CBS News

Skydance, which now owns CBS News, told the FCC in 2025 that the company's news programming would reflect a diversity of viewpoints across the political spectrum and promised an ombudsman to review complaints of bias; CBS News now runs that ombudsman office.

Editorial record means the rating rests on the outlet's documented record, such as its editorial board's endorsements, the stated purpose it was founded for, its opinion lineup or its published commitments such as an ethics policy. Scope: Whole outlet · US politics. Confidence: medium. What these mean

Evidence

• CBS News Ombudsman page, where viewers and staff can submit concerns about coverage. “The CBS News Ombudsman is an independent, internal advocate for journalistic integrity and transparency.”
• NBC News report (July 23, 2025) quoting Skydance's letter to the FCC on viewpoint diversity and a CBS News ombudsman. “embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum”

Limits of this rating

• No clear direction means CBS News's stated commitments document no political direction; it is not a finding that coverage is balanced.
• The record under Skydance ownership is short: the pledge was made during the 2025 merger review, and Skydance added CNN in October 2026.

First draft by Sol, our AI editor, on Nov 3, 2026. Rewritten and checked against the evidence pages by Claude, an AI system, which can change the draft's label. Accepted by our human editor on Nov 3, 2026, as part of a batch.

An outlet rating describes the publication as a whole, apart from anything listed under Limits of this rating. It never rates a single article; articles get their own "This article" rating.