The Guardian
Shares rank 3 of 11 news outlets by recommenders
Criticized more than recommended: critics say it has a clear left-leaning slant, and its subscription prompts, cookie tracking and ads are a frequent gripe; those who recommend it cite accurate, in-depth reporting and strong long-form writing.
18 people recommended The Guardian in Hacker News comments, 12 had mixed feelings and 42 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from the comments below.
72 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- mixed feelings
- 12
- warn against or regret it
- 42
The record
Recommended in 10 of 12 months
In 16 different threads.
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 10 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 16 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 11% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 40 of the 78 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Pushy subscription, cookie and ad prompts
“you have to either pay a subscription fee or accept ALL of their tracking cookies in order to read their articles”
Comment from 23 May 2026 in “Experience: We found a baby on the subway – now he's our 26-year-old son” “It's just weird that I have a better experience if I don't pay than if I do. And it's really expensive”
Comment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Most Americans don’t pay for news and don’t think they need to” “the amount they want for adfree is too expensive for me so I just view it with adblockers again”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “EU Member States (and Google) suddenly want to keep cookie banners” - Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “'Your Frustration Is the Product'”
- Comment from 17 Jan 2026 in “The 'untouchable hacker god' behind Finland's biggest ever crime”
- Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “Transparency fears over plan to redact 2,000 staff names on Commons register”
Opinionated, editorialized coverage
“they're gratingly opinionated”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “Delayed Gratification – Proud to Be 'Last to Breaking News'” “The Guardian has its own editorial flavour on tech news, so expect them to use any excuse to bash the subject.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “US reportedly investigate claims that Meta can read encrypted WhatsApp messages” “Compared to the Guardian or CNN, the reporting is much less subjective and less editorialized”
Comment from 3 Jul 2026 in “Mystery identity of 'Green Boots' climber is finally solved after DNA test” Left-leaning slant and bias
“The Guardian is pretty good IMO but does not even pretend not to have a lefty skew.”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “BBC says 'irreversible' trends mean it will not survive without major overhaul” “I've become distrustful of it over the past few years because of how aggressively it panders to my sensibilities and biases.”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Making Teenagers Read Newspapers. A Nationwide Experiment in French High Schools” Accused of propaganda
“When a publication only publishes the "oppresseds" point of view without ever publishing the other view then it is by definition propaganda.”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Decided to fly to the US to buy some hard drives” “The Guardian is complete propaganda - without exaggeration every single article about this issue has been utter lies.”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Decided to fly to the US to buy some hard drives”
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Accurate, good quality reporting
“leans way left, scores highly on accuracy, but, for a lot of leftists, has demonstrated its bias and subservience to the elite narrative”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “BBC director general and News CEO resign in bias controversy” “If one can only read English, I would recommend The Guardian to get real journalism.”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “US destroying its reputation as a scientific leader – European science diplomat” “The Guardian has decent coverage in addition to the others people have listed”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “Middle Eastern News Sites Are U.S. Government Propaganda Ops” - Comment from 7 Oct 2026 in “The art of defusing a second world war bomb”
- Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “EU Member States (and Google) suddenly want to keep cookie banners”
In-depth long-form journalism
“The Economist and The Guardian are about the only serious in-depth sources left”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Making Teenagers Read Newspapers. A Nationwide Experiment in French High Schools” “the Guardian makes place for long form articles that go more in-depth”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “Getting your hands dirty is good for you” Trusted, independent journalism
“if we don't support truly independent, objective, investigative journalism, who will?”
Comment from 24 Apr 2026 in “UK Biobank leak: Health details of 500 000 people are offered for sale” “it's my most trusted news source”
Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “'Your Frustration Is the Product'” Better writing than alternatives
“I much prefer The Guardian’s coverage.”
Comment from 16 Jan 2026 in “Machado gives Nobel peace prize medal to Trump” “their articles just read better”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “England set to be one of the first countries to eliminate hepatitis C”
Other news outlets people recommend
The four most recommended other news outlets, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNN Lite | 25 | 3 | 48 | 34% | 11 | — | — |
| text.npr.org | 23 | 0 | 1 | 96% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The GuardianThis page | 18 | 12 | 42 | 30% | 10 | — | — |
| Ars Technica | 18 | 12 | 55 | 25% | 8 | — | — |
| The Verge | 11 | 2 | 26 | 30% | 6 | — | — |
Also compared with Al Jazeera.
What people said
40 of the 78 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Cookie opt-in, The Guardian way: Accept all / Reject all and subscribe.”
“it’s nice to see some organisations still publishing good quality articles”
“I've become distrustful of it over the past few years because of how aggressively it panders to my sensibilities and biases.”
“The Economist and The Guardian are about the only serious in-depth sources left”
“the Guardian makes place for long form articles that go more in-depth”
“they just propose left-wing hyperbolic noise with no connection to the real world”
“their articles just read better”
“For one they represent insulated groups of people, who focus on some talking points but not others.”
“they're gratingly opinionated”
“provides mildly controversial but reassuringly inconsequential opinions and sound bytes for people to regurgitate”
“Compared to the Guardian or CNN, the reporting is much less subjective and less editorialized”
“the amount they want for adfree is too expensive for me so I just view it with adblockers again”
“their reporting is fairly good”
“+1 to the Guardian for mentioning their data source, but -1 for not linking to it.”
“launder right wing talking points through a few layers of progressive sounding rhetoric”
“you have to either pay a subscription fee or accept ALL of their tracking cookies in order to read their articles”
“The Guardian needs to raise their bar on what to report and how to give readers full context”
“Just because they are liberal and non-profit doesn't mean they are independent”
“if we don't support truly independent, objective, investigative journalism, who will?”
“The Guardian has decent coverage in addition to the others people have listed”
“there are so many articles like this that are just complete fucking trash”
“One of their journalists consistently publishes ai slop and the paper is in denial about it”
“there was so much crap on the page I couldn't even see the full headline”
“Their site was not so aggressively pushing for donations/subscriptions/accounts before that.”
“it's my most trusted news source”
“The Guardian is pretty good IMO but does not even pretend not to have a lefty skew.”
“Accept all cookies or pay $5 a month, and even if I pay up, you will still show ads”
“Viner turned it tabloid, clickbaity, embraced more of the Lifestyle section etc.”
“When a publication only publishes the "oppresseds" point of view without ever publishing the other view then it is by definition propaganda.”
“The Guardian is complete propaganda - without exaggeration every single article about this issue has been utter lies.”
“It's just weird that I have a better experience if I don't pay than if I do. And it's really expensive”
“Everything I have read from them is culture war and extremely shallow lately.”
“The Guardian has its own editorial flavour on tech news, so expect them to use any excuse to bash the subject.”
“it prevented me from reading some articles until I removed the modals with browser devtools”
“I much prefer The Guardian’s coverage.”
“I do subscribe to some larger papers, specifically the Guardian, and they're far from perfect”
“If one can only read English, I would recommend The Guardian to get real journalism.”
“who have their issues but are a far stretch from that rightwing rag”
“they were winning awards for their UX and they were my go-to answer to the front-end interview question”
“leans way left, scores highly on accuracy, but, for a lot of leftists, has demonstrated its bias and subservience to the elite narrative”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.