Overview

Ad Fontes Media rates The Trace in the Skews Left category of bias and as Reliable, Analysis/Fact Reporting in terms of reliability. The Trace is a website dedicated to reporting on the “gun violence crisis” in the United States. The nonprofit organization began in 2015 in New York City and partners with other news organizations for its coverage.

Overall Score

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

Reliability: 45.57

Bias: -7.09

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
Kamala Harris’s Comments About Gun Ownership Belie the Risks, Researchers Say	0	43
In America, Accidental Shootings Among Children Occur Nearly Every Other Day	-13.33	45.33
‘Up the Block’: A New Resource Hub for Philadelphians Affected by Gun Violence	-2	45.33
Fearing COVID Chaos, Her Abuser Got a Gun. Now She’s the One Who Is Terrified.	0	34.33
She Landed Her Dream Job as a Cop, But Soon Realized Policing Needs More Black Women	-4	40.67
Working a Suicide Hotline When the Caller Says ‘Gun’	0	45
Armed with an AR-15, He Escorted a Black Lawmaker. Now He’s Pushing His City to Confront Its Racism.	-8.33	46
‘Boogaloo’ Believers Think a Civil War Is Coming. These Gun Firms Are Openly Marketing to Them.	-6.33	46.67
The NRA and the Trump Campaign Appear to Be Flouting Election Laws. Again.	-8	46.67
With Abuse Victims Trapped at Home, Detroit Moves Restraining Order System Online	0	47
Gun Shops Flouted State Closure Orders in April as Industry Notched Another Big Month	-7	48.67
Philly Teachers Try to Fit Trauma Care Into Virtual Learning	-1.67	49.33
Joe Biden’s Evolution on Gun Policy	-9	47.33
The Demise — and Rebirth — of a Notorious Nevada Gunmaker	-6.33	49
How Many Guns Did Americans Buy Last Month? We’re Tracking the Sales Boom.	-4	48.33
In Chicago, a Steep Rise in Suicide Among Black People	-4.67	46.33
Portland’s High Stakes Experiment to Shrink the Role of Police in Fighting Gun Violence	-9	47
Mass Shootings Are Soaring, With Black Neighborhoods Hit Hardest	-8.33	44.33