How does the circulation of liberal news outlets in the US compare to that of international liberal news sources in 2025?
Executive summary
In 2025 the available reporting shows liberal news outlets—both domestic U.S. and international—occupy a large share of the information ecosystem, but the evidence compares tendencies and audience leanings rather than providing direct circulation figures; U.S. liberal outlets are numerous and widely visited while a handful of international liberal titles (notably The Guardian) punch above their weight with global reach and influence [1] [2] [3]. The data and expert guides reviewed emphasize audience ideology, perceived bias, and visit patterns more than hard circulation comparisons, so any precise numeric ranking of “circulation” between U.S. and international liberal outlets is not available in these sources [1] [4].
1. U.S. liberal outlets: broader presence and audience tilt
Surveys and trackers show that many major U.S. news outlets are perceived as center-left or liberal and that liberal audiences regularly draw from a wide set of sources—Pew’s 2025 tracker found Democrats routinely get news from a broader range of outlets and that audiences for many outlets fall to the left of the average U.S. adult, listing The Atlantic, HuffPost, NPR, The Guardian and Axios among particularly liberal-leaning choices people regularly use [1]. Complementary research and guides note that more outlets are classified as center-left than center-right, and that liberal sources tend to be visited more frequently online—an observation AllSides has made in assessing relative popularity [4] [2]. Those patterns point to a dense domestic ecosystem in which liberal outlets together command large, diffuse audiences even if single-title circulation varies.
2. International liberal outlets: concentrated global reach, different distribution models
International liberal outlets such as the U.K.’s Guardian are described as delivering an “international lens” and have multimodal distribution—print, streaming, audio and text—that extends their influence beyond their home markets and into U.S. conversations [3]. FeedSpot’s profile emphasizes the Guardian’s century-long brand and global investigative reach, but the provided material emphasizes reputation and audience access models rather than providing comparable circulation statistics that would let one equate its raw reach to a U.S. flagship [3]. In short, international liberal outlets tend to trade on global distribution and cross-border credibility rather than the volume-of-copy circulation metrics typical of national newspapers.
3. What “circulation” metrics the sources do and do not provide
None of the supplied sources offer a direct, apples-to-apples circulation number in 2025 that compares U.S. liberal outlets’ print or digital subscriber totals to international liberal titles; the literature instead reports audience ideology, trust metrics, and visit patterns [1] [4]. Pew gives a large-probability picture of who uses and trusts which outlets but does not publish a cross-border circulation table in the excerpts provided [1], while AllSides and university guides map bias and popularity qualitatively rather than with audited circulation figures [5] [4]. Therefore any firm numeric comparison of “circulation” between U.S. and international liberal outlets cannot be drawn from these sources alone.
4. Competing explanations and hidden agendas in the data
Observers caution that the dominance of left-leaning outlets can partly reflect structural factors—fewer explicitly lean-right mainstream outlets and a journalist corps that skews liberal—so the supply side, not just consumer choice, shapes apparent circulation and traffic patterns [2]. Public perception surveys like YouGov show that many major U.S. papers are more likely to be labeled liberal than conservative and that labeling and trust are politically polarized, which colors interpretations of who “controls” circulation or influence [6]. These framing effects mean claims about “liberal outlets having more circulation” can reflect measurement choices, partisan distrust, and the differing commercial models of national versus international publishers.
5. Bottom line: dominance in numbers vs. influence across borders
The reporting indicates U.S. liberal outlets are numerous, frequently visited, and trusted more by Democratic-leaning audiences, creating strong domestic reach, while international liberal outlets like The Guardian exert outsized global influence through varied platforms—yet the sources do not provide the raw circulation comparisons needed to declare one category definitively larger in audience size in 2025 [1] [3] [2]. Readers should treat claims of “more circulation” as shorthand for broader visit patterns and ideological reach rather than as audited circulation parity, and recognize that classification systems, survey framing, and newsroom demographics all shape the picture presented by these sources [4] [6].