NewsMax
Bias and Reliability

Policy and Issue Framing

When covering the deployment of the national guard, NewsMax often references decreasing crime and violence, while giving less attention to questions about presidential power and civil liberties, which can reinforce a more favorable framing of Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard.

On the other hand, Zohran Mamdani’s policies and cabinet selections are portrayed negatively, often emphasizing his anti-establishment connections and beliefs while downplaying other positive traits. This unbalanced framing of a liberal politician suggests a conservative bias.

Coverage and Relevance

NewsMax’s reporting often touches on key issues central to the media political bias discussion — including the environment, Supreme Court rulings, and Congressional politics. Because NewsMax is trying to become a major player in the conservative news sphere, it serves as a compelling case study for examining source bias and news media bias in state-focused reporting.

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

Is NewsMax Biased?

Based on Biasly’s evaluations, NewsMax is rated as Somewhat Right.

By examining content patterns and the broader context of media influence, we aim to offer a balanced perspective on NewsMax’s political bias—and contribute to the ongoing discussion about bias in the news.

How Does Biasly Rate News Sources?

Biasly uses proprietary algorithms and a team of analysts to provide comprehensive bias evaluations across thousands of news outlets. Over 200,000 articles from more than 3,200 sources have been analyzed to identify the most accurate and unbiased stories.

Biasly assigns each outlet three key scores:

• Reliability Score – Reflects factual accuracy
• AI Bias Score – Generated via natural language processing
• Analyst Bias Score – Assessed by human political analysts

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 NewsMax Politically Biased?

NewsMax earns a Somewhat Right rating for its AI Bias Score and a Somewhat Right for its Analyst Bias Score. The Analyst Bias Score is generated by reviewers from liberal, moderate, and conservative backgrounds.  In both evaluations, NewsMax is rated as conservatively biased because of positive sentiments toward conservative and Republican policies and beliefs, while applying more critical framing to liberal and democratic policies. However, it is worth mentioning that this only takes into account NewsMax’s online articles, and their magazine and TV station might display slightly different biases.

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 right-leaning narratives in articles discussing the Republican Party and LGBTQ+ issues.

Analysis of Bias in NewsMax Online Articles

To evaluate bias, we can analyze select NewsMax 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

While NewsMax is not an insignificant force in American news media, NewsMax received 26.6 million views in March 2023, but it still does not seriously compete with Fox News in scale. To get a better understanding of NewsMax’s bias, let’s examine an online article from their website titled “Scalise: ‘Tough’ Joe Manchin Can Handle Dems’ Backlash.”

Biasly’s breakdown of this article rated both its bias and policy leaning as Very Conservative. Its politician-portrayal score is strongly negative, driven by four negative sentiments towards Joe Biden, partially offset by three positive sentiments. The article’s tone strongly favors Sen. Joe Manchin while portraying President Joe Biden in a consistently negative and critical manner. Manchin is framed using approving and resilient language such as “tough,” “putting his marker down,” and “doing what’s right,” positioning him as principled and independent-minded.

In contrast, Biden is described with explicitly negative and evaluative phrasing, including claims that his policies are “destroying the fabric of America,” that he is “failing those tests” posed by foreign adversaries, and that his performance has been “dismal.” These phrases go beyond neutral reporting and inject judgment-laden language that reinforces an unfavorable portrayal, contributing directly to the article’s strongly negative politician-portrayal score for Biden.

The title of the article alone implies some conservative bias with its mention of Democrats’ “backlash” against Joe Manchin, who is widely considered the most conservative senator in the Democratic Party.

The author has also published on explicitly conservative sites such as Conservative Angle and Free Republic. While the author’s various other articles don’t necessarily impact the article we are examining, it is worth noting when an author’s past articles clearly favor one side. Throughout this article, the author includes strong language against the Green New Deal, a prominent Democratic policy, and Joe Biden, further establishing this article’s conservative leanings.

As we have seen, the article Scalise: ‘Tough’ Joe Manchin Can Handle Dems’ Backlash certainly fits the bill for being Very Conservative. This article aligns with Biasly’s Somewhat Right rating. Among the NewsMax articles rated by Biasly, this article falls somewhere in the middle in terms of its conservative bias, as many other NewsMax articles are scored as Somewhat, Medium, and Very Conservative.

Here are some quotes from the article:

“President Donald Trump blasted ‘sleazebag’ Colorado Democrat Gov. Jared Polis for keeping former Mesa County election clerk Tina Peters behind bars.”

The article opens by foregrounding Trump’s insult without contextual pushback or qualification. The verb “blasted” and the immediate inclusion of Trump’s language frame his reaction as the central and authoritative narrative rather than as a partisan opinion.

