The Seattle Times media bias and reliability
The rating organisations do not give The Seattle Times one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Centre; Ad Fontes Media: Leans left; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans left. We have seen it on 1130 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is The Seattle Times biased?
The rating organisations do not give The Seattle Times one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Centre; Ad Fontes Media: Leans left; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans left. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is The Seattle Times left or right?
The rating organisations do not give The Seattle Times one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are AllSides: Centre; Ad Fontes Media: Leans left; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans left. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Left.
Is The Seattle Times reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for The Seattle Times 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 The Seattle Times has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with The Seattle Times’s own report linked underneath.
Court documents reveal the Trump administration held secret talks with Iran about deporting Iranians during the ongoing war. The administration had plans to deport individuals through a third country, even as a lawsuit alleged information sharing with Iran.
The Seattle Times reported it asAP Exclusive: Trump administration held talks with Iran on deporting Iranians during the war (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Natural gas discovered off Cyprus presents an opportunity for the European Union to enhance its energy security through supply diversification. The Cronos field is slated for production by 2028, with gas to be processed in Egypt before international export.
The Seattle Times reported it asGas deposits off Cyprus are an opportunity for the EU, president says (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
A Jordanian security officer was killed and another wounded in a stabbing attack in Amman on Thursday. Authorities have described the incident near the Sri Lankan Embassy as a terrorist act, and the assailant has been arrested.
The Seattle Times reported it asSecurity officer attacked and killed near Sri Lankan Embassy in Jordan’s capital (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Hundreds of thousands of people protested across France on Thursday during a nationwide strike called by unions demanding higher wages and better public services. The Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors, and transport and other services faced disruption.
The Seattle Times reported it asFrench unions unite for nationwide strikes, piling more pressure on Macron’s government (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Iranian university students are facing disciplinary hearings and potential expulsion for participating in protests. The crackdown occurs amid an ongoing U.S. war and a worsening economic crisis, with authorities targeting dissent.
The Seattle Times reported it asIranian college students face pressure as authorities crack down on dissent (opens The Seattle Times 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.
The Seattle Times reported it asHow major US stock indexes fared Wednesday 11/4/2026 (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Donald Trump has acknowledged that the war with Iran, alongside the cost of living, played a role in the Republican Party's defeat in the midterm elections. The conflict's financial toll was also noted.
The Seattle Times reported it asVance, in break with Trump, blames Iran war for Republicans’ rout (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
US prosecutors have asked a court to dismiss criminal charges against Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova, who was accused of smuggling frog embryos. Petrova had argued the Trump administration singled her out for prosecution.
The Seattle Times reported it asScientist who brought frog embryos to Boston for cancer research is cleared of smuggling charges (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Democrats must pick up four seats in both the House and Senate to alter the trade debate, with Senator Ron Wyden urging repeal of Canada tariffs. The Trump administration says it will keep its tariff-driven agenda and rely more on executive actions.
The Seattle Times reported it asWorld leaders who sparred with Trump express relief mixed with caution at Republican election rout (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Elon Musk posted on X that his 'election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time' following significant Democratic victories in the US midterm elections. He also suggested data centers in space are an attractive option. Musk had funded Republican candidates with hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Seattle Times reported it asMusk threw his fortune at the midterms. Voters handed him a stunning defeat (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Iran announced on Monday that it is engaged in intensive indirect negotiations with the United States, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, to de-escalate tensions and avert potential conflict. The country has also offered to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz under specific conditions.
The Seattle Times reported it asIranian officials say midterm results show US voters have rejected Trump’s war (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Maura Healey has won re-election as governor of Massachusetts, securing a second term. She defeated Republican challenger Michael Minogue. Healey previously served two terms as the state's attorney general.
The Seattle Times reported it asDemocrat Tina Kotek wins reelection for governor in Oregon (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Democrat Katie Hobbs has won re-election as Arizona governor, defeating Republican Andy Biggs. Early returns showed Hobbs with a commanding lead, securing her second term in office.
The Seattle Times reported it asDemocrat Katie Hobbs wins reelection for governor in Arizona (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Republican Barry Moore has won the U.S. Senate election for Alabama, defeating Democrat Everett Wess. Moore, a south Alabama congressman, secured the victory with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
The Seattle Times reported it asRepublican Thomas Tuberville wins election for governor in Alabama (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Democrat Brian Poindexter has won the election for Ohio's 7th Congressional District, defeating Republican incumbent Max Miller. Miller's campaign was overshadowed by domestic abuse allegations from his ex-wife.
The Seattle Times reported it asDemocrat Brian Poindexter wins election to U.S. House in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Maura Healey has won re-election as governor of Massachusetts, securing a second term. She defeated Republican challenger Michael Minogue. Healey previously served two terms as the state's attorney general.
The Seattle Times reported it asRepublican Kelly Ayotte wins reelection for governor in New Hampshire (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Republican Mike Rounds has won reelection to the U.S. Senate representing South Dakota. He defeated independent candidate Brian Bengs to secure his third Senate term. President Donald Trump had endorsed Rounds.
The Seattle Times reported it asRepublican Mike Rounds wins reelection to U.S. Senate from South Dakota (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Democrat Josh Shapiro has won reelection as Pennsylvania's governor, defeating Republican Stacy Garrity. The Associated Press announced the results on the night of November 3-4, 2026, confirming Shapiro's victory for a second term.
The Seattle Times reported it asDemocrat Josh Green wins reelection for governor in Hawaii (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Donald Trump stated that Republicans would have won the midterm elections in a landslide if he had been on the ballot. A White House official echoed this sentiment, attributing the results to candidate quality and Trump's absence from voting.
The Seattle Times reported it asTrump says he will accept election results (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
Republican Mike Mazzei has won the Oklahoma governor's race, defeating Democrat Cyndi Munson. The victory contributed to a Republican sweep of all statewide offices, though Democrats did manage to flip five seats in the state House.
The Seattle Times reported it asRepublican Mike Mazzei wins election for governor in Oklahoma (opens The Seattle Times 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.
High factuality
Who owns it
- The Seattle Times CompanyIndependentdirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- Seattle, King County, Washington, United States
- Official site
- seattletimes.com
- Seen publishing on
- seattletimes.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
- 1130
- Reports listed
- 1181
- We could read
- 0
- First seen
- 3 August 2026
1181 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 250 of those stories, outlets rated left were largely absent from the coverage and The Seattle Times ran the story anyway.
Across the 1130 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than The Seattle Times’s on 1 of them. Overall it filed a median of 16 hours after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 5 November 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 5 November 2026. Ratings pulled 2 November 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as The Seattle Times, 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 Seattle Times 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.