
Who we are
Content is intended for educational research purposes. The founder has self-funded the development of this website (with no intention of charging fees) and happily volunteers time to create content, because they believe that every opinion deserves to be heard – without restraint or interference.
Our purpose – clarity
By presenting multiple perspectives from different publications, and by rating the bias of different news sources, Balanced News Summary frees people from 'filter bubbles' and algorithmic 'feedback loops' created by modern day technology. We believe this will result in readers becoming well informed on trending news, as well as becoming more open-minded towards conflicting opinions.
Recent trends
A Roy Morgan survey in 2018 discovered that the second most mentioned reason for Australians avoiding the news was ‘I feel that news content is biased towards a particular ideology’. In a 2022 study by the University of Canberra, only 41% of respondents said they could trust Australian news. More recently, the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer survey reported that 67% of respondents believe journalists “are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations”.
The result is not socially optimal, as outlined by James Madison (4th president of the United States) in Federalist No. 10 in 1787. When people simply reinforce the same view, they do not see both sides. This leads to two detrimental outcomes: individuals cannot form their own views, and communities cannot openly discuss opposing views. The ultimate result in society is segregation and division. Madison believed that a large number of factions and diversity would avoid tyranny.
Balanced News Summary hopes to break this trend by rating news sources on the political spectrum. We hope to re-establish trust in the news by identifying bias and providing balanced views. By offering various perspectives, readers can hear both sides of arguments and become more open-minded towards conflicting opinions. The aim of this website is to create a more understanding and cohesive community by presenting different opinions.
How it works
News is aggregated from multiple sources across the political spectrum to provide a balanced news feed. Content is intended for education and research. We do not claim ownership of external websites shown. Every effort has been made to show equal opinions from the left wing and right wing bias sources.
"People cannot adequately influence the decisions which affect their lives unless they can be adequately informed on facts and arguments relevant to the decisions. Much of such fact-finding and argumentation necessarily has to be conducted vicariously, the public press being a principal instrument"
— Lord Simon of Glaisdale in Attorney-General v Times Newspapers Ltd [1974], quoted by Sir Anthony Mason (Former Chief Justice of Australia) in the famous Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v Commonwealth [1992] constitutional law case – one of the first cases which outlined the implied Australian constitutional right to freedom of speech