The Boston Sun, formerly known as the Back Bay Sun, is part of the Independent News Group (ING), a newspaper publishing company based in Revere, Massachusetts. Covering stories weekly from the Boston neighborhoods of Back Bay, Kenmore, Fenway, and the South End.
Analyzing the political leanings of the neighborhoods covered by The Boston Sun reveals a strong Democratic inclination, as shown by recent voting results Compared to nearby neighborhoods of Cambridge and Brookline which show more political diversity, Back Bay, Kenmore, Fenway, and South End are decidedly democratic.
To determine whether The Boston Sun exhibits political bias in its reporting, we will examine the paper’s articles and editorial decisions. Through this analysis, we aim to establish the presence of any bias in The Boston Sun and highlight the factors contributing to media bias more broadly.
How Does Biasly Rate News Sources?
Biasly’s algorithms produce bias ratings to help provide multiple perspectives on given articles. Biasly has analyzed 200,000+ news articles from more than 3,200 news sources through our A.I. technology and team of political analysts to find the most factual, unbiased news stories.
Biasly determines the degree of political bias in news sources by using Biasly’s Bias Meter Rating, in which Biasly’s team analyzes media sources’ reliability and bias and produces three scores, a Reliability Score that measures the accuracy of media sources; an A.I. Bias Score, evaluated by A.I.; and an Analyst Bias Score evaluated by political analysts. These scores are rated based on seven rating metrics including Tone, Tendency, Diction, Author Check, Selection/Omission, Expediency Bias, and Accuracy. These metrics help our analysts to determine the political attitude of the article.
Our A.I. machine-learning system employs natural language processing and entity-specific sentiment analysis to examine individual articles and determine their bias levels. By analyzing the key terms in an article such as policies, bias phrases, political terminologies, politicians, and their nicknames, the algorithms can rate the attitude of the text. Bias scores range from -100% and 100%, with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral.
Is The Boston Sun Politically Biased?
Biasly’s rating for The Boston Sun gives the paper a Computer AI Bias Score of Center, a score generated by its AI-based algorithms. For instance, an article published in 2022 in The Boston Sun titled “Baker Administration to Lift Mask Mandates for Schools on Feb. 28” was rated as center by Biasly due to its mostly neutral tone. The score given to The Boston Sun by Biasly closely aligns with determinations made by other third-party bias research agencies.
Typically, Biasly provides an Analyst Bias Score in addition to the Computer Bias Score. These scores, based on an average of at least 15 articles, are reviewed by one liberal, moderate, and conservative analyst. They are generated by looking at different forms of bias in articles, as well as the differences in praise for liberal and republican politicians and policies. As more articles are reviewed and rated by the analyst team at Biasly, the more accurate an analyst score. Since The Boston Sun is a relatively small newspaper, it has yet to receive an Analyst Bias Score.
In this article, we will examine some recent articles from The Boston Sun using the rating metrics applied by Biasly analysts. This will involve assessing tone, tendency, diction, the author, selection/omission, expediency, and accuracy. By analyzing these aspects of bias, we can gain further insight into the bias rating of The Boston Sun.
Before we begin, we need to discuss bias. Bias is a natural function of humans, and we can express it both consciously and unconsciously. Bias is one of the most fundamental forms of pattern recognition in humans. This isn’t to lower the bar and say that “all things are biased,” but to explain the process in which we may come to trust certain news organizations that display patterns of coverage.
On the media’s part, there is an incentive to retain audiences, encourage them to purchase subscriptions, and rate products positively. 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.
Analysis of Bias in The Boston Sun Online Articles
Given that the majority of The Boston Sun’s readership, the local residents, tend to lean heavily Democratic, how centrist is The Boston Sun really? According to a 2019 poll by Gallup, 53% of respondents perceive local newspapers to be “just about right,” meaning they are neither too liberal nor too conservative. Meanwhile, just 39% of respondents perceived national news media to be “just about right.”
However, this merely reflects a generalized attitude toward local papers. To accurately gauge whether The Boston Sun is biased, we will examine some of their articles in detail below to identify any signs of bias.
As mentioned previously, certain commonly used metrics help identify bias. These are explained as follows:
- Tone: This represents the attitude of the writing, formed distinctively but related to the author’s word choices or diction.
- Diction: The specific words chosen by the writer.
- Author: This metric relates to the article’s author, taking into account their history of stances on issues based on past articles and social media posts.
- Tendency: This measures how consistently an author shows bias in their work, including factors like their tone and perspective.
- Expediency Bias: This relates to the immediate impression created by elements like the article’s headline, images, or summary, indicating if they favor a particular viewpoint.
The first article we will examine is “Coletta Zapata Holds Second Hearing on Mayor’s Proposed Property Tax Classification.” Biasly’s rating of the article is “Center.” Overall, The Boston Sun staff, who authored this article, managed to maintain neutrality within it. This reduction in bias can be attributed to the incorporation of multiple viewpoints.
Moreover, the expediency bias is kept to a minimum, with the article’s headline simply stating that a second hearing was held to discuss the mayor’s proposal for property tax classification. The headline does not contain any words indicating a particular stance on the event or tax proposal, allowing readers to approach the article with minimal bias.
The tone of this article is mostly objective, reporting the topic with little partiality. For instance, the author writes:
“During the hearing, councilors once again shared concerns about the success of the proposal, potential unintended consequences and asked for additional information and data on the tax assessment for Boston.”
“The home rule petition first needs approval from the Boston City Council then it would be sent to the State Legislature who also needs to approve it before it can take effect.”
