Last updated 2 October 2026

Every outlet we track carries one of five labels: left, centre-left, centre, centre-right or right. A label describes where an outlet's coverage and documented record sit. It is not a verdict on whether its reporting is accurate, and it says nothing about intent. Every reviewed label is approved by our review panel and shows its reasons, up to five evidence links and its review date on the outlet's page.

A rating is either reviewed or an estimate. Reviewed ratings have been approved by our review panel; they are the only ratings shown in our outlet directory and the only outlet pages we list for search engines. Estimates come from automated classification and are labelled as estimates wherever they appear. Ratings marked provisional rest on fewer signals and are re-assessed first, once our story-selection measure has enough data.

As of 2 October 2026: 167 outlets tracked, 20 with panel-approved ratings (together they publish most of the stories we show), and 49 active news feeds from India. These figures are updated with each review round.

Ratings are decided by a review panel of five to seven members, selected for independence and for a range of political views. Each member reads the evidence for an outlet and gives written feedback and a recommended label. The panel's chair weighs the recommendations and makes the final decision, which is recorded with the previous and new label, the reasons and the date. Members declare any conflict of interest and do not review an outlet they are connected to.

Every reviewed rating has a confidence level. High: several independent signals agree, including a story-selection score with enough data. Medium: one strong documented signal, such as a regulator finding or an owner's party role, with supporting context. Low: the signals are limited or point in different directions; the rating is marked provisional and is re-assessed first. Confidence rises only with new evidence.

We rely on signals that anyone can verify. Ownership: who controls the outlet, from company filings and the Media Ownership Monitor India. Affiliations: owners or editors who hold or have held party posts or party-backed seats. Regulator findings: orders of the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority and the Press Council of India. Documented editorial positions and independent research, where they exist. Ratings published by other organisations are not used as evidence, and we do not adopt their scales. Ownership or an owner's affiliation is treated as a signal, not as proof of slant; where it is the only signal, the rating is marked provisional.

What an outlet chooses to cover is one of the clearest traces of its editorial line. For each outlet we look at the last 90 days of stories covered unevenly: stories reported by at least two outlets rated left or centre-left and by none rated right or centre-right, and the reverse. The outlet's score is the share of right-only stories it covered minus the share of left-only stories it covered, on a scale from minus one to plus one. The outlet being scored is never one of the outlets that define a story as one-sided. A score is published only when it rests on at least 200 such stories, and it appears on the outlet's page with its date and sample size.

Suppose that over 90 days 400 stories were covered only by left-leaning outlets and 300 only by right-leaning ones. An outlet that covered 40 of the left-only stories (10%) and 120 of the right-only stories (40%) scores 0.40 minus 0.10, or plus 0.30, from 700 one-sided stories, above the 200 minimum. That places it right of centre. If its label were centre-left, the gap is more than one step, and two consecutive quarters like this would return the outlet to the review panel. These figures are illustrative, not any real outlet's score.

The score never changes a label automatically. When it points more than one step away from the current label for two consecutive quarters, the review panel re-examines the outlet with all the evidence and records its decision. Scores are recomputed every quarter, and each score states how many reviewed outlets it rests on.

A story page groups articles about the same event from different outlets. The coverage bar counts those articles by the label of the outlet that published them: left and centre-left together, centre, and centre-right and right together. It shows who is covering a story and how much. Several articles from one outlet each count in the bar, while the outlet count on the page counts each outlet once.

A story is Off Radar when one side is missing from its coverage: at least four outlets with a known label cover it, at least two of them are on one side, and none are on the other. Off Radar describes coverage only. It is not a judgement on the story's importance or on the outlets that did not cover it.

Factuality levels are assessed on public signals: membership of the International Fact-Checking Network, regulator orders, a published corrections policy and wire-service status. A level that has not yet been assessed this way is labelled as an estimate. Ownership is shown on every outlet page where it is known, with its source. Both are kept separate from the left-to-right label.

Our coverage is mostly English-language national outlets, with Hindi outlets being added, so regional and language press is under-represented. Many large Indian outlets have little published research on their editorial line, which is why the story-selection measure matters and why some ratings are provisional. Stories are grouped automatically; an incorrect grouping affects that story's coverage bar until it is corrected.

Outlets and readers can dispute any rating through our Corrections page, the complaints form, or grievance@unitedonenews.com. Please include the evidence you believe we missed. Every dispute is considered by the review panel, and any change is recorded with its reasons.

No rating method is free of judgement, and we do not claim ours is. What we offer is a method that can be checked: the rules on this page, the reasons and evidence on every outlet page, the date of every review, and a way to dispute any rating. When a rule changes, this page shows the new date.

Many rating schemes were designed for US media and place outlets on US party lines. Indian politics does not map onto those lines, and many Indian outlets have never been assessed against Indian evidence. Our signals are Indian (ownership records, Indian regulator orders, party roles of Indian owners and editors), and our story-selection measure uses Indian stories only.

Story-selection scores are recomputed every quarter. A label changes only through a review panel decision, which follows a score that disagrees for two consecutive quarters, a material change of ownership, or a dispute that brings new evidence.

See every reviewed outlet on the outlet directory, and our wider editorial standards.