ZB media bias and reliability
The rating organisations do not give ZB 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 12 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is ZB biased?
The rating organisations do not give ZB 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 ZB left or right?
The rating organisations do not give ZB 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 ZB reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for ZB 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 ZB has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with ZB’s own report linked underneath.
A fire broke out at an oil refinery in Russia's Yaroslavl region following a Ukrainian drone attack. The fire was extinguished, and regional officials reported that 65 drones were shot down over the area.
ZB reported it asTrump chastises Zelenskyy over Russian refinery strikes during Ireland visit (opens ZB in a new tab)
Jordan's armed forces stated that 18 out of 20 ballistic missiles launched from Iran were intercepted and destroyed by air defence systems. Two missiles landed in unpopulated areas without causing casualties. Iran's IRGC claimed to have targeted a US military base in Jordan.
ZB reported it asTrump accuses Iran of meddling in midterms as wave of missiles targets US base in Jordan (opens ZB in a new tab)
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned of a "faster, heavier, and more painful" response to future attacks, stating that the rules of engagement have changed. This comes after U.S. Central Command reported striking three Iranian crude carriers in retaliation for missile launches toward U.S. Navy warships.
ZB reported it asIran threatens greater force if US launches more attacks (opens ZB in a new tab)
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The talks occurred as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a potential ceasefire, while Russian missiles struck airports near Kyiv.
ZB reported it asUkraine war likely to drag on into winter, says Zelenskyy after US talks (opens ZB in a new tab)
Russia's Ministry of Defence announced preparations for large-scale strikes targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Moscow stated these actions are in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian and energy facilities.
ZB reported it asDevastating scenes near Kyiv after Russian strikes hit arms depot, killing 37 people (opens ZB in a new tab)
Eight South Koreans working on a hydropower plant project are missing and 10 others are stranded after a flash flood in Nepal. South Korea's Foreign Ministry has established a task force and plans to send a response team to the affected Rasuwa district.
ZB reported it as'Sickening': Charity boss says rows and rows of tour buses swept away in Nepal (opens ZB in a new tab)
A 24-year-old Nepali labourer survived a flash flood by clinging to a mango tree after being swept away by a torrent of mud and rock. The disaster has killed at least 150 people and left hundreds missing in Nepal.
ZB reported it as'Sickening': Charity boss says rows and rows of tour buses swept away in Nepal (opens ZB in a new tab)
A U.S. Air Force flight bound for McMurdo Station in Antarctica turned back to Christchurch after 150 minutes following a warning from New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority about a potential hazard linked to a planned Russian missile launch. The incident occurred during the annual Winter Fly-in period for Antarctic resupply missions.
ZB reported it asMystery as Antarctica-bound US Air Force flight abruptly turns back to Christchurch (opens ZB in a new tab)
Actress Hayden Panettiere, 36, was found dead in her Greenville, South Carolina apartment on 16 August 2026. Police and the coroner’s office reported no signs of foul play. Her father confirmed her death in a statement to ABC News, and tributes followed from co-stars and fans.
ZB reported it as'She was an incredible light': Actress Hayden Panettiere dies aged 36 (opens ZB in a new tab)
Andy Green, the only person to break the sound barrier in a car, set a new land speed record of 406.320 mph in a hydrogen-powered vehicle at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The JCB Hydromax, using modified construction engines, surpassed the previous hydrogen record by over 200 mph.
ZB reported it as'Hydrogen works': New vehicle claims land speed record on salt flats (opens ZB in a new tab)
Donald Trump publicly supported FIFA president Gianni Infantino after three football confederations accused him of deception and threatened a boycott. Infantino withdrew a plan to sell World Cup commercial rights following backlash, but UEFA, CONCACAF and AFC demand his removal ahead of the 2027 election.
ZB reported it asTrump backs Infantino as Fifa chief faces mounting pressure (opens ZB in a new tab)
The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of firing a missile at a vessel owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the Strait of Hormuz on 8 August 2026. No casualties were reported, and the situation was contained. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said reopening the strait depends on US acceptance of its conditions, not Oman negotiations.
ZB reported it asUAE accuses Iran of missile attack on tanker in Strait of Hormuz (opens ZB 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
We hold no ownership record for ZB.
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- New Zealand
- Official site
- newstalkzb.co.nz
- Seen publishing on
- newstalkzb.co.nz
- Access
- Free to read
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
- 12
- Reports listed
- 12
- We could read
- 0
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
12 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 1 of those stories, outlets rated right were largely absent from the coverage and ZB ran the story anyway.
Across the 12 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, another outlet was always ahead of ZB: its report arrived a median of 22 hours after the earliest one we logged.
Measured 20 September 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 20 September 2026. Ratings pulled 6 September 2026.
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 ZB 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.