Bellingcat Bias and Reliability

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Compare the scores of Bellingcat to other sources on our free Interactive Media Bias Chart®️. Click Here!

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Bias: Middle

Reliability: Reliable, Fact Reporting

Overall Score

The following are the overall bias and reliability scores for Bellingcat according to our Ad Fontes Media ratings methodology.

Bias: -2.83

Reliability: 48.39

Bias scores for articles and shows are on a scale of -42 to +42, with higher negative scores being more left, higher positive scores being more right, and scores closer to zero being minimally biased, equally balanced, or exhibiting a centrist bias.

Reliability scores for articles and shows are on a scale of 0-64. Scores above 36 are generally good; scores below 24 are generally problematic. Scores between 24-36 indicate a range of possibilities, with some sources falling there because they are heavy in opinion and/or analysis, and some because they have a high variation in reliability between content pieces.

Panels of analysts from Ad Fontes Media regularly review representative sample content to rate it for reliability and bias. Each panel of analysts comprises one left-leaning, one right-leaning, and one center-leaning analyst.

The team considers a variety of factors when rating content. To determine the bias score of a piece of content, we consider its language, its political position, and how it compares to other reporting from other sources on the same topic. We add each of these scores to the chart on a weighted scale, with the average of those creating the source’s overall bias score.

To determine its reliability score, we consider the content’s veracity, expression, its title/headline, and graphics. We add each of these scores to the chart on a weighted scale, with the average of those creating the source’s overall reliability score.

The bias rating, demonstrated on the horizontal axis of the Media Bias Chart®️, ranges from most extreme left to middle to most extreme right. The reliability rating, demonstrated on the chart’s vertical axis, rates sources on a scale from original fact reporting to analysis, opinion, selective/incomplete, misleading, and inaccurate/fabricated information.

Individual Content Sample Scores

These are the most recent content samples that Ad Fontes Media analysts have rated for this source.

Content Sample URL Bias Reliability
AnyDream: Secretive AI Platform Broke Stripe Rules to Rake in Money from Nonconsensual Pornographic Deepfakes0.054.33
Separating Fact from Fiction on Social Media in Times of Conflict0.049.33
Lucas Villa: Cell Phone Data Gives New Insight into Unsolved Case of Colombian Protestor's Killing0.048.67
Russia’s Ghost Ships and the Evolution of a Grain Smuggling Operation0.052.0
Untangling the Mystery of the World’s First Rooftop Solar Panel0.047.0
Solving World War II Photo Mysteries With Open Source Techniques0.046.67
Testing AI or Not: How Well Does an AI Image Detector Do Its Job?0.048.67
Measuring Up: How to Calculate the Size of Objects in Open Source Material0.048.0
A New Tool Shows What War Has Done to Ukraine’s Forests0.051.33
Can AI Chatbots Be Used for Geolocation?0.047.33
Chaos and Crisis as Azerbaijan Attacks Nagorno-Karabakh0.049.33
US neo-Nazi says He Fought in Ukraine, Records Place Him in Florida-2.3354.33
Geolocating Russia’s Disgraced General Surovikin0.048.0
Saunas and Swastikas: Finland’s Summertime neo-Nazi Meet-Up-3.6743.0
Notes from the Digital Field: Ethical Dilemmas in Open Source Research-5.3343.33
The Mainstream Publishers, Distributors and Bookshops Selling Satanist Neo-Nazi Books-11.3344.67
Geofenced Searches on Twitter: A Case Study Detailing South Asia’s Covid Crisis0.046.67