Fact check: Which US news sources have been rated as least trustworthy by media watchdog groups in 2024?

1. Why a clear “least trustworthy in 2024” list is missing and what that implies

The supplied documents do not include a categorical 2024 ranking titled “least trustworthy outlets.” Instead, there are bias scores and reliability labels for individual outlets and a separate Free Press project assessing corporate independence in 2025. This means any claim that a particular outlet was rated the least trustworthy in 2024 cannot be substantiated from these materials alone; the evidence supports judgments about bias and independence, which are related but distinct concepts. The absence of a direct 2024 trustworthiness list in the provided sources leaves a gap between normative claims about “least trustworthy” outlets and the actual metrics reported ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}.

2. What the bias and reliability data say about specific outlets

The dataset supplies bias/reliability entries that portray CNN as having a strong left-leaning bias (-72% Very Left) with a “Good” reliability rating, The New Yorker as moderately left (-44% Medium Left) with “Good” reliability, and U.S. News & World Report as slightly left (-16% Somewhat Left) with “Average” reliability. These entries indicate organizations that watchdog-style metrics consider ideologically tilted while differing in assessed accuracy or sourcing quality. None of these entries labels those outlets as the least trustworthy in 2024; rather, they offer nuance—bias does not equal unreliability in these entries ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

3. The Free Press “Media Capitulation Index” reframes trustworthiness as independence

Free Press’ Media Capitulation Index evaluates how major media and tech companies responded to external pressures, awarding stars for independence (Bloomberg, Netflix) and downgrading others such as The New York Times and Alphabet for perceived capitulation. That project is framed as a 2025 assessment of corporate behavior rather than a retrospective 2024 trustworthiness scorecard, and it introduces a distinct criterion—willingness to resist political or authoritarian pressure—that differs from conventional reliability or fact-check measures. This suggests watchdogs may prioritize institutional independence when characterizing problematic outlets ^{[4] [5]}.

4. How the pieces fit: bias, reliability, independence are overlapping but not identical

Comparing the bias/reliability entries with Free Press’ capitulation framing shows multiple, sometimes conflicting ways to define “trustworthiness”: ideological leaning, factual accuracy, sourcing and editorial standards, and corporate independence under political pressure. The supplied materials show CNN and The New Yorker assessed as ideologically left but “Good” on reliability, while Free Press criticizes some major brands for capitulation regardless of newsroom quality. Therefore, declaring a news outlet the “least trustworthy” requires choosing which axis—bias, factual accuracy, or institutional independence—matters most ^{[1] [2] [4]}.

5. Dates and timing matter: 2024 events vs. 2025 evaluations

The available bias/reliability scores have publication dates in 2024–2025 and the Free Press index is dated 2025, which affects how one can attribute assessments to 2024 specifically. The materials mention significant 2024 media events and shifts (podcaster influence, ownership changes) but the formal Free Press index is a 2025 product assessing responses to pressures that played out during and after 2024. Using a 2025 index to retroactively list “least trustworthy” outlets for 2024 risks conflating later evaluations with contemporaneous 2024 ratings ^{[1] [6] [5]}.

6. Where the evidence points if you must identify low-trust candidates

From these sources, the most defensible cautionary claims are that some major outlets drew critical attention for perceived ideological bias (CNN, The New Yorker) and that corporate behavior prompted Free Press concerns about capitulation or propaganda-like activity (e.g., mentions of Trump Media and platforms labeled propaganda in the Free Press framing). However, none of the supplied items singularly designates a ranked “least trustworthy” list for 2024; any such list would be an interpretation combining bias scores, reliability labels, and independence judgments ^{[1] [2] [5] [4]}.

7. Bottom line and what reliable next steps would be

The supplied materials support nuanced, multi-criteria assessments but do not provide a single authoritative list of the least trustworthy U.S. news outlets in 2024. To produce a defensible 2024 ranking you would need contemporaneous watchdog reports explicitly targeting 2024 trust metrics, cross-validated by multiple organizations and dated within 2024. Absent that, the balanced conclusion is that concerns in 2024 centered on bias and later surfaced as independence critiques in 2025, rather than producing a definitive “least trustworthy” roster from the supplied documents ^{[3] [1] [4]}.