Overview

Ad Fontes Media rates Charleston Gazette-Mail in the Middle category of bias and as Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting in terms of reliability. Charleston Gazette-Mail is a daily newspaper and website based in Charleston, West Virginia. It was founded in 1873 and is now owned by HD Media. The Gazette-Mail won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017, in addition to other media awards.

Overall Score

The following are the overall bias and reliability scores for Charleston Gazette-Mail according to our Ad Fontes Media ratings methodology.

Reliability: 45.43

Bias: -3.71

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 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 sample content’s overall reliability score.

To determine sample content’s bias score, we consider its language, its political position, and how it compares to other reporting or analysis 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 content’s overall bias score.

The bias rating, demonstrated on the Media Bias Chart^®️ on the horizontal axis, 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, propaganda and inaccurate/fabricated information.

Reliability scores for articles and shows are on a scale of 0-64. Scores above 40 are generally good; scores below 24 are generally problematic. Scores between 24-40 indicate a range of possibilities, with some sources falling there because they are heavy in opinion and analysis, and some because they have a high variation in reliability between articles.

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.

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
Gazette-Mail editorial: Manchin finally getting off the fence	-11.33	36.33
WVU football: Coaches confident Sam James will bounce back from dropped passes	0	37.33
Dr. Cathy Slemp: WV not as green as our COVID-19 map portrays	-1	43.33
Gazette-Mail editorial: Gov. Justice has lost credibility on COVID-19	-3.67	39.67
West Virginia hasn't been hit by election interference, secretary of state says	0	48
Maroney claims latest allegations against him are part of political ploy; Glen Dale Police Dept. disagrees	0	44.67
T-Rex Science Center to close by year's end	0	46
Community rallies to help newborn, family in wake of mother's COVID-19 death	-0.33	45.67
After 6-month wait, Justice unveils program to pay delinquent utility bills	-4.33	49.67
WV now showing county-by-county school spending online	0	53
Nearly 3 years since strike, health coverage has remained stable for WV's public workers. But cuts loom, with no long-term fix in sight.	-7.33	48
DEP hoping wheels of justice turn swiftly following tire theft	0	41.33
Local teen records album, releases first single	0	39
After long break, music slowly returning to the Mountain State	0.67	46
Court filing: Police arrested known prostitute after leaving WV Senate HHR chairman's home in August	-1.33	50
Kanawha officials discuss safety precautions at early voting locations	0	53
As COVID-19 cases rise in rural counties, Justice calls for more testing	-0.67	51.33