Study claims Apple, Google News favor outlets backing Democrats
Conservative watchdog group says top promoted news sources have endorsed Republicans zero times since 1988.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
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Photograph: Fox 25 Oklahoma City (embedded from source)
What this story says
- A Media Research Center study claims that the most promoted news outlets on Apple News and Google News have endorsed Democratic presidential candidates 31 times and Republican candidates zero times since 1988.
- The study identified The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Times as the top five promoted outlets on Apple News.
- Google disputes the study's findings, stating that the MRC report mistakes sheer volume of stories for news bias and that a publication's presence reflects its high volume of coverage on trending topics.
- The MRC report also examined the language used by publications when endorsing candidates, noting sharp criticisms of Republican candidates.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 11 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 12 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
59/100
Hype
41/100
12 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 11 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
A conservative media watchdog group, the Media Research Center (MRC), has released a study alleging that news outlets most prominently featured on Apple News and Google News have exclusively endorsed Democratic presidential candidates over the past 10 election cycles. The study claims these outlets have collectively issued 31 endorsements for Democrats and none for Republicans since 1988.
The MRC identified the top five promoted outlets on Apple News as The Washington Post, The New York Times (including The Athletic), The Guardian, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Times. For Google News, the top five were identified as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and USA Today. According to the MRC, these publications have backed Democratic candidates in every presidential election covered by the analysis, naming figures from Michael Dukakis in 1988 to Kamala Harris in 2024.
The study also examined the language used by some publications in their endorsements. The MRC report highlights USA Today's 2016 editorial opposing Donald Trump, which stated he lacked the necessary "temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty." It also points to The New York Times' 2024 endorsement of Kamala Harris, which described Trump as "morally unfit" and "temperamentally unfit."
Disagreement on methodology and interpretation
Google has disputed the MRC's findings, stating that the report mistakes the sheer volume of stories for news bias. Google argues that a publication's presence on its platform reflects its high volume of coverage on trending topics rather than political leanings. The company has previously challenged the methodology of MRC studies, calling claims "totally false" and based on a "completely flawed methodology."
What the coverage left out
None of the reports below mention USA Today's 2016 editorial opposing Donald Trump, which was specifically cited by Live Mint as an instance where USA Today broke from its traditional non-endorsement policy. The specific details of the language used by The Washington Post in its 2020 endorsement of Joe Biden, as reported by Live Mint, were also not mentioned in the other reports.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 21 Aug 2026, 13:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
3 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports from Live Mint and Fox 25 Oklahoma City led with the core claim of the Media Research Center study: that Apple News and Google News promote outlets that have not endorsed a Republican presidential candidate in the past 10 elections, totaling 31 endorsements for Democrats. These reports detailed the specific outlets identified by the MRC for both Apple News and Google News. They also included Google's dispute of the study's findings, with Fox 25 Oklahoma City quoting MRC President David Bozell on the need for greater inclusion of center-right perspectives. Live Mint noted that the study itself does not establish intentional promotion by the platforms.
Right
8 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports from WCIV, WBMA, KRNV, WBFF, mrc.org, ussanews.com, and the New York Post all highlighted the MRC study's central assertion that Apple News and Google News promote outlets with a 31-0 record of endorsing Democratic presidential candidates and no Republican endorsements over the last 10 elections. The New York Post's headline stated these platforms were "shutting out Republicans." The reports from mrc.org and ussanews.com directly referenced the MRC's own reporting on the matter. Several reports, including those from WCIV, WBMA, KRNV, and WBFF, used identical headlines and digest text, focusing on the scrutiny Apple and Google face over potential bias in their news feeds. The MRC's own report from mrc.org included a direct link to a related article on their website.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Study claims Apple, Google News favor outlets backing Democrats?
- Of the 11 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 27% are rated centre, 73% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 12. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Study claims Apple, Google News favor outlets backing Democrats left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 11 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Study claims Apple, Google News favor outlets backing Democrats biased?
- Study claims Apple, Google News favor outlets backing Democrats is one event reported by 12 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Study claims Apple, Google News favor outlets backing Democrats?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Study claims Apple, Google News favor outlets backing Democrats?
- 12 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What does the Media Research Center study claim about Apple News and Google News?
- The Media Research Center study claims that the news outlets most promoted on Apple News and Google News have collectively endorsed Democratic presidential candidates 31 times since 1988 and have never endorsed a Republican candidate. This suggests a political imbalance in the news aggregators' promotion of certain outlets.
- Which news outlets were identified as most promoted by Apple News and Google News?
- According to the study, the top five promoted outlets on Apple News were The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Times. For Google News, the identified outlets were The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and USA Today.
- How does Google respond to the study's findings?
- Google disputes the study's findings, arguing that the Media Research Center report mistakes the sheer volume of stories for news bias. Google states that a publication's presence on its platform generally reflects its high volume of coverage on trending topics, not necessarily political leanings.
Read it at the source
12 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
3- Apple, Google News ‘favor Democrats’. Never endorsed a Republican presidential candidate. New study reveals (opens Live Mint in a new tab)
- Bias in the news feed? Apple, Google face scrutiny (opens KDBC in a new tab)
- Bias in the news feed? Apple, Google face scrutiny (opens Fox 25 Oklahoma City in a new tab)
Fox 25 Oklahoma City — is Fox 25 Oklahoma City biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
8- Bias in the news feed? Apple, Google face scrutiny (opens WBFF in a new tab)
- Bias in the news feed? Apple, Google face scrutiny (opens KRNV in a new tab)
- Bias in the news feed? Apple, Google face scrutiny (opens WBMA in a new tab)
- Bias in the news feed? Apple, Google face scrutiny (opens WCIV in a new tab)
- Apple & Google Push Media that Haven’t Backed a Republican in Last 10 Elections: 31-0 Favoring Dems (opens mrc.org in a new tab)
- Apple & Google Push Media that Haven’t Backed a Republican in Last 10 Elections: 31-0 Favoring Dems (opens NewsBusters in a new tab)
NewsBusters — is NewsBusters biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Apple, Google Face Bias Scrutiny in News Feeds (opens ussanews.com in a new tab)
ussanews.com — is ussanews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Exclusive | Apple News, Google promote outlets that endorse Dem presidential candidates — while shutting out Republicans: study (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
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