Why we place First Things as Religious Right
As of October 18, 2026, Unbiasable places First Things in the Religious Right lens. The placement names the worldview it writes from. We do not grade outlets for accuracy. In the archive: 325 articles read in 99 of the 143 mornings analyzed since March 23, 2026. Owner: Institute on Religion and Public Life (nonprofit). Funding: subscriptions and donations.
First Things is a religion-and-public-life journal, largely Catholic and ecumenical, that argues for a moral order rooted in tradition and faith. It is the intellectual, Catholic, "post-liberal" wing of the religious right, theological rather than populist, the counterpart to evangelical broadcast media like CBN.
From the archive 325 articles read 99 of 143 mornings since Mar 23, 2026
The fingerprint its record in our archive, counted
- Volume
- 325 articles read since March 23, 2026, in 99 of the 143 mornings analyzed since. Most recent: October 17, 2026.
- Receipts
- Among the cited coverage receipts on 14 of the 358 stories its lens covered alongside at least one other worldview.
- Framing reads
- Its read carried the Religious Right framing row in 10 story comparisons.
Counted mechanically from the archived briefs, March 23, 2026 to October 18, 2026. Articles resolve by publisher domain, coverage receipts by the cited article, claims by the ledger's stored records. A missing line means the archive holds nothing to count.
Who owns and funds First Things
- Owner
- Institute on Religion and Public Life (nonprofit)
- Funding
- subscriptions and donations
Facts of public record, last verified 2026-07-27. The lens above names the worldview First Things writes from; this names who pays for it. The two are separate questions.
What to expect from First Things
Moral and theological argument applied to politics, a defense of religious liberty, and prose pitched at a serious, churchgoing reader.
How the Religious Right lens reads the news
Faith and moral order as the lens on public life. Read the full explainer on Religious Right →
Of the 663 stories at least five worldviews covered since March 23, 2026, the Religious Right lens ran nothing on 52 percent. The full count, lens by lens, sits on the Blind Spot Index.
See First Things in the brief
Every morning we analyze First Things alongside the rest of the spectrum and show how it framed the day's stories next to everyone else, in its own words. That side-by-side is the whole point. Browse recent briefs →
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