News blogs have become popular sources for people to obtain news in today’s times. However, many have come under scrutiny for biased coverage. One of those sources is 100 Percent Fed Up, a news blog founded in 2012 and is popular within conservative circles.
Given the blog’s connections with conservative politics, the question of whether 100 Percent Fed Up is biased demands a close examination.
In this article, we will analyze the blog’s coverage and editorial decisions to determine if there is a discernible political bias in their reporting. Through our analysis, we hope to provide a comprehensive answer to whether 100 Percent Fed Up is biased and shed light on the factors that contribute to media bias in general.
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 100 Percent Fed Up Politically Biased?
Biasly’s rating for 100 Percent Fed Up is based on two scores, one from its computer algorithms which are based on A.I., and one from its Analysts. As of this article being published, Biasly rated the news source with a Computer AI Bias Score of Medium Conservative. Overall, it provides political coverage from an American conservative perspective. Analyst scores are based on an average of at least 15 articles with each being reviewed by one liberal, moderate, and conservative analyst. While this source hasn’t currently been rated by analysts, it’s important to note that the more articles rated by Bialsy’s analyst team for a particular source indicates a more accurate analyst score. As Biasly rates more articles, the scores will become more accurate. Consistent praise for conservative political figures and policies while dislike towards their liberal counterparts contributed to these ratings. Biasly’s scores closely align with determinations by other third-party bias research agencies.
In the remainder of this article, we’ll talk about ways to identify this bias so you can separate the opinions from the facts and become a more informed consumer of news.
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 100 Percent Fed Up Articles
When determining bias, some of the most common metrics used include Tone, Tendency, Author, Diction, and Expediency Bias, which are the primary metrics we’ll focus on below.
- 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: A metric related to the article’s author, taking into account their history of stance on issues based on past articles and social media posts.
- Tendency measures how consistently an author shows bias in their work, including factors like their tone and perspective.
- Expediency Bias relates to the immediate impression created by elements like the article’s headline, images, or summary, indicating if they favor a particular viewpoint.
Source: 100 Percent Fed Up
One article that displays multiple different types of bias is, “Political Experts: ‘Never Seen Anything Like This’” by Noah (most author’s last names are kept private). The article is about Trump’s fundraising following a historic guilty verdict. Conservative expediency bias is evident from the title and thumbnail. The image shows a proud Donald Trump giving a confident gesture towards the end. When you juxtapose the image with the quote, “Never Seen Anything Like This,” next to “Political Experts,” it creates the impression that the former president has outsmarted his critics.
The author’s tone and tendency are consistently positive towards Donald Trump. They imply that Trump’s fundraising numbers following his guilty verdict are good news. It also creates the impression that the author is excited about this news.
“An absolutely unprecedented haul of $34.8 million in campaign donations in less than 24 hours after the Guilty verdict was handed down.
Support for President Trump is off the charts, surpassing all prior records.”
The diction also leans conservative, such as the use of the phrase “off the charts” to describe the former president’s fundraising. Noah also subtly criticized the verdict by implying that the former president got punished for nothing bigger.
“After being found guilty in his “Hush Money” trial, Trump raked in $34.8 million yesterday from small-dollar donors.”
Putting quotes around “Hush Money” implies that the trial was a sham and that the former president was innocent.
Overall, the author openly displays conservative bias throughout the article. Their word choice and tone consistently paint a positive image of Donald Trump and negatively portray his critics and the criminal justice system. These findings align with our analysis of 100 Percent Fed Up as a news source with a Medium Conservative bias.
Analysis of 100 Percent Fed Up Opinion Articles
Before we answer this question, we need to distinguish between opinion and reporting. While reporting is intended to be neutral, giving the reader the facts and quotes from primary sources to let them form their own opinion, opinions are an outlet for columnists to express their personal views on the issues of the day.
In the case of 100 Percent Fed Up, it is open about its conservative leanings. They are a news source made for conservative audiences and write articles from a right-wing perspective. In a sense, virtually every article from this source is an opinion article. However, some articles focus on facts, albeit selectively, better while others are closer to the author’s commentary.
An example of a reporting-based article is, “Democrat-Led State Now Allows ALL Voters To Join Permanent Absentee Ballot List,” by Danielle. The expediency bias from the title is conservative because it creates the impression that Democrats are up to no good. However, the author uses a more neutral tone when describing a new Minnesota voting law.
“A new law in Minnesota that went into effect on June 1st allows all voters to permanently vote via absentee ballot.”
On the other hand, articles such as, “HILARIOUS: Watch CNN Forced To Admit The Trump Bronx Rally Is HUGE and DIVERSE!,” are significantly more opinion-based. The author, Noah, shares his joy watching CNN’s Anderson Cooper discussing with a reporter about a recent Donald Trump rally in the Bronx, a reliably Democratic borough. The author’s tone and diction are consistently negative towards CNN and its journalists.
“I can’t decide who’s face is better…..
The grimaces from the reporter, or the long horse face shown by Anderson Cooper in the studio as he appears completely befuddled.”
These articles, in addition to those above, are only a small representation of all 100 Percent Fed Up content, but they indicate that the outlet is often characterized by a great deal of opinion — further underscoring the importance of knowing how to distinguish subjective writing from genuine reporting.
Who Owns 100 Percent Fed Up?
100 Percent Fed Up was founded by conservative activists Leisa Audette and Patty McMurray in 2012. Patty wrote in her farewell article that the two became politically active in wake of Barack Obama winning the 2008 Presidential Election and met in 2010 working for Republican congressional candidate Rocky Raczykowski. They founded the blog in 2012 immediately following the death of conservative journalist and political commentator, Andrew Breitbart, as a way to continue his legacy.
The “About Us” section of the website no longer exists but achieved webpages reveal insight into Leisa and Patty’s motivations. They described Andrew Breitbart as, “a fearless warrior in the battle to expose the truth behind the lies of the mainstream media.” Near the bottom of the page, they stated, “Our goal is to expose the lies and hypocrisy of the progressives in academia, the entertainment industry, and MSM through the use of social media.” These statements, along with Lesia and Patty’s conservative beliefs and activism, can be seen in the conservative biases of the articles.
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.
Even though Biasly gave 100 Percent Fed Up a Medium Conservative bias score, remember that bias varies by article. Additionally, some article types will inherently have more or less bias; general news articles are known for being less biased than opinion pieces. And while every article you read will be biased to some degree, some stick to the facts better than others, which is why it’s so important to use Biasly’s News Check to help you determine the bias of what you read.