as authorities searched for the armed and dangerous suspect.
SFist reported it asMan Shot By Deputies In Placer County After Alleged Rampage, Arson Fires, Killing of Woman (opens SFist 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.
SFist reported it asNewsom Orders Formation of State AI Panel to Study 'Kill Switch' Options, Safety Issues (opens SFist in a new tab)
Apple CEO John Ternus posted a cryptic video ahead of the company's expected iPhone 18 Pro unveiling. The video appears to hint at a new variable aperture camera feature for the device, which is set to be announced alongside new Apple Watch models.
SFist reported it asApple Unveils iPhone Duo, Its First Foldable, at $1,999 (opens SFist in a new tab)
Apple has launched its first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, at its 'Surprise and Shine' event. The company also introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. This marks the first major product launch under new CEO John Ternus.
SFist reported it asApple Debuts Its First Foldable iPhone — Don't Call It a Flip Phone! (opens SFist in a new tab)
AI company Anthropic has blocked researchers from using its models for work that could potentially aid biological weapons development. The company stated it could not determine if the research served a legitimate scientific purpose or malicious intent, citing attempts to circumvent restrictions and obscure research goals.
SFist reported it asAnthropic Says It Shut Down Several Efforts to Use Claude to Develop Biological Weapons (opens SFist 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.
SFist reported it asAnthropic Researcher Says There’s 10% Chance of AI Killing ‘All Humans’ Within 10 Years (opens SFist 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.
SFist reported it asAnthropic Researcher Says There’s 10% Chance of AI Killing ‘All Humans’ Within 10 Years (opens SFist 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.
SFist reported it asAnthropic Researcher Says There’s 10% Chance of AI Killing ‘All Humans’ Within 10 Years (opens SFist 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.
High factuality
Who owns it
- Impress3 Mediaunknowndirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, United States
- Official site
- sfist.com
- Seen publishing on
- sfist.com
- Access
- Free to read
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
- 27
- Reports listed
- 27
- We could read
- 1
- First seen
- 13 August 2026
26 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.
On 8 of those stories, outlets rated left were largely absent from the coverage and SFist ran the story anyway.
Across the 27 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, another outlet was always ahead of SFist: its report arrived a median of 2 days after the earliest one we logged.
Measured 11 November 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 10 November 2026. Ratings pulled 12 October 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as SFist, 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 SFist 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.