The Mercury news media bias and reliability
The rating organisations do not give The Mercury news one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Leans left; Ad Fontes Media: Centre; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans left. We have seen it on 33 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is The Mercury news biased?
The rating organisations do not give The Mercury news one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Leans left; 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 The Mercury news left or right?
The rating organisations do not give The Mercury news one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Leans left; 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 The Mercury news reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for The Mercury news are Media Bias/Fact Check: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What The Mercury news has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with The Mercury news’s own report linked underneath.
A federal judge has blocked the creation of a $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate political allies of former President Donald Trump. The judge stated the issues underlying the case remain relevant, despite the administration's claims the fund is defunct.
The Mercury news reported it asJudge isn’t swayed by government’s claims that plans for an ‘anti-weaponization fund’ are dead (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
A 29-year-old Kansas man, Korby Allen Strube, has been arrested in Florida for allegedly making death threats against conservative commentator Ben Shapiro on social media. The threats reportedly referenced Shapiro's Jewish identity and included a countdown to Yom Kippur. Strube also allegedly made threats against former President Donald Trump.
The Mercury news reported it asBen Shapiro, conservative pundit, gets death threats from Kansas man, who is arrested (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
The U.S. stock market experienced a significant rally, marking its best day in six weeks. This surge was driven by falling oil prices and easing pressure from the bond market, occurring shortly after the Federal Reserve announced a quarter-percentage-point interest rate increase.
The Mercury news reported it asUS stocks rally to their best day in 6 weeks after oil prices and bond yields ease (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to address the European Parliament. This follows a proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for Canada to become the EU's first associate member, a move US President Donald Trump has criticised.
The Mercury news reported it asCarney embraces EU associate membership proposal as Trump pushes Canada closer to Europe (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
House Speaker Mike Johnson has sent representatives home early for their pre-election recess. This move postpones a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which had been initiated by Rep. Thomas Massie over Hegseth's actions in Iran and Venezuela.
The Mercury news reported it asSpeaker Johnson recesses the House early as Rep. Thomas Massie pushes Hegseth impeachment (opens The Mercury news 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.
The Mercury news reported it asAOC accuses Robert Kraft of trying to censor Macklemore’s free speech at Ed Sheeran concerts (opens The Mercury news 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.
The Mercury news reported it asTrump administration plans to send powerful bombs to Israel in $2.8 billion weapons sale (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
The board of the Kennedy Center voted to close the performing arts venue due to financial problems and a disagreement about naming the building after President Donald Trump. A judge had previously blocked the venue from being renamed.
The Mercury news reported it asKennedy Center will close for renovations after judge blocks returning Trump’s name to building (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
The Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration's request to enforce new U.S. Postal Service mail ballot regulations ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The court's order leaves in place a lower court injunction blocking the rules.
The Mercury news reported it asTrump slams Supreme Court for rejecting his push to restrict mail ballots (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
A Pentagon Inspector General report estimates Iranian attacks caused $184 million in damage to U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The report also details U.S. war costs and casualties.
The Mercury news reported it asIran war has cost the US more than $38 billion, budget office says (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
Twelve European countries met in Finland to call for a strengthened EU presence in the Arctic. They cited Russia as a significant threat and also mentioned Donald Trump's past actions. No official decisions were made, but a new EU strategy for the region is anticipated.
The Mercury news reported it asEuropean leaders meet as Arctic thaw opens shipping routes and Russian buildup stokes security fears (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. ordered the U.S. Postal Service not to implement President Donald Trump's executive order limiting mail balloting. The order came late Sunday, September 13, 2026, adding an obstacle to the administration's efforts to change election rules as the Supreme Court considers an appeal.
The Mercury news reported it asSecond federal judge freezes Trump mail ballot order with US Supreme Court poised to weigh in (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
AI company Anthropic reported that a group in northern Yemen used its Claude chatbot to develop guidance software for weapons, including a guided rocket and a ballistic missile. The company banned the accounts after detecting the activity.
The Mercury news reported it asUsers in Houthi-held Yemen tried to develop advanced weapons with AI, Anthropic says (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
The Justice Department announced the deportation of Nazira Haji Zada, an Afghan woman accused of aiding a terror plot. Her case was the first to use the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a secretive tribunal established 30 years ago, which had not been activated until this summer.
The Mercury news reported it asAfghan woman whose case was the first for a long-dormant court has been deported, officials say (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed 13 new laws designed to shield minors from the potential harms of social media and AI chatbots. The legislation includes penalties for companies found negligent and restrictions on addictive online content.
The Mercury news reported it asCalifornia governor signs laws aimed at protecting kids from risks of social media, AI chatbots (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
Scientists estimate Mercury's diameter may have shrunk by up to 14 miles (23 kilometers), a figure 30% greater than earlier projections. The planet's hot iron core cooling and contracting is believed to be the cause, tightening its surface.
The Mercury news reported it asLittle Mercury may be shrinking faster than scientists expected (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged that the U.S. would not take military action against drug traffickers in Latin American countries without the approval of its allies. This comes amid a yearlong U.S. campaign of strikes against alleged drug boats in international waters.
The Mercury news reported it asRubio pledges US won’t take unilateral action against drug trafficking despite recent strikes (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
Goldman Sachs has warned that oil prices could surge to $120 per barrel if attacks on ships in the Middle East intensify. The bank also projected prices could fall to $80 per barrel if regional exports normalize. Brent crude was trading around $97 per barrel on 7 September 2026.
The Mercury news reported it asStocks fall on Wall Street as oil prices jump back above $100 a barrel after Iran war escalates (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
Excavation for a planned 250-foot-tall arch in Washington, D.C. is set to begin within two weeks, the Trump administration announced. The project faces a lawsuit and criticism over its potential impact on historic sightlines.
The Mercury news reported it asExcavation work on Trump’s arch in Washington to begin over next 2 weeks, administration says (opens The Mercury news in a new tab)
A United Nations report published on September 2, 2026, states that global temperatures are likely to exceed the 1.5°C warming threshold within a few years. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) calls for rapid emissions cuts and carbon removal to limit damage.
The Mercury news reported it asGlobal warming will exceed limit, UN says in a report that maps path to get back below danger zone (opens The Mercury news 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
- Media Bias/Fact CheckhighCheck it
Who owns it
- Digital First MediaCorporationdirect owner
- Alden Global CapitalPrivate Equityparent group
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, United States
- Official site
- mercurynews.com
- Seen publishing on
- mercurynews.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
- 33
- Reports listed
- 33
- We could read
- 0
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
33 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.
On 8 of those stories, outlets rated left were largely absent from the coverage and The Mercury news ran the story anyway.
Across the 33 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than The Mercury news’s on 1 of them. Overall it filed a median of 24 hours after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 20 September 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 20 September 2026. Ratings pulled 5 September 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as The Mercury news, 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 The Mercury news 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.