Crooks and Liars
Bias and Reliability

This news media bias manifests in subtle ways, such as placing greater prominence on Democratic voices or using emotional diction when describing liberal causes, while offering more detached or critical language in conservative contexts.

Policy and Issue Framing

When covering tariffs, Crooks and Liars continues to focus solely on criticizing conservative perspectives rather than providing a holistic and balanced perspective on the issue. In their article “GRINCH: Christmas Festival Canceled Due To Trump’s Tariffs,” the main message can be summed up in the author’s statement that “Trump is the Grinch Who Stole Christmas!!!” The author does not provide a robust counterargument and instead merely criticizes Trump’s tariffs, resulting in a one-sided narrative.

Similarly, “Fox Host Accuses Democrats Of Having A ‘Thirst For Violence’,”  labels opponents “clowns,” “puppets,” and “extremists,” focusing on invective over substantiating evidence, reinforcing a liberal framing.

Coverage and Relevance

Crooks and Liars’s reporting primarily critiques Fox News and other conservative perspectives, with limited substantive reporting beyond commentary.

Readers who wish to further explore how Crooks and Liars compares with other publications can visit Biasly’s Media Bias Chart to analyze tone and word choice in real time.

These scores are based on seven core metrics: Tone, Tendency, Diction, Author Check, Selection/Omission, Expediency Bias, and Accuracy. These elements help analysts and algorithms evaluate the political attitude conveyed by each article.

Biasly’s Bias Meter ranges from -100% (most left) to +100% (most right), with 0% indicating neutrality. The system evaluates individual articles based on political terms, policies, figures, and sentiment to calculate precise bias ratings.

Is Crooks and Liars Politically Biased?

Crooks and Liars earns a Medium Left rating for its AI Bias Score and a Medium Left for its Analyst Bias Score. The Analyst Bias Score is generated by reviewers from liberal, moderate, and conservative backgrounds. Analysts reviewed many Crooks and Liars articles and noted a critical portrayal of Republican and conservative perspectives. Their articles often exhibit a liberal bias. For example, their coverage of elections tends to favor Democratic candidates while framing criticism against these candidates as unjustified.

This bias score is determined through natural language processing that evaluates the tone, word choice, and opinion embedded in the reporting. Recent AI evaluations highlight liberal-leaning narratives in articles discussing the Republican Party.

Analysis of Bias in Crooks and Liars Online Articles

To evaluate this, we can analyze select Crooks and Liars articles through several of Biasly’s bias rating criteria: Tone, Tendency, Author, Diction, and Expediency Bias.

• Tone: The overall attitude conveyed by the article.
• Diction: Specific word choices made by the writer.
• Author: The background and social presence of the journalist.
• Tendency: Patterns of bias in the writer’s broader body of work.
• Expediency Bias: Quick visual or textual indicators like headlines and photos that imply bias.

Source: Crooks and Liars

An example of expediency bias is seen in the article “Senate GOPers Put On Big Boy Pants, Say No To Demented Donny.” The image above is the cover photo for the article and aims to promote a liberal narrative by using the word “revolt,” which implies not merely disagreement but concerted action against Trump’s policies. Expediency bias is also evident in the article’s headline, which, on the one hand, mocks Senate Republicans for not opposing Trump’s tariffs sooner. On the other hand, they frame Trump as “demented,” signaling a liberal bias. Overall, the headline-image pairing conveys little substantive information and functions primarily as a click enticement.

So How Does Crooks and Liars Fare in Its Reliability?

The political reliability index developed by Biasly assesses both accuracy and trustworthiness. Crooks and Liars currently holds Average Reliability Score, which is calculated as a weighted average of:

• Fact Analysis Score – Evaluates the accuracy of claims, facts, and evidence.
• Source Analysis Score – Assesses the number, diversity, and credibility of sources and quotes used.

Crooks and Liars’s Source Analysis Score is Average at 43% Reliable. This suggests moderate trustworthiness in its sourcing practices. The score is AI-generated and considers quote length, frequency, diversity, and quality.

The Fact Analysis Score is yet to be finalized. This score will further determine how well Crooks and Liars supports its claims, addresses selection and omission bias, and presents verifiable evidence. Until this is available, readers are encouraged to perform their own evaluations using Biasly’s media bias tools.

Crooks and Liars’s Accuracy and Reliability

According to Biasly’s analysis, Crooks and Liars maintains Average Reliability Score, but individual articles may vary significantly. Let’s dive into the details.

Political orientation plays a crucial role in how audiences perceive reliability. Crooks and Liars has been accused of favoring a liberal narrative, potentially at the expense of factual reporting. To validate such claims, it’s essential to analyze whether the publication backs its assertions with sufficient evidence and diverse viewpoints.

Two common types of bias that affect factuality include:

• Selection Bias – Highlighting or omitting stories to fit a particular narrative.
• Omission Bias – Leaving out differing perspectives or relevant details to skew perception.

Biasly’s accuracy ratings use a scale from 1% (least accurate) to 100% (most accurate). Factors include the presence of supporting evidence, internal and external reliable sources, and balanced viewpoints.

For example, the article “Mike Johnson On Trump ICE Purges: ‘I’m Sure It Was Misportayed’” shows selection bias by only focusing on the Republican perspective in order to criticize it:

“Johnson has kept the House out of session, and the only thing he seems to be working at is holding daily press conferences to whine about Democrats. The Speaker doesn’t know anything about it, but still blames the media for misreporting the story.”

