Quick Overview
Ground News doesn’t position itself as a fact-checking website, but it is not a distinction an average user might easily make. The site helps readers escape algorithm-driven news consumption by aggregating articles from over 50,000 sources worldwide. It allows users to compare coverage to get a broader perspective on current events through media bias analysis. Unlike traditional fact-checking sites, Ground News doesn’t verify individual claims but provides bias assessments based on a publication’s overall political leanings.
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The site is visually appealing and easy to navigate. The immediate main sorting of users into two political categories might be jarring and seemingly counter-productive to the Ground News mission statement, but it is eye-catching. The platform evaluates sources based on social presence and ownership transparency, as well as how long they’ve been around. It also checks how frequently they align with reputable outlets. Ground News doesn’t claim to be the final judge of truth. Instead, it highlights patterns in reporting to show how different outlets frame the news. Users can access its features through a browser extension and newsletters.
Value for Money 17/40 
: Ground News is a Starting Point for Your Research
Ground News explains its methodology well. It determines media bias by averaging ratings from three independent organizations: All Sides, Ad Fontes Media, and Media Bias Fact Check. These groups assess bias through editorial reviews and independent research. The analysis follows the U.S. political spectrum and evaluates entire publications rather than individual articles. If a source lacks ratings from one or more organizations, Ground News averages the available scores.
Bias ratings appear with summaries of political leanings, but Ground News doesn’t offer a neutral stance. If a story is only covered by sources on one side of the spectrum, comparisons become difficult (more on this later). Since bias ratings apply to whole publications rather than individual stories, some users find this method limiting. While Ground News provides a breakdown of bias distribution across outlets, it does not independently verify facts or issue corrections.
An interesting effort Ground News offers is Blindspot, which strives to shine a light on stories that “circulate in online echo chambers”: news with “political undertones” and disproportionate coverage on one side of the political spectrum. This aligns with the site’s mission of breaching algorithmic info bubbles.
Ground News operates on a subscription-based model, free from ad revenue (linked external news sources may still contain ads or paywalls). Understandably, the subscription promotion on the site is strong. Less understandably, some crucial information is paywalled as an incentive to subscribe, which can be annoying, and there is a limit of 5 free articles per day. The company is funded by independent investors (undisclosed on the website) with no ties to corporate media, big tech, or governments. Most of its revenue comes from community-supported subscriptions, but no fiscal reports are available.
Ground News states that it is run by “a small, Ontario-based team of 18 people”, co-founded by Harleen Kaur (a former NASA engineer) and Sukh Singh (formerly of Bain & Company). This is a somewhat less transparent net affiliation/ownership disclosure compared to other websites A*Help reviewed. The company, however, emphasizes that it has no political agenda and aggregates content across the entire spectrum to present diverse viewpoints.
Overall Experience 36/60 : Ground News Doesn’t Suit Every Situation
Ground News does not use a simple true/false rating like fact-checking sites. Instead, it provides comparative bias assessments for different news outlets covering the same topic. Bias distributions are available, but conclusions on the factuality of data (and source ownership) require a paid subscription — far from ideal. On top of that, if an event is only reported by sources with similar leanings, a balanced comparison is not possible.
How this works (or doesn’t) is as follows. When a coverage bias of a certain situation is discussed, Ground News provides an AI summary of the information at the top of every post. But these bullet points can only appear if there is enough of said coverage. As a result, if the coverage is biased and not enough of it comes from sources on the varying ends of the political spectrum, alternative summaries and bias comparisons cannot be generated for the lack of data — and are simply not provided. How effective such a method of presentation can really be is questionable.
The AI-generated summaries do not include a separate list of sources, but references are linked throughout. The articles included in the coverage bias evaluation are listed below and can be sorted by political bias. Users can suggest news sources for inclusion and track their requests (a neat feature). But they cannot ask for fact-checks or changes to bias ratings. There’s no comment section on the Ground News website, but users can reach out via social media or email. A Help Center is available for submitting feedback and managing subscriptions.
The Verdict
Ground News is a platform for analyzing media bias and comparing news coverage across different political perspectives. While it does not fact-check individual claims, when its bias tracking system applies, it offers insights for those looking to navigate modern news consumption. However, its subscription model restricts access to more detailed features, and the lack of article-level bias ratings may be a drawback for those craving a more granular approach. We would recommend it as a starting point for your research, but it should by no means be your final or only resource for forming an opinion or a paper outline.
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