The Root media bias and reliability
The rating organisations do not give The Root one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Leans left; Ad Fontes Media: Left; Media Bias/Fact Check: Left. We have seen it on 27 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is The Root biased?
The rating organisations do not give The Root one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Leans left; Ad Fontes Media: Left; Media Bias/Fact Check: Left. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is The Root left or right?
The rating organisations do not give The Root one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Leans left; Ad Fontes Media: Left; Media Bias/Fact Check: Left. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Left.
Is The Root reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for The Root are Ad Fontes Media: Low factuality; Media Bias/Fact Check: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What The Root has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with The Root’s own report linked underneath.
More than 34 million Americans have cast early ballots in the current midterm elections. This figure is on pace to surpass the early voting turnout of the 2022 midterms, according to data tracked by the UF Election Lab.
The Root reported it as10 Things to Know for Election Day (opens The Root in a new tab)
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 Root reported it as10 Things to Know for Election Day (opens The Root in a new tab)
Police responded to a youth soccer game in Florida after a league director called 911. The director stated the call was due to disruptive parents, while the child's mother claims the police were called because her son was too talented.
The Root reported it asInternet Debates Whether This Black Toddler Was Punished for Being Too Good at Soccer (opens The Root in a new tab)
Rapper Nicki Minaj announced her continued support for Donald Trump at a Republican rally in Michigan. She stated she would back him if he runs for president again, appearing alongside him at the event.
The Root reported it asA Letter to the Girl Behind Nicki Minaj's Persona (opens The Root in a new tab)
Mississippi's attorney general has determined that a police officer was justified in using deadly force in the June shooting death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. The shooting occurred during a response to a shoplifting call at a local Walmart.
The Root reported it asMississippi Clears Officer in Death of 1-Year-Old, but Questions Remain (opens The Root in a new tab)
The 'No Kings' coalition, previously known for anti-Trump demonstrations, organized nationwide events focused on voter turnout and early voting for the midterm elections. Organizers described the effort as nonpartisan, aiming to increase early voting numbers and train poll watchers.
The Root reported it asNo Kings Day 2026: Black Voters Don’t Trust This Election, So They’re Voting Early (opens The Root in a new tab)
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar announced she will move out of her D.C. residence after federal agents conducted a four‑to‑five‑hour search, seized 17 items and sparked safety concerns. The raid is linked to a fraud probe into her family’s immigration records.
The Root reported it asRaid of Ilhan Omar's Home is About Intimidation, Not Law Enforcement (opens The Root in a new tab)
U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver gave birth to her second child, a baby girl, on Thursday. The announcement comes as she faces federal assault charges stemming from an incident outside a New Jersey prison.
The Root reported it asRep. LaMonica McIver Gives Birth, Faces 17 Years in Prison (opens The Root in a new tab)
Five years after the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, dozens of people arrested in connection with the killing are awaiting trial in Miami. U.S. prosecutors have charged over 40 people, with a dozen convicted, including five serving life sentences.
The Root reported it asHow a Miami Pastor Allegedly Hired Mercenaries to Seize Haiti (opens The Root in a new tab)
Philadelphia teacher Hannah Gann admitted to lying about her racial and family background, claiming to be Black and Palestinian when she is white and Jewish. Her deception has caused anger and distrust among activist groups she worked with.
The Root reported it asThe New Rachel Dolezal? Inside Hannah Gann’s Racial Identity Scandal (opens The Root in a new tab)
Vice President JD Vance's antifraud task force is removing hundreds of thousands of enrollments from the Affordable Care Act's public exchanges. The action targets 760,000 individual accounts for allegedly unauthorized and fraudulent applications, with an estimated $2.2 billion in taxpayer funds expected to be saved.
The Root reported it asExpert Breaks Down Trump’s Obamacare Fraud Crackdown—and Who Could Get Caught Up in It (opens The Root in a new tab)
Converse has removed a social media advertisement featuring K-pop singer Karina after critics said the imagery evoked racist symbols, including those associated with the Ku Klux Klan and lynching. The company issued an apology, stating they understood why the image was upsetting and had made a mistake.
The Root reported it asConverse Pulls Ad Over KKK and Lynching Imagery Backlash (opens The Root in a new tab)
In the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, juror Michael P. Desronvil was the sole holdout against an insanity acquittal, leading to an 11‑1 deadlock and a mistrial declared by Judge William Sullivan. Desronvil maintains prosecutors proved Clancy knowingly killed her three children.
The Root reported it asWho is Michael Desronvil, the Juror at the Center of the Lindsay Clancy Mistrial? (opens The Root in a new tab)
The juror who prevented a unanimous verdict in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has hired Edward Paltzik, an attorney who previously represented Donald Trump. The juror stated he had no doubts about Clancy's guilt based on the evidence presented.
The Root reported it asWho is Michael Desronvil, the Juror at the Center of the Lindsay Clancy Mistrial? (opens The Root in a new tab)
The Trump administration proposed changes to the U.S. census that would count only citizens and permanent residents, potentially excluding millions and reshaping political representation and federal funding. The changes could also eliminate demographic questions.
The Root reported it asWhat a New 2030 Census Proposal Could Mean for Representation and Civil Rights (opens The Root in a new tab)
The House of Representatives voted to adopt a resolution condemning socialism and the Democratic Socialists of America. The measure passed largely along party lines, though eight Democrats joined Republicans in support. The resolution also included language backing President Trump’s priority voting rights legislation.
The Root reported it asWho Are the Democrats Who Joined Republicans to Condemn Socialism? (opens The Root in a new tab)
A 20-year-old Haitian student died by suicide in Springfield, Ohio, after his Temporary Protected Status was terminated. An advocacy group stated the decision to end TPS contributed to his death.
The Root reported it asHaitian Immigrant’s Tragic Death Shines a Light on the Human Cost of Ending Temporary Protected Status (opens The Root in a new tab)
Thousands of protesters are expected on the National Mall for the "Defend the Vote" March on Washington, organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. The event follows a Supreme Court decision that reinterpreted the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Root reported it asWhat the March on Washington 2026 Means to Young Black Voters (opens The Root in a new tab)
An August 2026 appeal hearing for Karmelo Anthony, convicted of murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Texas high school track meet, revealed text messages in which Anthony fantasised about stabbing someone and a photo of a knife. Prosecutors and defence had agreed to omit character evidence, including Metcalf’s juvenile record, from the original trial.
The Root reported it asWhat Jurors Didn’t Hear in the Karmelo Anthony Case (opens The Root in a new tab)
The US Navy is reviewing plans to rename a Ford-class aircraft carrier currently designated USS Doris Miller, a Black sailor recognised for heroism at Pearl Harbor. Sources say internal discussions include honouring Donald Trump, which would be unprecedented for a sitting president.
The Root reported it asU.S. Navy Considers Renaming USS Doris Miller After Trump (opens The Root 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.
Mixed factuality
Who owns it
- Watering Hole MediaBillionairedirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- New York, New York, United States
- Official site
- theroot.com
- Seen publishing on
- theroot.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
- 27
- Reports listed
- 27
- We could read
- 2
- First seen
- 12 August 2026
25 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 2 we could open, not on everything it published.
On 11 of those stories, outlets rated left were largely absent from the coverage and The Root 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 The Root: its report arrived a median of 34 hours 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 The Root, 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 Root 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.