Mercury News Bias and Reliability

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Bias: Middle

Reliability: Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting

Overall Score

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

Bias: -3.00

Reliability: 44.41

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
Court rejects immunity for officer who shot George Floyd protester0.034.33
Republican Convention: Calif. Gov. Newsom sends police help0.043.67
Ex-professor from San Jose sentenced to prison for setting blazes near Dixie Fire0.044.67
Trump guilty verdict: Bay Area, Northern California politicians react0.044.33
San Jose: Two more charged with murder in baby fentanyl death0.045.0
Los Gatos: ‘Mr. Flip It’ headed to the big house after grand theft conviction0.043.0
Arrest made in spate of Central Valley taqueria vandalisms0.041.67
Tesla issues fourth recall in two weeks, the 11th in less than four months-639.67
Mega-rare turtle dove in Palo Alto has birders flocking from far and wide0.045.0
Editorial: On the death penalty, Gov. Newsom should go back to voters rather than dissing them-834.0
South Bay executives vow to fight H-1B visa fraud charges-1.3346.33
Santa Clara County expands mobile mental health unit in West Valley0.045.67
Homeless encampment grows on Apple property in Silicon Valley0.044.67
Daylight saving time: When will twilight begin and end now?0.047.33
I’m high-risk for COVID-19 and eligible for a vaccine starting Monday. What do I need to know?0.050.67
When the COVID crisis hit, the Bay Area failed Latino residents. Here’s why0.050.67
COVID: Here’s why fewer in the Bay Area qualify for stimulus payments-6.3347.67
Exclusive: Two worrisome coronavirus variants found in Bay Area0.045.33
Warriors’ Klay Thompson feared to have torn Achilles tendon0.6737.67
35+ Bay Area restaurants that did not survive the coronavirus pandemic1.044.67
Melania Trump’s not likely to dump Trump: ‘They deserve each other,’ Michael Cohen says in new report-3.6725.0
Operator of popular Bay Area pumpkin patch sells off more property-0.3341.33
Gov. Newsom’s French Laundry dinner raises question of what counts as outdoor dining1.147.5
Trump calls off stimulus talks until after election; markets drop-548.33
San Mateo County added to coronavirus county monitoring list as state continues deadliest stretch in pandemic-1.6752.5