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Methodology

We don’t make the labels.
We cite them.

Calling an outlet “left” or “right” is a strong claim, and we don’t trust ourselves to make it. So we don’t. Every lean label on Nispaksh was made by someone else — academic researchers, the outlet itself, or a Wikipedia article that cites both. Every source is one click away. Check our work.

Academic

Peer-reviewed research and institutional reports. Mostly the Reuters Institute's annual India report (Oxford) and Lokniti-CSDS surveys out of Delhi. Real names, real footnotes.

Self-described

The outlet's own words. Swarajya calls itself right of centre on its About page. The Wire frames itself as critical of state power. We just quote them.

Consensus

Where no single canonical citation exists, we link to the outlet's Wikipedia page — which itself aggregates and cites dozens of academic and journalism sources, and is editable by anyone if it gets something wrong.

What we will and won’t do

We will

  • Reproduce lean labels with their sources right next to them, one click away.
  • Update labels when academic findings, ownership changes, or real editorial shifts change the picture.
  • Note ownership and editorial events that matter (e.g. NDTV’s 2022 ownership transition).
  • Update a label if an outlet writes to contact@nispaksh.com with documented references. We’ll credit the correction.

We won’t

  • Color-code lean labels.Every label looks the same regardless of its value. The word tells you the lean; the colour doesn’t pre-load you with a verdict.
  • Decide an outlet’s lean by reading its recent articles ourselves. That’s exactly the kind of armchair judgment we built this to replace.
  • Pretend the left-right axis works for every regional outlet. Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Marathi politics often run on their own axes. When in doubt we default to Center.

The 27 outlets, and where each label came from

How they break down by lean — click any source on any card to see the receipts:

Left2Center-Left4Center14Center-Right3Right4

English · 12

Hindi · 10

Marathi · 1

Telugu · 1

Malayalam · 1

Tamil · 1

Bengali · 1

If we got a label wrong, we want to know.

Write to contact@nispaksh.com with a reference — an academic citation, an official editorial statement, an ownership-change announcement. We’ll read it, write back, and update the page if you’re right. The correction will say where it came from.