This sentence shows that the author does not have an agenda in discussing the proposal and potential legislative action. A more biased statement would involve an indication of whether the petition would have a positive or negative effect on residents.
The tendency bias, which refers to how often this tone occurs throughout the article, is also moderate. Since the tone is already mostly objective, and it is consistent throughout the article, then the tendency bias is minimal.
The diction of the article is also neutral. The author does not use language in the article that is charged or would trigger strong emotions in the reader. For example, the article says:
“The hearing began with public testimony from Boston residents. Councilors also heard from representatives of labor unions, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Urban Edge and representatives of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, Ryan, LLC, Back Bay Association, and Eastern Bank.”
The language in this does not reveal any opinion about the events it discussed, maintaining a neutral voice about the subject matter. A version with more biased diction would involve language that implies opinions about the hearing or testimony.
Though this article from The Boston Sun is rated as Center, the amount of bias can differ between articles and authors within the same organization. This shows the importance of looking for the signs of bias — including (but not limited to) tone, tendency, diction, author, and expediency bias — in any article you come across.
For example, an article written by The Boston Sun Staff entitled “Wu To Attend Climate Summit at the Vatican To Showcase Boston’s Leadership on Climate” shows slight bias. It has expediency bias through its title which implies that the city of Boston has been leading efforts to combat climate change. Readers may disagree with this, so it shows bias in promoting this to be true in the article’s title.
Moreover, the article writes that Mayor Wu will showcase “Boston as a champion on climate action.” Using the word “champion” in this context suggests the feeling of Boston’s success in this context, and this diction continues throughout the article:
“Mayor Wu is champion of climate action for Boston.”
“Mayor Wu’s commitment to climate action advances sustainability, resilience, and environmental justice. Last month, Mayor Wu shared her FY25 Budget which included groundbreaking investments in climate action and adaptation.”
The diction and overall tone in these parts of the article are partial towards Mayor Wu’s climate agenda, praising the various future and past plans for climate action that she has proposed. It leaves little to no room for readers to question Boston’s leadership in climate action or the effectiveness of Mayor Wu’s agenda.
Though The Boston Sun is generally considered a centrist newspaper, it can publish articles such as “Wu To Attend Climate Summit at the Vatican To Showcase Boston’s Leadership on Climate” that contain bias. This bias can be easy to overlook, especially for readers who assume the paper maintains a centrist stance.
Analysis of The Boston Sun’s Opinion Articles
Editorials and opinion pieces fall into their own category when assessing bias. News articles are intended to be neutral and objective, providing facts and quotes directly from sources to allow the reader to form their own opinions on an issue. In contrast, opinion writing focuses on the writers expressing their stances on current events and issues, rather than enabling readers to form their own opinions.
This past June, The Boston Sun’s staff wrote an editorial called “June Is a Month of Freedom.”
The title itself suggests some bias, as it implies that June embodies freedom, which is a subjective sentiment. In the article, the staff argues that June celebrates events that “brought true freedom to Americans who had been unable to experience the promise of America,” using emotionally charged and opinionated language. This diction continues throughout the remainder of the article, clearly marking it as an opinion piece.
Conversely, not every editorial is as overtly opinionated. For instance, The Boston Sun’s staff wrote an editorial titled “Tuesday Is the Presidential Primary Election,” which does not contain any obvious opinion in its title. Based on the title alone, one might assume that this article would be less biased than the previous one.
These articles make up only a small fraction of The Boston Sun’s publications. However, The Boston Sun publishes two editorials a week, which constitutes roughly a quarter of their total weekly output. Over time, the number of editorials accumulates, making it easy to come across these opinion pieces while browsing their publication. Therefore, it is important to understand the distinction between news reporting and subjective writing.
Who Reports for The Boston Sun?
When you visit The Boston Sun’s website, you may notice the frequent appearance of Dan Murphy’s name. While most articles are attributed to The Boston Sun Staff, Murphy is the only individual consistently credited with a byline. His name appears at least once in every weekly publication. Murphy has been editing and reporting for The Boston Sun since 2004. Since he is the sole writer to receive a personal byline, this could introduce bias into The Boston Sun’s articles. For instance, the previously discussed article about Mayor Wu’s climate agenda was biased in favor of the mayor.
The Boston Sun’s website does not list the names of its staff, making it unclear who is writing the articles. Without this vital information, it is difficult to determine whether there is author bias in the paper’s articles. Even if multiple people are contributing, which could theoretically reduce bias, this would only be effective if different perspectives are represented—something that is impossible to verify due to the lack of names on the website.
How to Evaluate and Uncover Bias
It can often be difficult to tell if the news you watch is biased. If you have settled on a news channel, it’s usually because you trust the information you are gaining. Unfortunately, many trust the information they are hearing because it confirms what they already believe. This is referred to as “confirmation bias.” It is important to challenge your beliefs and get third-party verification that what you are hearing is the full story. This is why we recommend using Biasly to compare different news stories side-by-side using our bias ratings to figure out what both sides think of a political issue.
Though Biasly gave The Boston Sun a Centrist bias score, it’s important to note that bias can vary by article. The Boston Sun may also publish articles that deviate from the center, and the degree of this deviation can vary. Though it is a local newspaper, and these types of papers are generally viewed as containing fewer biases, this is not always the case. Since most articles in
The Boston Sun’s articles are written by either its staff or Dan Murphy, the level of bias can differ between these authors. Additionally, the type of article influences the amount of bias, with general news articles typically being less biased than opinion pieces. Given these factors, using Biasly’s News Check can help determine the bias of the articles you read.