Country Methodology (original) (raw)

Media Bias Fact Check researches the country’s political system and its relationship to media. The goal is to demonstrate how that country’s government and/or political structure may influence media and press freedom. Below is how we calculate Country Freedom and Government Political Orientation:

Country Freedom Rating

We calculate the overall freedom levels of countries by averaging the scores from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Freedom House’s yearly Freedom in the World Index. Both sources rate the level of freedom on a 0 to 100-point scale, with 100 points being the maximum freedom and 0 being none. By combining these ratings, we come up with a unique picture of each country’s freedom as RSF focuses on Press Freedom, and in contrast, FreedomHouse focuses on the strengths of democracy, free elections, and social and personal freedoms. This gives a more complete picture than either source on its own. Our ratings are based on the following scores:

100 – 90 = Excellent Freedom
89 – 70 = Mostly Free
69 – 50 = Moderate Freedom
49 – 25= Limited Freedom
24 – 0 = Total Oppression

If a country has not been rated by either source, we use other sources such as Unesco.org, Statista.org, BBC Country Profiles, or other credible sources to estimate the level of freedom.

Country Political Orientation

Like our media source pages, each country we evaluated has a Left-Right bias rating arrow. A country’s government’s political orientation is determined by examining the head of state/government (President, Prime Minister, etc.) and the dominant political party positions. We also factor in the economic systems of each country, such as capitalism, socialism, communism, democratic socialism, or democratic market economies. The right-left designation is mostly determined by that country’s economic system and the level of authoritarianism to enforce social end economic issues.

Interactive Country Map

Our political map uses the MBFC political orientation ratings when available. If we have not reviewed and rated a country, we do basic research on the government through credible sources such as those named above and any other official source that can provide evidence of the country’s political leanings.

The map also features the next election date for each country. When possible, we put the exact date; however, in many countries, elections do not have set dates but rather a time range. In these cases, we use the word “Around” and list an approximate date of when the election may occur. Finally, countries that have lifetime dictators or monarchs are listed as “N/A” and counties where there is no available information are listed as “Unknown.

Last Updated on May 16, 2023 by