Rather than presenting both sides of the issue, by focusing solely on House Majority Speaker Johnson’s perspective, the author can portray Johnson negatively. Furthermore, by presenting only Johnson’s perspective, the author frames the issue without situational context regarding ICE’s deportations, preventing the reader from fully understanding it. Instead, we are left to believe that the Republicans are simply clueless, but without the context as to why.

Analysis of Reliability in Crooks and Liars’s Online News Articles

Crooks and Liars claims to be a blog for “progressive news and media criticism.” This positioning signals an advocacy-oriented mission; readers should therefore assess each article’s sourcing and balance.

An example of this liberal editorial bias can be seen in the article “Trump: I Take No Responsibility For The Shellacking My Party Got.”

“Still, after Tuesday’s results were counted, Democrats gave Trump and his party the shellacking they so well deserved while heading into the 2026 midterms.”

By saying that the Democrats winning the majority of midterm elections is a “well-deserved” loss for the Republican party, this article uses language to frame Democrats more positively. The lack of neutral framing then hurts the reliability of this article.

Quality of Sources and Facts Used

Many of Crooks and Liars’s articles skew in how comprehensively they present opposing viewpoints. Take the sources included in the article “Yambo Tore Down The East Wing Because It Saved Money On His Ballroom” for example:

• Michael Wolff, American journalist
• Joanna Coles, Co-host of the podcast The Daily Beast

Wolff and Coles are considered to be left-leaning. By including only left-leaning sources, the article loses credibility. An article’s reliability not only depends on the number of sources used in an article, but also on the ideological perspectives included in an article. Without a spread that includes diverse perspectives, a story’s facts are one-sided and do not provide a balanced, fair view for the reader.

Another example of how Crooks and Liars’s source selection skews in favor of the liberal perspective can be seen in the article “Stephen Miller Endorses Cuomo, Sealing His Defeat To Mamdani:”

• Stephen Miller, United States Homeland Security Advisor
• Politico, a United States news outlet

Stephen Miller is considered right-leaning, whereas Politico is considered left-leaning. While it may seem like the article attempts to use sources from different sides of the political spectrum, Miller is framed in the article as a “white nationalist” and is an object to be criticized, rather than a perspective to be presented. This suggests that the article may lose credibility, as it does not present conservative perspectives neutrally; it criticizes them only.

Selection and Omission Bias

An example of selection bias can be seen in the article “Jebus Johnson: Saving Healthcare And SNAP Are ‘Little Things’ Dems Want.” The article focuses solely on House Majority Speaker Mike Johnson’s perspective to criticize it, rather than placing it within the context of the government shutdown. This focus on Johnson’s perspective is intentionally done to frame Republicans as the sole perpetrators of the government shutdown. Still, the article provides no context regarding the shutdown itself, leaving the reader unable to understand the underlying dynamics of the shutdown.

Another example of selection bias is seen in “Vance ‘Shows Dignity’ To Immigrants By Dehumanizing Them.” The article focuses solely on JD Vance’s comments about immigrants to criticize him. The article does not provide any substantive context regarding immigration; it instead focuses our attention on a criticism of a specific perspective, rather than situating this perspective within the broader context of immigration.

An example of omission bias is seen in the article “JD Vance Can’t Stop Lying About Haitian Immigrants And Pets.” The article omits liberal perspectives, which allow the issue of immigration to be presented holistically, focusing solely on criticizing JD Vance’s perspective. Without the context of other perspectives, the reader is left with a one-dimensional understanding of the issue of immigration, specifically from JD Vance’s critical perspective alone. This disallows a neutral or holistic understanding of immigration issues.

So, is Crooks and Liars Reliable?

Overall, Crooks and Liars can be considered to be an outlet that is moderately reliable. It demonstrates a consistent goal of journalistic integrity and typically supports claims with sources and quotes. Occasional omissions and framing bias do appear, particularly on culturally sensitive or partisan issues.

As media literacy improves, readers can more easily detect issues with selection bias, omission bias, and factuality. To strengthen your ability to assess reliability across the political spectrum, use Biasly’s News Bias Checker to compare how multiple outlets report the same story.

This empowers you to consume more accurate, balanced, and dependable news.

Because both its donor base and much of its advertising ecosystem cater to left-leaning audiences, there is a natural risk that financial incentives could reinforce ideological alignment. Outlets dependent on politically homogenous readerships may be more inclined to prioritize stories, framing, or commentary that resonate strongly with those supporters. While this does not inherently undermine the accuracy of the site’s reporting, it does mean that funding dynamics can subtly influence editorial focus and topic selection, especially for a politically oriented blog like Crooks and Liars.

Related Tools and Resource Pages

To better understand how Crooks and Liars fits into the broader media landscape, we recommend exploring these helpful resources:

• Media Bias Chart: See where Crooks and Liars ranks among hundreds of media outlets across the political spectrum.
• Political Bias Chart: Visualize political slants of news sources across various policy areas.
• Journalist Bias Analytics Platform: Explore how individual journalists contribute to bias within their publications.
• Politician Bias Analytics Platform: Compare how politicians are framed differently by Crooks and Liars and other outlets.
• Media Literacy Education Platform: Learn how to critically assess media sources, bias techniques, and news reliability.