AllSides Technologies Inc.
Formerly
  • AllSides Inc. (2012-2015)
  • AllSides LLC (2016–2023)
Key people
Websitewww.allsides.com
External image
image icon AllSides Media Bias Chart [1]

AllSides Technologies Inc. is an American company that estimates the perceived political bias of content on online written news outlets. AllSides presents different versions of similar news stories from sources it rates as being on the political right, left, and center, with a mission to show readers news outside their filter bubble and expose media bias. AllSides is the brainchild of John Gable who has been the company's CEO and primary owner since its first iteration.

History

AllSides was launched to the public in September 2012.[2][3] After working as a Republican political operative in the 1980s[4][5] in the southern United States (including for George H. W. Bush, Mitch McConnell and the Republican National Committee),[6] John Gable switched to the technology industry in Silicon Valley where he recruited software developer Scott McDonald to help him launch AllSides and become his CTO.[4][7]

Content

Rating system

AllSides staff self-report their political leanings.[8] In 2012, Gable – who identified as "right-leaning" – stated that AllSides aims to highlight media bias in the United States and "show all the news from the left, center and right".[2] As of 2021, AllSides made money through paid memberships, one-time donations, media literacy training and online advertisements.[8]

AllSides focuses only on online written content (not TV, radio or podcasts).[8] It rates sources on a left–right scale that is then grouped into five categories (left, leans left, center, leans right, and right) instead of a gradient which the company acknowledged sacrifices precision in favor of simplicity.[8] AllSides posts these ratings alongside the articles it posts on its site.

Educational content

AllSides partnered with Living Room Conversations, a nonprofit founded by progressive entrepreneur and activist Joan Blades, on educational content through a related organization called AllSides for Schools. Gable, Blades, and their associated organizations have produced lesson plans for schools on how to navigate political conversations and helped create Mismatch, a platform to connect students who differ politically and geographically.[9][3][10]

Reception

Jake Sheridan from the Poynter Institute noted the controversy surrounding bias rating charts in general and recommended that readers consider the reliability of sources in addition to possible bias.[8] He also quoted Kelly McBride as acknowledging bias as an important factor, but not the most important, especially if the charts give a false sense of reliability.[8] Sheridan quoted Tim Groeling as cautioning that while bias is important, charts are not something most consumers would navigate.[8] Both Groeling and McBride praised the methodology of AllSides and Ad Fontes.[8] In 2019, The Guardian columnist John Harris lamented that his experience using AllSides did not help him, as he hoped, to take the mutual loathing out of his news diet.[7]

Dashka Slater includes AllSides in a list of organizations with a nonpartisan mission to encourage Americans to interact respectfully.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "AllSides Media Bias Chart". AllSides. 21 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b Evangelista, Benny (26 August 2012). "AllSides compiles varied political views". SF Gate.
  3. ^ a b Said, Carolyn (December 3, 2018). "Can lefties and right-wingers find common ground? One site thinks so". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  4. ^ a b Bronner, Stephen J. (September 26, 2016). "How This Startup Helps People Find Common Political Ground" (video). Entrepreneur.
  5. ^ Gerzon, Mark (2016). The Reunited States of America: How We Can Bridge the Partisan Divide. National Geographic Books. p. 30. ISBN 978-1626566583.
  6. ^ Patten, Terry (2018). A New Republic of the Heart. North Atlantic Books. p. 377.
  7. ^ a b Harris, John (2019-10-22). "No filter: my week-long quest to break out of my political bubble". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Sheridan, Jake (November 2, 2021). "Should you trust media bias charts?". Poynter. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  9. ^ Grisé, Chrisanne (April 2020). "Building Bridges". The New York Times Upfront. pp. 6–9.
  10. ^ Zubrzycki, Jaclyn (2016-09-27). "Teaching the Art of Conversation During a Divisive Election Year". Education Week. ISSN 0277-4232. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  11. ^ Slater, Dashka (November 2017). "You won't change your cranky conservative uncle over Thanksgiving dinner". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
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