The Citizen media bias and reliability
Media Bias/Fact Check places The Citizen as leaning right. We have seen it on 108 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is The Citizen biased?
Media Bias/Fact Check places The Citizen as leaning right. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is The Citizen left or right?
Media Bias/Fact Check places The Citizen as leaning right. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Right.
Is The Citizen reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for The Citizen are Media Bias/Fact Check: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What The Citizen has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with The Citizen’s own report linked underneath.
On Tuesday, Americans vote in the 2026 midterms that will decide whether Republicans keep their narrow House majority and Senate seats. Trump faces low approval ratings, a war with Iran and a costly cost‑of‑living squeeze, while polls show 54% of his base would back him even if he loses.
The Citizen reported it asAmericans vote in midterms set to upend Trump presidency (opens The Citizen 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.
The Citizen reported it asAmericans vote in midterms set to upend Trump presidency (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
The United States will exclude South Africa and Rwanda from the Africa-US duty-free trade deal, known as AGOA, from January 1, 2027. The decision follows concerns over trade barriers and governance practices inconsistent with the agreement's criteria.
The Citizen reported it asUS to exclude South Africa and Rwanda from Agoa duty-free deal (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
The United States will exclude South Africa and Rwanda from the Africa-US duty-free trade deal, known as AGOA, from January 1, 2027. The decision follows concerns over trade barriers and governance practices inconsistent with the agreement's criteria.
The Citizen reported it asUS plans to suspend South Africa and Rwanda from duty-free trade programme (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
The US Federal Communications Commission will vote on November 19 to ban China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom from direct access to US phone numbers. The move aims to enhance national security and prevent scam-related robocalls.
The Citizen reported it asUS plans to ban Chinese telecom firms from direct access to US phone numbers (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Pentagon officials have asked several NATO countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, to tone down their public rhetoric regarding the threat posed by Russia. The request stems from concerns that some European statements have undermined continental security.
The Citizen reported it asPentagon tells Europeans to cool their rhetoric on Russia (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Patrick Stewart, the British actor famous for his roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 'Star Trek' and Professor Charles Xavier in 'X-Men', has died at the age of 86. His death was announced by his family.
The Citizen reported it as'Star Trek', 'X-Men' star Patrick Stewart dead at 86 (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Edwin Brant Frost IV, a prominent Georgia Republican, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for operating a Ponzi scheme. Federal prosecutors stated the scheme defrauded over 300 victims and resulted in losses exceeding $76 million.
The Citizen reported it asBrant Frost IV Sentenced to 15 Years, $76.4 Million Restitution in First Liberty Ponzi Scheme (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Donald Trump has stated that Libya cannot continue to serve as a transit route for illegal migration, calling for the situation to end immediately. He also affirmed the US-Libya partnership in combating terrorism and urged the nation to hold national elections.
The Citizen reported it asLibya summons US envoy to protest at Trump remarks (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has secured a fourth term as Brazil's president, defeating right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro challenged the election results, while international leaders congratulated Lula on his victory and commitment to democracy.
The Citizen reported it asBrazil heads back to the future as Flavio Bolsonaro refuses to recognize Lula win (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has secured a fourth term as Brazil's president, defeating right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro challenged the election results, while international leaders congratulated Lula on his victory and commitment to democracy.
The Citizen reported it asLula secures historic fourth term as Ramaphosa hails 'victory for the Global South' (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
US President Donald Trump confirmed he may move the White House press corps to a different location. He dismissed reports that he planned to remove the press room and restore a historic swimming pool, calling such an idea 'stupid'.
The Citizen reported it asTrump says he may move White House press corps (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Russia will send its first tanker of diesel fuel to the United States on October 22, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. Contracts are in the final stages of signing, and Russia stated it would meet US needs within its capabilities.
The Citizen reported it asFirst Russian diesel from Putin-Trump deal heading for US (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Donald Trump announced that Ukraine's access to the Starshield military satellite communications system has been restored. The statement follows reports that Elon Musk had previously imposed speed restrictions on the service.
The Citizen reported it asTrump says Musk restored Ukraine's Starlink access, declines to say if they spoke (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that future talks on the war in Ukraine must include security guarantees for both nations and a broader European security framework. He confirmed Russia's readiness to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine next month.
The Citizen reported it asPutin says talks must focus on security for Russia, Ukraine and Europe overall (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
A foreign national was beaten to death by a group of approximately 50 people during a protest march in Durban, South Africa. Police are investigating the incident, which occurs against a backdrop of rising anti-immigrant sentiment and recent mass exoduses of migrants from the country.
The Citizen reported it asDurban CBD murder: Police investigate killing of foreign national (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
The United States has quietly reduced its military presence at bases across the Middle East in recent days. The State Department has also ordered a reduction of non-essential staff and their families from diplomatic posts in Saudi Arabia, citing Houthi attacks.
The Citizen reported it asUS orders diplomats to depart Saudi Arabia amid Houthi strikes (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated he would accept a peace agreement to freeze the war along current front lines, calling it a realistic way to end the conflict. The comments were made in a Fox News interview.
The Citizen reported it asZelensky calls for freezing of front with Russia as first step to talks (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
China's military stated it tracked the USS Charleston after it allegedly "illegally intruded" into waters near Sabina Shoal. Beijing claims the US action infringes on its sovereign rights and jeopardizes regional peace, while the US Navy has not immediately responded.
The Citizen reported it asChina deploys naval forces to monitor US warship near disputed shoal (opens The Citizen in a new tab)
Tesla has unveiled a redesigned Roadster at SpaceX's Texas facility, featuring rocket-style thrusters that enabled it to perform aerial stunts. Production is planned to begin in 2028, with claims of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in under a second.
The Citizen reported it asElon Musk unveils Tesla's 'flying' car (opens The Citizen 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.
- Media Bias/Fact CheckleanRightCheck 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
- Media Bias/Fact CheckhighCheck it
Who owns it
- Caxton and CTP Publishers and PrintersMedia Conglomeratedirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- Johannesburg, City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa
- Official site
- citizen.co.za
- Seen publishing on
- citizen.co.za, thecitizen.co.tz, thecitizen.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
- 108
- Reports listed
- 113
- We could read
- 3
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
110 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 3 we could open, not on everything it published.
On 21 of those stories, outlets rated right were largely absent from the coverage and The Citizen ran the story anyway.
Across the 108 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than The Citizen’s on 1 of them. Overall it filed a median of 34 hours after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 4 November 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 4 November 2026. Ratings pulled 6 October 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 The Citizen 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.