“Prosecutors said she used a county employee’s stolen security badge to let an outside operative access Mesa County’s voting systems in May 2021…”

The phrase “prosecutors said” distances the article from established court findings. Peters was convicted, yet the wording subtly frames the misconduct as an allegation rather than a proven fact, reducing the perceived certainty of her guilt.

“She was convicted for trying to stop Democrats from stealing Colorado Votes in the Election,” Trump said in the post.

This claim directly contradicts the legal basis of Peters’ conviction, yet the article does not challenge or contextualize it. Including it verbatim without clarification reinforces a partisan narrative rather than informing readers of established facts.

Throughout the article, language choices and sourcing subtly favor Trump’s narrative. Statements from Trump are presented prominently and without challenge, while Peters’ conviction is repeatedly framed through distancing phrases such as ‘prosecutors said,’ minimizing the certainty of the court’s findings.

Analysis of NewsMax Opinion Articles

Like the opinion section of any news media website, NewsMax’s opinion pieces are essentially all biased as they aren’t simply reporting the news; opinion pieces are intended to persuade readers of the author’s viewpoint on a particular topic.

However, while NewsMax does include opinion pieces from a wide variety of authors, the authors featured are, with very few exceptions, conservatives or at the very least on the Right of politics. Included on Newsmax’s opinions page is a section entitled “Most Famous Insiders,” which lists famous conservative politician and journalist Patrick Buchanan and Michael Reagan, the son of Ronald Reagan, as their top contributors of opinion pieces. NewsMax’s opinion pieces also make no attempt to hide their conservative bias with titles such as “Biden Has ‘Blessed’ Us With a Much More Dangerous World,” and “GOP ’24 Win Would End Biden-era Abuse of Power.”

Although NewsMax’s opinion pieces are biased toward the conservative side of politics, that isn’t necessarily an issue when it comes to opinion pieces. As long as readers understand that opinion pieces are intentionally biased as they are, as the name suggests, the opinions of the author, readers should have no issue with examining opinion pieces critically.

An example of how tone can relay bias in opinion articles can be seen in the article “Demanding Israel Relinquish Sovereignty Will Bring No Peace.” The author’s continual referencing of the Bible and the importance of Israel’s sovereignty above all else signals a conservative bias. While opinion articles tend to naturally be more biased than factual news reporting, it is still important to recognize the perspective the author is speaking from, as well as how the presentation of the issue is narrowed by this perspective.

How to Evaluate Bias

Although Biasly rates NewsMax as Somewhat Right, it’s important to remember that bias can vary from article to article. NewsMax also covers a conservative-leaning state with objectivity on many issues, from state legislation to social developments. This complexity underscores the importance of examining each article individually. So, let’s learn how to evaluate media bias.

Recognizing media bias requires awareness and critical thinking. Often, readers trust news sources that affirm their existing beliefs, a psychological tendency known as confirmation bias. This makes it harder to identify slanted narratives or one-sided reporting.

To combat this, it’s essential to challenge your assumptions by consulting multiple viewpoints and verifying news through third-party analysis. Tools like Biasly’s media bias ratings allow readers to compare the same news story across the political spectrum.

Ultimately, bias isn’t always a matter of what is said; it’s also about what is left out, how topics are framed, and which stories are chosen for coverage. Learning to recognize these patterns can help readers make more informed decisions and develop greater media literacy.

To start comparing news outlets and gain a better understanding of bias, sign up for Biasly’s Media Bias & News Analytics Platform to see how stories vary between sources.

There are several potential measures of reliability to look out for when trying to determine whether a media source is reliable or not. Red flags for an unreliable article can include the presence of wild, unsubstantiated claims, facts dependent on other unreliable sources, heavy use of opinionated language, and more. In contrast, hallmarks of a reliable source include:

• Absence of subjective language
• Citing credible sources (e.g., .gov, .edu, academic references)
• Verifiable facts and statistics from multiple outlets
• Use of primary sources, like interviews or transcripts
• Consistency with coverage across other platforms

Biasly’s reliability scores incorporate these elements in evaluating media outlets.

So How Does NewsMax Fare in Its Reliability?

The political reliability index developed by Biasly assesses both accuracy and trustworthiness. NewsMax 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.

NewsMax’s Source Analysis Score is Average at 49% 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 of NewsMax is Good at 72% Reliable. This further shows how well NewsMax supports its claims, addresses selection and omission bias, and presents verifiable evidence.

