Behind the Scenes: What is Bias?
In this lesson, we explore one of Verity's core values, political impartiality, through the lens of bias.
In this article, you will understand how Verity addresses the problem of bias in media.
At Verity, we believe that everyone deserves access to journalism that helps them agree on the facts, even if they have differing opinions. That’s why one of our core values is political impartiality.
What Do We Mean by Bias?
Bias is about perspective. Every journalist, outlet, and reader brings their own experiences and assumptions to the table. Bias can appear in what stories are chosen, what words are used, or which facts are emphasized.
How do We Keep Verity stories balanced?
At Verity, we draw the line between two things:
Fact (what is): verifiable events, data, and quotes
Opinion (what ought to be): interpretations, judgements, and values
Our goal is to keep fact and opinion separate in every story.
Each Verity story goes through multiple rounds of review by editors with different backgrounds and political perspectives.
Our work has also been evaluated by independent organizations. In July of 2025, Verity was awarded AllSides Balance Certification™, only awarded to truly balanced journalism.
The Role of AI in Measuring Bias
Behind every Verity story is a layer of data science.
We use ChatGPT 4.1 and a set of structured prompts to classify the political and establishment bias of hundreds of news sources.
AI prompt to determine political stance:
You are a top-tier newspaper editor with deep knowledge of media bias. Classify the political bias of the given news media as a score from 1 to 5, with 1 being U.S. politically left and 5 being U.S. politically right. Assign a rating precisely based on the actual news articles they have published. If you really don’t know the answer, please rate it as unknown.
AI prompt to determine establishment stance:
You are a top-tier newspaper editor with deep knowledge of media bias. Classify the U.S. establishment bias of the given news media as a score from 1 to 5, with the score of 5 being pro-U.S. establishment and 1 being the opposite. Assign the rating precisely based on the actual news articles they have published. If you really don’t know the answer, please rate it as unknown.
The final scores are randomly reviewed by a team of humans and compared against ground truths from sources such as AllSides and Swiss Policy Research Media Navigator when available.
What is Establishment Bias?
When our machine-learning models analyzed over a million news articles, they revealed two consistent axes of bias:
Left-Right Bias: familiar political leanings.
Establishment Bias: what all big parties and powers agree on, which varies between countries and over time.
Think of establishment bias as proximity to power:
Does the source generally accept claims by governments, corporations, and major parties, or does it question them?
Importantly, establishment views change over time. For example, the establishment view once opposed women’s right to vote — a belief later overturned through social progress. By comparing establishment-aligned and establishment-critical outlets, Verity allows readers to see how ideas evolve over time.
Teacher Tool: Wikipedia’s lists of left, libertarian and right alternative media and this classification: does the news source normally accept or challenge claims by powerful entities such as the government and large corporations? You can also observe various parties on Grokipedia.
The Bias Split Tool: See it for Yourself
Our Bias Split tool lets you explore the news landscape visually.
We provide two main sliders to let you choose what news to consume deliberately.
Political Stance: Left/Right
What are the different sides of the political spectrum reporting?
Establishment Stance: Critical/Pro
What do all major parties agree on?
What is the establishment-critical side saying?
Verity also provides four additional sliders:
Writing Style: Provocative/Nuanced
Depth: Breezy/Nuanced
Shelf-Life: Short/Long
Recency: Evergreen/Latest
Bias Across Time: Researching the Record
Verity’s reporting enables researchers and students to trace how narratives shift over months or years, which can help to inform historical analysis.
Our archives provide a chronology of coverage through prevailing facts and narratives on a vast array of topics, all organized by our bias split tools.
Unlike many news outlets, Verity is not behind a paywall. Free access makes it easier for students, readers, and researchers to compare coverage across the political and establishment spectrum without barriers.
Why This Matters
Learning to identify bias isn’t about distrusting journalism, but rather about reading it more critically.
When we understand where our information comes from and how it is framed, we can reclaim agency over our worldview.
Verity’s tools are designed to help readers think critically, compare perspectives, and stay informed with confidence.
Take it to the Classroom: Activities & Reflections
Slide the Bias Sliders (10-20 Minutes)
Objective: Help students see how political and establishment bias shapes the news landscape.
This activity can be completed in a classroom setting on a smart board, or individually with students’ personal devices.
Open Verity’s Bias Split Tool.
Have students move the political and establishment sliders one at a time.
Ask them to observe what changes on the screen:
Which outlets appear or disappear?
Which stories move across categories?
Are there any sources they expected to see that don’t show up?
Do they prefer to read one of the sides? Why?
Reflect further:
Does sliding the establishment bar change the landscape differently than sliding left/right?
Do you think you usually consume one side more than the other?
AI Extension: Bias Rating (20-30 Minutes)
Objective: Explore how AI can be a useful tool to classify bias and reflect on personal media habits. This reflects part of the job our digital curation and editorial teams do!
For this activity, students are required to use their personal devices and have access to an AI bot (ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Google Gemini).
Have students choose a topic they are interested in (sports, politics, entertainment, science, etc.).
Then, have students select 3-4 articles on the same topic from different news outlets.
Using Verity’s AI prompts, students input each source and record the political bias score and establishment bias score.
Reflect:
Did you unintentionally choose articles from outlets with similar bias ratings?
How do the articles differ in tone, fact-selection, or framing?
Does the establishment axis reveal differences you wouldn’t have noticed on the left/right scale?
Optional: have students swap articles with a partner and compare notes.
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