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., (DBA as AllSides) is an American-based company that estimates the perceived political bias of content on online written news outlets, and then presents different versions of similar news stories from sources AllSides 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.

Company

AllSides was launched to the public in September 2012.[2][3] After working as a Republican political operative[4][5] in the southern United States (including for George H. W. Bush, Mitch McConnell and the Republican National Committee)[6] John Gable worked in Silicon Valley as a manager before recruiting software developer Scott McDonald to help him launch AllSides and become his CTO.[4] In addition to bridging partisan knowledge gaps,[7][8][9] Gable hoped to expose media bias, believing unbiased journalism does not exist.[2][10][11]

AllSides staff self-report their political leanings.[12] As of 2021, AllSides made money through paid memberships, one-time donations, media literacy training and online advertisements.[12]

Rating system

AllSides focuses only on online written content (not TV, radio or podcasts).[12] 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.[12] AllSides posts these ratings alongside the articles it posts on its site.

Reception

Jake Sheridan from Poynter Institute notes the controversy surrounding bias rating charts in general and recommends readers consider the reliability of sources in addition to possible bias.[12] In 2019, The Guardian columnist John Harris lamented that his experience using AllSides.com did not help him, as he hoped, to take the mutual loathing out of his news diet.[7]

The AllSides Media Bias Chart was featured in the 2023 educational book for kids: Breaking News: Why Media Matters.[13] It was also recommended by Natalie Proulx and Katherine Schulten's 2020 election resource guide for students as a way to break out of one's political filter bubble ahead of the 2020 election.[14] Dashka Slater includes AllSides in a list of organizations with a nonpartisan mission to encourage Americans to interact respectfully.[15]

Educational content

AllSides partnered with Living Room Conversations, a nonprofit founded by liberal 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.[16][3][17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "AllSides Media Bias Chart". AllSides. 21 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 Evangelista, Benny (26 August 2012). "AllSides compiles varied political views". SF Gate.
  3. 1 2 Said, Carolyn (December 3, 2018). "Can lefties and right-wingers find common ground? One site thinks so". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  4. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. ↑ Mendoza, M. K. (May 1, 2020). AllSides.com Calls out Media Bias from Both Sides, Promoting Democratic Dialogue and Free Speech (radio). KSFR.
  9. ↑ Chu, Lenora (June 8, 2020). "Who should judge what's true? Tackling social media's global impact". Christian Science Monitor (Note: CS Monitor disclosed in this article a partnership with AllSides). ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  10. ↑ Kantrowitz, Alex (Oct 22, 2012). "Opinion: New Political News Site Places Opposing Views Side By Side". Forbes.
  11. ↑ Seargeant, Philip (January 31, 2017). "The truth and 'alternative facts': Language is always subject to change". The Independent.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Sheridan, Jake (November 2, 2021). "Should you trust media bias charts?". Poynter. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  13. ↑ Delisle, Raina (2023). Breaking News: Why Media Matters (Juvenile Literature) (1 ed.). Ferndale, WA: Orca Book Publishers. p. 35. ISBN 9781459826564.
  14. ↑ Proulx, Natalie; Schulten, Katherine (October 13, 2020). "Election 2020: 11 Ways to Engage Students From Now Until November". New York Times.
  15. ↑ Slater, Dashka (November 2017). "You won't change your cranky conservative uncle over Thanksgiving dinner". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  16. ↑ Grisé, Chrisanne (April 2020). "Building Bridges". The New York Times Upfront. pp. 6–9.
  17. ↑ Zubrzycki, Jaclyn (2016-09-27). "Teaching the Art of Conversation During a Divisive Election Year". Education Week. ISSN 0277-4232. Retrieved 2023-10-25.


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