General Discussion

it's extremely important to understand who owns and controls the outlet and publisher.

I usually try to check the author's and outlet's past record for accuracy (e.g., did they support the 2003 invasion of Iraq?), who's the editor (ditto), who's on the Board and who are they affiliated with, and who owns or controls the biggest interests in the outlet.

The results, whatever they are, don't necessarily mean that everything the outlet publishes is either true or false, but it tells you which kinds of bias to look out for; e.g., a conservative outlet may be good at pointing out what the Dems don't want us to focus on, while a liberal outlet will point out what Republicans don't want us to focus on; and since at least 95% of traditional media worldwide are owned by 6 megacorps (thanks to the Telecom Act of 1996) and the internet is fast becoming nearly as consolidated, we can assume that pretty much all MSM outlets will omit to talk about the things that the 1% would prefer we not focus on.