WBAL media bias and reliability
Ad Fontes Media places WBAL in the centre. We have seen it on 381 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is WBAL biased?
Ad Fontes Media places WBAL in the centre. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is WBAL left or right?
Ad Fontes Media places WBAL in the centre. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Centre.
Is WBAL reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for WBAL are Ad Fontes Media: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What WBAL has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with WBAL’s own report linked underneath.
Scientists are engineering soybeans with deeper root systems to improve climate resilience and enhance carbon sequestration. The Salk Institute, with funding from the Bezos Earth Fund, is leading this research, identifying and editing genes to promote root growth and carbon storage.
WBAL reported it asScientists hope deeper-rooted soybeans can withstand climate extremes (opens WBAL in a new tab)
US Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Department of Justice will investigate AI-related crimes but will not be a regulatory body for the technology. He accused Democrats of using the AI debate to influence the midterm elections and prefers a restrained approach to enforcement actions against AI companies.
WBAL reported it asAttorney General Blanche's appearances at political events blur J (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Phil Klay, an award-winning author and Iraq War veteran, has been appointed the new president of PEN America. He succeeds Dinaw Mengestu, who resigned in July following a PEN report on the isolation of Jewish and Israeli writers. The organization has faced internal disagreements related to the Israel-Hamas war.
WBAL reported it asPrize-winning author Phil Klay takes over at PEN America amid Israel-H (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs or halt trade with the European Union if Canada is granted associate membership. He described the prospect as 'laughable' and a 'hostile act', while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed a desire for Canada to be the bloc's first associate member.
WBAL reported it asTrump suggests EU allowing Canada as associate member could be a ‘hostile act’ (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a keynote address at a conference for the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense, which he formerly chaired. He told attendees they had a friend in the Trump White House and highlighted administration actions to alter vaccine guidance.
WBAL reported it asKennedy tells anti-vaccine activists they have a friend in Trump' (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended the mandate of experts monitoring sanctions on Iran. The vote creates a gap in oversight as the sanctions themselves remain in effect.
WBAL reported it asRussia and China veto US proposal for UN experts to keep monitoring sa (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Federal officials have acknowledged that President Donald Trump's planned 250-foot arch will cause unavoidable harm to historic sites, including Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. Despite these concerns, they maintain the project must proceed at its proposed location.
WBAL reported it asTrump's controversial triumphal arch will have 'adverse effects' on landscape, administration acknowledges (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Abu Zubaydah, held at Guantanamo Bay for two decades without charges, appeared at a hearing to review his detention. A U.S. official described him as a trusted facilitator for Osama bin Laden, while his attorneys argued he was never an al-Qaida member and poses no threat.
WBAL reported it asMan accused of ties to bin Laden and tortured after 9/11 has 20-year G (opens WBAL 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.
WBAL reported it asKennedy Center says building closed temporarily due to 'acute ris (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Author Kim Stanley Robinson will not read aloud the first chapter of his novel 'The Ministry for the Future,' which depicts a heatwave causing 20 million deaths in India. He feels the scene is too graphic for public reading.
WBAL reported it asKim Stanley Robinson won't read aloud his climate disaster scene (opens WBAL in a new tab)
President Donald Trump reportedly had a heated exchange with Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty during a Kennedy Center board call. A federal judge blocked attempts to add Trump's name to the building, a decision the Justice Department has appealed.
WBAL reported it asTrump says Kennedy Center could be 'ripped down' if he doesn't get 'recognition' (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Huawei has announced plans to release four new Ascend AI chips within the next three years, aiming to compete with Nvidia. The Ascend 950 chip will feature proprietary high-bandwidth memory, a key technological advancement for China. The company also plans new computing power supernodes.
WBAL reported it asHuawei unveils new chip technologies as Chinese firm steps up the AI r (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Russia launched missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, injuring at least 19 people, including children. Ukrainian forces responded with overnight strikes targeting an oil refinery in Yaroslavl and a military airfield in Rostov.
WBAL reported it asRussian attack on Ukraine's capital injures at least 16 (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Russian airstrikes hit Kyiv and Odesa, injuring at least 13 people and damaging buildings including residential structures, warehouses, and a gas station. A child was among those wounded in Odesa.
WBAL reported it asRussian attack on Ukraine's capital injures at least 16 (opens WBAL 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.
WBAL reported it asCarney to address EU Parliament after Trump calls Canada associate mem (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver a televised address to the nation on September 16 at 6 p.m. Moscow time. The speech is in anticipation of the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place from September 18 to 20. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the president's speech.
WBAL reported it asRussia's wartime parliamentary election is set to secure the Krem (opens WBAL in a new tab)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated the United States is open to discussing shared risks with China in upcoming AI talks scheduled for this weekend. The discussions aim to prevent the bifurcation of AI systems between the two countries.
WBAL reported it asA global AI safety strategy depends on US-China cooperation. They each (opens WBAL in a new tab)
An Argentine judge has ordered companies to cease oilfield development near the Falkland Islands, escalating a long-standing sovereignty dispute with the UK. The ruling mandates a halt to drilling pending an environmental review, while Argentina also prepares new legal complaints and tougher sanctions.
WBAL reported it asArgentine judge orders halt to Falklands oil project as tensions with (opens WBAL in a new tab)
Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong Blocks Warrantless Immigration Arrests in Southern California
Trust 42U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong has blocked immigration officers from making warrantless arrests in Southern California unless they determine a person is likely to escape. The order applies to the Central District of California and follows a lawsuit by immigrant advocacy groups.
WBAL reported it asFederal judge restricts warrantless immigration arrests in Southern Ca (opens WBAL in a new tab)
The Trump administration has awarded contracts to begin work on President Donald Trump's planned takeover of the East Potomac Golf Links. Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee have demanded project documents, citing a lack of public announcement.
WBAL reported it asPark Service quietly awards contracts to work on Trump's takeover (opens WBAL 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.
- Ad Fontes MediacenterCheck 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
- Ad Fontes MediahighCheck it
Who owns it
- Hearst TelevisionCorporationdirect owner
- Hearst CommunicationsMedia Conglomerateparent group
Where it publishes from
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
- 381
- Reports listed
- 394
- We could read
- 11
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
383 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 11 we could open, not on everything it published.
A blindspot is measured against one side of the spectrum. WBAL is rated centre, so there is no side for it to be counted against and we publish no figure here.
Across the 381 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, another outlet was always ahead of WBAL: its report arrived a median of 17 hours after the earliest one we logged.
Measured 18 September 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 18 September 2026. Ratings pulled 5 September 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as WBAL, 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 WBAL 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.