Overview

Ad Fontes Media rates The Progressive in the Hyper-Partisan Left category of bias and as Generally Reliable/Analysis OR Other Issues in terms of reliability. The Progressive is a bimonthly magazine and website with a goal of "championing grassroots progressive politics." Based in Madison, Wisconsin, it aims to be "a voice for peace and social justice." It began publication in 1909 as La Follette’s Weekly by U.S. Sen. Robert La Follette, a pioneer of the Progressive movement.

Overall Score

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

Reliability: 34.79

Bias: -18.16

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
The Promise of California’s Climate Roadmap	-5.33	31.67
Charter Schools Have Failed (And We Need to Stop Funding Them)	-11.33	45.33
Why Is Jacob Blake Handcuffed to His Bed?	-13	42
Foreign Correspondent: Biden’s Troubling Foreign Policy	-24.67	26
Black Lives Matter in Small Towns, Too	-9.33	42.33
The Trump Family’s Letters to Me	-24	23
The U.S. Refuses to Give Up Its Colonies	-20.67	32
China, the New Cold War Threat That Wasn’t	-15	32.33
Trump’s Plan to Reopen Schools Puts Black Students at Risk	-14	36
New Report Spurs Congress to Question Up to $1 Billion Wasted on Charter Schools	-16	41.33
Taking Nonviolent Action in Defense of Mother Earth	-20.5	24
The Dangers of Talking While Muslim	-15.67	39
Appalachia Can’t Breathe	-13	48
The Future of Line 3	-17.25	36
Paul Manafort in Ukraine	-13.5	38
Welcome to Milwaukee!	-23.33	37.67
Trump’s Throttling of Title X Ends Healthcare Support for Those Who Need it Most	-17.5	42.25
Toledo Residents Vote to Recognize Personhood for Lake Erie	-19.5	44.75