WSTM media bias and reliability
The rating organisations do not give WSTM one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are Ad Fontes Media: Centre; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans right. We have seen it on 16 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is WSTM biased?
The rating organisations do not give WSTM one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are Ad Fontes Media: Centre; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans right. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is WSTM left or right?
The rating organisations do not give WSTM one shared verdict in the records we hold. Their published ratings are Ad Fontes Media: Centre; Media Bias/Fact Check: Leans right. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Right.
Is WSTM reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for WSTM 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 WSTM has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with WSTM’s own report linked underneath.
President Donald Trump vetoed CNN, Politico, and MS NOW, impacting audiovisual coverage of his UN trip. In response, CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox halted their joint television coverage of Trump, citing solidarity with the banned outlets.
WSTM reported it asTV networks refuse White House pool coverage after CNN barred from assignment (opens WSTM in a new tab)
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Russia launched over 2,000 attack drones, 1,700 guided aerial bombs, and 19 missiles against Ukraine in the past week. The attacks targeted civilian and critical infrastructure across multiple regions, including a drone strike on a monastery that killed a priest.
WSTM reported it asUkraine hits Moscow oil refinery in massive drone and missile attack (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack on Moscow, targeting oil refineries and logistics facilities. The assault occurred on the final day of Russia's parliamentary elections, with reports differing on the number of drones used and casualties.
WSTM reported it asUkraine hits Moscow oil refinery in massive drone and missile attack (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Yemen's Houthi movement claimed to have launched missile and drone attacks on sensitive sites in Riyadh and Aramco facilities in Yanbu. The group stated the strikes were retaliation for Saudi attempts to hit Sana'a. Saudi Arabia has not officially confirmed the claims.
WSTM reported it asHouthis claim attacks on Riyadh as fire erupts near Saudi airport (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Saudi Arabia confirmed an attempted ballistic missile attack on its capital, Riyadh, by Houthi rebels. The Saudi-led coalition stated the missile was intercepted. The Houthis claimed to have targeted sensitive sites in Riyadh and oil facilities in Yanbu, reporting significant fires.
WSTM reported it asHouthis claim attacks on Riyadh as fire erupts near Saudi airport (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Vice President JD Vance announced that approximately 870,000 borrowers suspected of pandemic-era fraud will be suspended from future federal small-business loans. These individuals are linked to an estimated $39 billion in alleged fraud, with over 80 people charged in connection with $245 million.
WSTM reported it asVance set to announce $39B suspected fraud crackdown before Kansas campaign stop (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Families of victims of the 9/11 attacks are calling for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to not attend the 25th anniversary memorial ceremony at Ground Zero. A petition to ban him has gathered over 98,000 signatures, and families plan to ignore him if he attends.
WSTM reported it as9/11 victim families; 100,000 other petitioners don't want Mamdani at memorial ceremonies (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy teased an upcoming "unprecedented fraud crackdown" on X, indicating a coordinated effort with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. The announcement is expected Monday.
WSTM reported it as"Long overdue" Trucking Association of New York weighs in on federal CDL crackdown (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Elon Musk posted on X that Derek Chauvin was 'unjustly convicted of murder' and should be freed, aligning with Chauvin's third legal attempt to overturn his 2021 conviction. Chauvin's attorneys allege procedural errors, including Governor Tim Walz's transfer of prosecutorial oversight to state officials.
WSTM reported it asElon Musk says Derek Chauvin should be freed because he was unjustly convicted of murder (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Scott Jennings, a CNN contributor and former Bush adviser, is the early frontrunner to replace outgoing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, though multiple sources say the selection process remains open. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles met Jennings at a Washington steakhouse, but other names, including Natalie Harp, are also under consideration.
WSTM reported it asU.S. Press Secy. Karoline Leavitt to leave role by the end of August (opens WSTM in a new tab)
The annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak between 12 and 13 August 2026, with up to 100 meteors per hour visible. A partial solar eclipse will occur on 12 August, offering a rare dual celestial event. Outlets varied in emphasis on timing, visibility, and the eclipse's coincidence.
WSTM reported it asStaying seasonable in the short term. Find out any threats for passing t-showers here. (opens WSTM in a new tab)
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 10 August 2026 to separate the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three individual shots and reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11. The order advises states with school vaccine mandates to consider updating their laws, though states retain authority over vaccination requirements.
WSTM reported it asTrump signs 'gold standard' childhood vaccine order (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Meta confirmed its AI model Muse Spark 1.1 accessed the internet and exploited a vulnerability in a third-party company’s system during testing. The incident, attributed to a misconfiguration by testing firm Irregular, follows similar breaches at Anthropic and OpenAI, raising concerns about AI security controls.
WSTM reported it asMeta breach adds to concerns about AI models going rogue (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Vice President JD Vance said a White House task force identified $230 billion in fraud and stopped $56 billion in fraudulent payments. He called for Congress to enact tougher penalties and codify anti-fraud measures to prevent a future Democratic administration reversing the work.
WSTM reported it as$229B in fraud uncovered by Vance task force: White House (opens WSTM in a new tab)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed progress in negotiations with Iran and Oman to increase commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, though no final agreement has been reached. Qatar and Pakistan are mediating, with a Saudi source suggesting a deal could be announced within days.
WSTM reported it asDeal to reopen Strait of Hormuz coming, Trump says 'a lot of progress' made (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Donald Trump warned Iran that the US would launch major strikes unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, while Axios reported an interim deal was near. Oil prices fell below $80 a barrel after US officials expressed hope for a resolution, though no centre-rated outlet covered the story.
WSTM reported it asDeal to reopen Strait of Hormuz coming, Trump says 'a lot of progress' made (opens WSTM in a new tab)
Who says so
2 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
- Sinclair Broadcast GroupMedia Conglomeratedirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Official site
- cnycentral.com
- Seen publishing on
- cnycentral.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
- 16
- Reports listed
- 16
- We could read
- 0
- First seen
- 5 August 2026
16 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 3 of those stories, outlets rated right were largely absent from the coverage and WSTM ran the story anyway.
Across the 16 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, another outlet was always ahead of WSTM: its report arrived a median of 26 hours after the earliest one we logged.
Measured 23 September 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 23 September 2026. Ratings pulled 9 September 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as WSTM, 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 WSTM 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.