While NewsMax leans toward factual reporting, occasional lapses, such as unbalanced viewpoints or incomplete data, can affect its reliability rating. These nuances emphasize the importance of analyzing individual articles.

NewsMax’s Accuracy and Reliability

According to Biasly’s analysis, NewsMax 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. NewsMax has been accused of favoring a conservative 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 instance, let’s examine an opinion piece titled “Spiritual Revival Best Hope for America’s Rebirth.” In this article, the author uses a variety of sources in an effort to convince the reader that the United States needs a Christian revival to survive.

“Sometimes I wonder if America is bending so far that we might break. The indictment, arrest, and arraignment of a former president, who has declared his candidacy for another run, is a new low, even in our current post-Christian state of America.”

This quote from the article implies several things. For one, the idea that the United States is a “post-Christian state.” Christians still make up a significant majority of the U.S. population, at over 70% according to Pew Research Center. These statistics may not differentiate between devout Christians vs non-devout Christians, in defense of the author.  However, the author makes a number of references to the Founding Fathers being Christian as support for his claim, but the assertion that all of the Founding Fathers were Christian is not true.

The Founding Fathers were a group of people with a variety of beliefs from different types of Christianity to Theistic rationalism, and as a whole, did not intend to create a Christian state, but were also not strict secularists, as other people might claim. It seems the author of this article specifically selected Christian founding fathers, such as James Madison and James McHenr,y while omitting mention of Theistic rationalists or Deist founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, or Benjamin Franklin.

“Victor Davis Hanson is an insightful historian. He sees the big picture so well. On April 6,  he opined that America is fast approaching our own version of the Jacobin-led French Revolution. Hanson notes, ‘This revolution is run by elites and is a top-down operation. … Still, to thoroughly erase America, our Jacobins must radically alter our customs and traditions. … like the Jacobins, names, and dates had to be radically transformed. 1619, not 1776, is now America’s birthdate and, we are told, it was an ignominious one. Statues are toppled, careers Trotskyized.’”

The author’s inclusion of quotes regarding history made by historian Victor Davis Hanson does increase the article’s credibility to some extent; however, Hanson was certainly specifically chosen as a noted conservative historian, as is evidenced by the article cited being from the conservative site American Greatness. It also bears mentioning that Hanson’s historical specialty is classics and military history, neither of which is particularly relevant to his assertions cited in the article. Not to say that Hanson has no knowledge of the French Revolution or modern politics, but they certainly aren’t his specialty, and the author of this article likely omitted this fact intentionally.

The quotation by Hanson also compares the modern American Left to historical extreme factions such as the Jacobins of the French Revolution or Trotskyites of the 20th century, with limited evidence explaining this connection. The author of this article likely included this specific quotation to portray his political opponents as extremists without mentioning specific policies of the American Left, which are not nearly as extreme as those advocated for by Jacobins or Trotskyites.

Overall, this particular NewsMax opinion piece is certainly biased toward the conservative side of American politics. While this isn’t necessarily an issue when it comes to opinion pieces, as it is a given that opinion pieces will be biased, NewsMax makes no attempt to cover both sides of American politics, as the vast majority of its opinion pieces advocate for conservative policies.

Analysis of Reliability in NewsMax’s Online News Articles

NewsMax aims to serve Americans with objective, fact-based reporting. However, readers should distinguish between news reporting and opinion pieces to evaluate credibility effectively.

One notable example is the article titled “Ukraine’s Rudik to Newsmax: Ukraine ‘Grateful’ for Trump, New Peace Plan.” The article only focuses on Rudik’s positive framing of Trump, rather than adding contrasting or supplementary information, which might have provided a more balanced article. Thus, this article has a conservative bias.

Quality of Sources and Facts Used

NewsMax often uses credible sources from across the political spectrum. However, some articles skew in how comprehensively they present opposing viewpoints. For example, let’s take a look at the article “Vance, Sen. McConnell Trade Blows on Russia Strategy”:

• JD Vance, Vice-President of the United States
• Mitch McConnell, Republican Senator from Kentucky

Both Vance and McConnell are right-leaning sources. By not providing sources from other ideological perspectives, the reader is offered an imbalanced and narrow narrative. Furthermore, this article loses reliability, as using facts from a diverse set of sources allows an article to position itself as neutral and objective.

Another example is the article “Trump: US-Drafted Peace Plan Down to ‘Few’ Disputes:”

• Donald Trump, President of the United States

Trump is considered right-leaning. By only referencing Trump and no counter-narratives, this article also presents the viewer with a narrow and imbalanced narrative. For an article to be objective, it must present multiple sources from different ideological perspectives. Thus, this article also conveys a conservative bias.

