Overall Score

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

Reliability: 37.42

Bias: -11.38

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
With the world on fire, a cowardly, timid news media is a threat to U.S. democracy	-25	21.33
Philly Police are investigating a bungled 911 response the day before the Kingsessing mass shooting	0	44
Villanova’s Christina Dalce and Lucy Olsen help Team USA advance to three-on-three basketball finals	0	40.33
Affirmative action is racial justice. The Supreme Court ruling is a step backwards.	-12.67	34.33
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/economy-joe-biden-stock-market-inflation-jobs-growth-20230620.html	-16.83	29.5
Donald Trump verdict is a good day for justice | Editorial	-16	27.33
Philadelphia shootings surge in 2021, in communities historically affected by poverty, blight and systemic racism	-7.5	52.17
As another Black man dies at the hands of the police, a lesson in whom the system stands up for	-14.33	28
AP Top News at 6:22 p.m. EST	0	48.67
"Crack pipe" misinformation uproar could stymie efforts to reduce drug deaths, harm reductionists fear	-12	36.67
COVID-19 updates: Vaccine mandate for Philadelphia restaurants, Pa. and N.J. cases surging	0	46.67
Could we prevent the next Jan. 6 by allowing 16-year-olds to vote?	-12	29.33
Southeast Pa. would get millions for transportation projects in a bill that passed the House	0	45.67
Brandi Levy, Pa. high school cheerleader suspended for Snapchat rant, wins Supreme Court ruling	0	48.33
Milton Hershey School offers big-time scholarships to poor students. But they come with strings.	-6	46
Activists target top Republican in Pa. Senate as they push for gift ban	-0.67	45.67
It’s time to cut the cord on electric vehicles	-4	30.33
Philly must allocate $100,000 more to deportation defense fund	-12.67	33
‘They Carried Us’ tells the story of Philadelphia’s Black women leaders	-3.33	43.67
State College man Julian Khater charged with assault of a Officer Brian Sicknick during Jan. 6 Capitol riot	0	49.33
Meghan Markle was strong in her Oprah interview, but it’s her vulnerability that holds the power to topple the monarchy	-10	26.67
Wildwood towns consider beach tags as crowds — and maintenance costs — keep growing	1	51.67
The Wolf administration won’t appeal a state court ruling that tossed victim-rights law overwhelmingly supported by voters	3	47
High-profile Philly lawyer Chuck Peruto is challenging DA Larry Krasner as a Republican	-1	43.67
More Philly lawyers have signed on to Trump’s impeachment defense. One sued the president last year.	-1.67	45.67