Thursday, July 9, 2026
Today's Media Report Card
36 articles. 24 outlets. 39% received a D or F.
UPI earned an A for straight reporting on Meta’s Alberta data center while The Federalist received a D for cherry-picking Spain trade details. NYT and Newsmax both scored A grades on separate stories yet France24 and New Republic landed D marks for selective omission and factual distortion on the Iran strikes. Thirty-nine percent of the 36 articles failed basic standards, with left outlets repeatedly skipping Spanish base-access refusals and right outlets ignoring documented Democratic withdrawals from Platner.
The Federalist turned an unverified Trump boast about Spain into a headline fact of capitulation while France24 omitted the same base-access dispute entirely.
Grade Distribution
8
0
14
13
1
Every Outlet: Political Lean vs. Propaganda Grade
Dot size = number of articles analyzed. Green = A/B, amber = C, red = D/F.
Outlet Rankings
| # | Outlet | Grade | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | new | upi.com | A |
| 2 | ▲11 | newsmax.com | A |
| 3 | ▲13 | nytimes.com | A |
| 4 | ▲2 | cnbc.com | A |
| 5 | ▲18 | huffpost.com | A |
| 6 | new | today.com | B |
| 7 | ▲4 | theguardian.com | B |
| 8 | ▲6 | bbc.co.uk | C |
| 9 | ▲6 | washingtonexaminer.com | C |
| 10 | ▲16 | slate.com | C |
| 11 | ▲6 | aljazeera.com | C |
| 12 | ▲6 | dailywire.com | C |
| 13 | new | chicago.suntimes.com | C |
| 14 | new | reason.com | C |
| 15 | ▼3 | independent.co.uk | C |
| 16 | new | salon.com | C |
| 17 | new | politico.com | C |
| 18 | ▲7 | breitbart.com | D |
| 19 | new | townhall.com | D |
| 20 | new | wired.com | D |
| 21 | new | newrepublic.com | D |
| 22 | new | france24.com | D |
| 23 | ▼22 | thebulwark.com | D |
| 24 | new | thefederalist.com | D |
UPI and CNBC delivered clean A-grade accounts of the Meta investment without emotional overlay. In contrast The Bulwark relied on loaded language and Wired spotlighted resident complaints over investment numbers, showing that outlet ideology still dictates which facts reach readers.
Most Common Propaganda Techniques
What Each Side Left Out Today
Left-leaning outlets omitted
- Spain’s refusal to grant base access for Iran-related missions was omitted despite Trump citing it explicitly.
- Outlets skipped that Trump flew the new Qatari jet to Ankara and used the older plane only on return.
- Specific Iranian attacks on named commercial vessels and the preceding war timeline stayed unreported.
- Scale of Iranian ship attacks and the full CENTCOM target list received no mention in multiple accounts.
Right-leaning outlets omitted
- Articles omitted Iranian officials calling U.S. demands maximalist and IRGC retaliation threats.
- No reference appeared to documented statements from Sanders, Warren, or Schumer withdrawing support.
- Outlets gave no timeline or details on the Democratic replacement convention process after the suspension.
- Cross-checks from Pentagon or open-source intelligence on weapon systems deployed were absent.
How Each Side Spun It
Left-leaning spin
- Reports attributed memorandum collapse primarily to U.S. actions while casting Hormuz leverage as Iranian defense.
- Headlines isolated U.S. strikes as ending the peace process despite prior vessel attacks noted deeper in copy.
- Articles framed the entire Spain dispute as a defense-spending issue while downplaying base-access demands.
Right-leaning spin
- The piece converted Trump’s unverified Spain claim into a headline fact of full capitulation.
- Coverage emphasized Platner’s establishment-removal claim while downplaying the assault allegation’s substance.
- Reports used the Supreme Court cases to question the entire Democratic agenda and character standards.
Selective omission appeared four times across the sample, far outpacing other flaws. When outlets repeatedly drop verified Iranian vessel attacks or Spanish base refusals, readers receive curated versions rather than the full record.
Where Outlets Disagreed Most
Maine Democrat Platner Suspends Senate Bid After Assault Allegation
US-Iran strikes resume over Hormuz shipping control
Supreme Court expands presidential power in key Trump cases
The Iran-Hormuz strikes produced the widest split. Left coverage attributed the deal’s collapse mainly to U.S. moves and framed Iranian actions as defensive, while right reports relayed Trump’s unverified missile claims without Pentagon cross-checks.
Neutral rewrites on the Supreme Court rulings and Meta’s power-plant commitment cut through both sides’ framing and show what the primary documents actually establish.
Read what actually happened.
Every story above has been rewritten without the spin. No framing. No omissions. Just the facts.
Read today’s stories