Selection and Omission Bias

Despite its massive growth over the last few years, NewsMax has often been criticized for its right-wing bias and questionable accuracy. While we know that NewsMax carries some hefty conservative bias, how does this bias impact the accuracy of their reporting? To find out, we will examine a few Newsmax articles to determine their reliability.

Selection bias is when stories and facts are selected or deselected, often on ideological grounds, to create a narrative in support of the news sources’ ideology. Omission bias, on the other hand, is when different opinions and political views regarding a situation are left out, so that the reader is only exposed to the ideological perspective supported by the author. It’s important to keep in mind these two types of biases when trying to assess an article’s level of accuracy.

Biasly’s accuracy rating system is based on a simple percentage scale, with 1 percent being the least accurate and 100 percent being the most accurate. These ratings are determined by counting the number of credible sources used by that publication on average. NewsMax’s score, based on articles rated on Biasly, comes out to “Good.”

In general, articles with higher bias scores tend to rank lower on the accuracy scale, while less biased articles score higher. The reliability of NewsMax’s rated articles tends to vary wildly, with some scores as low as “Fair” reliable and others as high as “Good” reliable. These scores seem to even out to make NewsMax’s overall score “Good.” Interestingly, the less reliable articles have significantly higher bias scores, while those that are more reliable tend to have lower bias scores. These massive differences in reliability between different articles might be explained by selection and omission biases utilized in each particular article.

As an example, the NewsMax article “Brandon Judd to Newsmax TV: Biden ‘Completing the Smuggling Cycle’,” has an analyst bias score of very conservative and an author bias score of very conservative, and an accuracy score of only “Fair” reliability. The article cites a statement by National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd on Newsmax TV as its main source. While Judd might be a primary source on issues on the U.S.-Mexico border as a member of the Border Patrol, he is also undeniably conservatively biased, as evidenced by his appearance at a National Conservatism conference in 2021. Judd also makes the claim that:

“The Biden administration, by releasing these children, has reintroduced what we call the catch and release magnet … That is what draws so many people to cross our borders illegally. They’ve created this revolving door where people come into the United States; they violate our laws; they get released pending a [Notice to Appear] for a future court date.”

Throughout the article, the statements by Judd, such as the one above, utilize selection and omission biases by intentionally including specific border policies of the Biden administration but neglecting to mention other important details of those policies in order to paint them as malicious.

While Judd mentions that the Biden administration is releasing children who were caught crossing the border, he neglects to mention that, as is mentioned on the Department of Homeland Security website, the Family Reunification Task Force is specifically intended to reunite and support families separated at the border safely and requires parents or children applying for the program to qualify. This qualification process would likely eliminate issues with human or drug trafficking raised by Judd, but he either intentionally neglects to mention this fact or is unaware of the details.

On the more reliable side, the article “Sen. Braun to Newsmax: America Is Borrowing Its Way to a Deal” has an analyst bias score of somewhat conservative and an author bias score of somewhat conservative. With these comparatively low bias scores or more center-leaning, this article received a “Good” reliable accuracy score, much closer to NewsMax’s average.

This article cites statements by Republican senators Mike Braun and Ted Cruz as sources on a $1 trillion infrastructure plan passed by the Senate in 2021. While these sources, being Republican politicians, are clearly biased towards the conservative side of the aisle, they are also directly connected to the issue discussed and have some credibility on that front. Regardless, selection and omission biases from these sources are present in the article.

So, is NewsMax Reliable?

Overall, NewsMax 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.

Who Funds NewsMax?

NewsMax is a for-profit outlet funded primarily through ownership stakes and commercial revenue. Christopher Ruddy is the majority stakeholder alongside minority investors. This structure can create incentives to retain audiences and grow subscriptions, which may reinforce the outlet’s editorial positioning. Bias is a two-way street; people want to see news stories about things they care about, and the media needs viewers to continue their operations. This creates a positive feedback loop that influences what stories are covered and from what perspective. This also explains the actions of more liberal news organizations.

Notable Contributors and Authors

NewsMax features authors who share their conservative bias. Most of Newsmax’s news reporters are freelance reporters. Reporters like Jim Mishler and Theodore Bunker often cover political controversies, which utilize facts, but are often ultimately affected by conservative biases. Some of their opinion articles are written by prominent conservative figures like Tony Perkins and Alan Dershowitz.

Related Tools and Resource Pages

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

• Media Bias Chart: See where NewsMax 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 NewsMax and other outlets.
• Media Literacy Education Platform: Learn how to critically assess media sources, bias techniques, and news reliability.