CNN political bias: What the data shows about media slant and trust

When people talk about CNN political bias, the perception that CNN favors certain political views in its reporting. Also known as media slant, it’s a topic that comes up every time a major story breaks—whether it’s an election, a protest, or a scandal. The question isn’t whether CNN has opinions—it’s whether its coverage leans in a way that misleads viewers, and what the evidence actually says.

Look at the data. A 2024 study by Media Bias/Fact Check analyzed over 10,000 CNN headlines and found its reporting consistently framed Democratic policies in a more favorable light than Republican ones, especially on immigration, healthcare, and climate. That doesn’t mean CNN makes things up—it means it often chooses which facts to highlight, which experts to quote, and which angles to emphasize. Compare that to Fox News, which leans right, or the BBC, which tries to stay neutral. CNN sits firmly in the center-left zone, and its audience knows it. Over 60% of Americans who get news from CNN say they trust it, but nearly half of those same people also say they believe it’s biased—sometimes intentionally.

Why does this matter? Because media bias, the tendency of news outlets to present information in a way that favors one side of an issue. Also known as news slant, it shapes how people understand the world. If you only watch CNN, you’ll hear one version of events. If you only watch Fox, you’ll hear another. The truth usually lives somewhere in between. That’s why so many people now check multiple sources—especially younger viewers who get news from TikTok or YouTube, where algorithms don’t care about balance, just engagement. CNN’s bias isn’t about lies. It’s about framing. It’s about which protest gets 90 seconds of airtime and which gets 12. It’s about whether a politician’s mistake is called a scandal or a misstep.

And here’s the real issue: news credibility, how much the public trusts a news source to report accurately and fairly. Also known as media trust, it’s falling fast across the board. A 2025 Pew Research survey showed only 32% of U.S. adults trust CNN “a lot” or “some.” That’s down from 51% in 2016. The same survey found people trust local news more than national outlets. Why? Because local reporters cover schools, traffic, and crime—things you can see for yourself. National networks cover politics, and politics is messy. When you’re constantly told your side is right and the other side is dangerous, trust erodes.

What you’ll find in the posts below isn’t a defense or an attack on CNN. It’s the facts. You’ll see how CNN’s coverage compares to the Daily Mail, the BBC, and even TikTok. You’ll see data on who watches it, what they believe, and how their views shift after seeing a story. You’ll see how bias isn’t always intentional—it’s often built into the structure of how news is made, who gets hired, and what gets clicked. This isn’t about politics. It’s about how information works in 2025. And if you want to know what’s really going on, you need to understand where your news comes from—and why it looks the way it does.