A year ago, the idea that SARS-CoV-2 emerged from a Chinese laboratory was regarded widely with suspicion, disbelief, and, at times, dismissal. Now, the possibility is treated as far more plausible, with recent statements from President Biden, Dr. Fauci, and WHO General-Secretary Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus insisting that the theory cannot be ruled out. This shift reflects the changing attitudes of scientists, government authorities, and the media, despite no definitive explanation for the origins of the virus.

There’s no more evidence to support the lab leak theory than there was 16 months ago and yet it has received substantial new attention. Partially, this is due to…

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Many have noted that the Covid-19 pandemic was accompanied by an “infodemic” — a flood of related news and information that played a large role in how different populations responded to the virus. Looking back at 2020, we can now see what a full year of Covid-19 coverage tells us, from who was publishing the most to who was publishing the best, most well-researched journalism.

The Factual used its AI-powered algorithm to analyze 178,845 articles about Covid-19 from across the political spectrum in 2020. The emerging data allows us to analyze trends in media output, including…

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