CBS has announced that it was canceling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” for financial reasons. The surprise decision caused reactions and speculation from across the political spectrum. Our team analyzed media coverage of the announcement in our Topic of the Week.

ABC News provides the most balanced and fact-based coverage from among our content set. Its article gives basic details about the CBS announcement and Colbert’s reaction to it. The story and short video were found to be “a mix of fact reporting and analysis” with no bias detected.

An article from Politico goes further, sharing reactions about whether the cancellation was related to Colbert’s recent criticism of CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, agreeing to settle its lawsuit with President Trump, who claimed that 60 Minutes’ edits of an interview with Kamala Harris were unfair. Others speculate that the decision was related to the pending merger of CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, to Skydance Media. The merger must be approved by the Trump administration. Analysts found the article to be “analysis” with a “skews left” bias.

Articles from Mother Jones and PJ Media were rated as “opinion.” PJ Media calls Colbert “our unfunny uncle” who “stayed at the party too long” and says CBS’ decision was a “mercy killing.” Analysts found the writing to have a “strong right” bias. Conversely, the Mother Jones article calls Colbert “beloved” and concludes that the show’s cancellation is a “dark warning” of “Trump’s authoritarian slide.” The article speculates that the decision was, at least in part, related to the proposed merger that requires federal approval. The article was found to have a “strong left” bias.

The most biased and least reliable reporting on this topic came from two YouTube videos. On the Really American channel, host Chip Franklin insults Trump while concluding that he forced CBS to fire Colbert as part of the lawsuit settlement and in order for the Paramount Global/Skydance Media merger to be approved. The video includes clips of another late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel, reacting to the cancellation, and it details Trump’s previous attacks against free speech and the media. Analysts found the video to contain “misleading info” with a “most extreme left” bias.

On the Salty Cracker channel, Colbert and other late-night comedians are described as “propagandists” and “unfunny goofballs,” among many other insults. The host also mocks Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and other Democratic officials. Analysts noted few supported facts in the video but multiple instances of profanity, dehumanization, ad hominem attacks and insults. It was placed in the lowest category of reliability (“contains inaccurate/fabricated info”) and in the highest category of bias (“most extreme right”).