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Eastern Washington Media Bias Scorecard · one of 3 outlets scored

Spokane Public Radio Media Bias & Reporting Quality

Spokane Public Radio shows a near-zero net lean on party politics, at a partisan lean of -0.2. On worldview it leans left, at an ideological lean of -0.6. The panel found no partisan lean at all in 7 of its 9 scored articles.

Spokane Public Radio is one of 3 outlets on the Eastern Washington Media Bias Scorecard. A panel of three AI models, from three different companies, scored those 9 articles under rubric v0.4.0, with every outlet name and byline removed. Data as of 2026-10-31. The numbers move as the sample grows.

What the results mean#

These describe the sampled articles, not every story Spokane Public Radio publishes. Labels such as near-zero net lean are cutoffs on the number beside them, not statistical tests.

Its fingerprint#

Five lean axes, on the same -3 to +3 scale every outlet is drawn on. The marker is the net lean. The pale band spans the average swing per article in both directions.

Spokane Public Radio9 articles scoredSpokane Public Radio, partisan: net -0.2 (Dem -3 to +3 Rep), strength 0.2, across 9 articles. Marker mid-band = articles lean both ways and cancel; marker at band edge = a uniform tendency.Partisannet -0.2 · strength 0.2 · n 9DemRep-0.2Spokane Public Radio, ideological: net -0.6 (prog -3 to +3 cons), strength 0.6, across 9 articles. Marker mid-band = articles lean both ways and cancel; marker at band edge = a uniform tendency.Ideologicalnet -0.6 · strength 0.6 · n 9progcons-0.6Spokane Public Radio, institutional: net -0.7 (defer -3 to +3 skeptic), strength 0.7, across 9 articles. Marker mid-band = articles lean both ways and cancel; marker at band edge = a uniform tendency.Institutionalnet -0.7 · strength 0.7 · n 9deferskeptic-0.7Spokane Public Radio, popular voice: net -0.3 (estab -3 to +3 populist), strength 0.6, across 9 articles. Marker mid-band = articles lean both ways and cancel; marker at band edge = a uniform tendency.Popular voicenet -0.3 · strength 0.6 · n 9estabpopulist-0.3Spokane Public Radio, land use: net 0 (conserve -3 to +3 develop), strength 0, across 3 articles. Marker mid-band = articles lean both ways and cancel; marker at band edge = a uniform tendency.Land usenet 0 · strength 0 · n 3conservedevelop0 n=3-30 · none detected+3

Where it sits among Eastern Washington's outlets#

-3-2-10+1+2+301234← progressive tiltconservative tilt →Ideological leanSource independence ↑The Spokesman-ReviewRANGE MediaSpokane Public Radio
Spokane Public Radio
Ideological lean -0.6 · independence 2.1 / 4
~2 local articles/day · 9 scored
Early read: 6 days of counted output

How to read this: left and right is ideological tilt. Up is source independence, meaning official claims are tested rather than passed along. Bubble size is local articles per day: publishing volume, not audience reach. Dashed outlines mark the known-lean control and the out-of-market reference. The moose marks our own newsroom. Hover or tap any bubble to spotlight it and see its exact numbers. Tap again or click away to release it.

Its scores beside the board#

Spokane Public Radio beside the median of the 3 Eastern Washington outlets on the board. The known-lean control and the out-of-state reference are left out of the median. Data last updated 2026-10-31.
DimensionSpokane Public RadioBoard median
Partisan lean (-3 Democratic to +3 Republican)-0.2 (near-zero net lean)-0.2 (near-zero net lean)
Partisan lean strength (0-3, direction ignored)0.20.3
Articles with no partisan lean detected7 of 9-
Ideological tilt (-3 progressive to +3 conservative)-0.6 net, 0.6 strength (n=9)-0.6 net, 0.6 strength
Institutional posture (-3 deference to +3 skepticism)-0.7 net, 0.7 strength (n=9)-0.7 net, 1.3 strength
Establishment-populist framing (-3 establishment to +3 populist)-0.3 net, 0.6 strength (n=9)-0.3 net, 0.7 strength
Conservation-development framing (-3 conservation to +3 development)0 net, 0 strength (n=3, too few to read)-0.7 net, 0.7 strength
Evidence fairness (0-4)2.92.9
Sourcing (0-4)2.72.7
Source independence (0-4)2.12.1
Analysis labeling (0-4)3.83.8
Language neutrality (0-4)3.73.6
Articles sampled9-

Same story, side by side#

No matched same-story comparison for Spokane Public Radio in this dataset yet.

Coverage and volume#

Spokane Public Radio publishes about 2 local stories a day, an early read from 6 complete days of data. Of 24 articles read for places, 10 are set in an Eastern Washington community, 9 are statewide, 2 are about places outside Eastern Washington and 3 name no place. Most covered: Spokane (7), Spokane County (1), Pullman (1), Spokane Indian Reservation (1).

Access and distribution#

These are facts about how Spokane Public Radio publishes, not scores. Blocking AI crawlers is a legitimate choice. When our crawler could not complete a check, the table says why.

Spokane Public Radio's access facts, checked 2026-10-31.
PaywallRSSFull-text RSSAI crawlers blockedReadable without JS
noneyesno0yes

Why it is on the board#

Spokane's NPR station.

Reach context: Tranco ~421,000 (2026-10).

How this is measured#

Three models from three vendors score each article against a published rubric, with outlet names and bylines removed first. An outlet's number is the mean of its per-article panel medians. Lean measures direction only, never quality. The full method, its validation checks and every outlet's numbers are on the Eastern Washington Media Bias Scorecard. The data is free to reuse with credit, under CC BY 4.0.

The other outlets on the board#

The Spokesman-Review · RANGE Media

Back to the Eastern Washington Media Bias Scorecard · Coverage map