Google, Apple News leaned heavily into leftwing bias during month leading to Election Day

Media Research Center exposes liberal bias.

In the final monthlong sprint ahead of the midterm elections, Apple News and Google News leaned heavily into their known media bias, according to new research by the Media Research Center MRC, a conservative media watchdog group.

MRC has documented Apple News heavily left-leaning bias in the past, and suggested in its latest study that the bias has only worsened since Tim Cook stepped down as CEO and was replaced by John Ternus at the beginning of September. MRC found that of the 504 stories Apple News featurued prominently from October 1 through October 27, just 11 were articles from sources that can be considered right-leaning news outlets. MRC tracking found Apple News' partisan tilt worsened under Ternus, with 67% of curated stories coming from left-leaning outlets and less than 2% from conservative sources.

Across study periods, MRC documented Apple News featuring as few as 3 right-leaning stories out of hundreds of curated morning feed spots. The study further found that almost half of the stories that came from conservative news sources were presenting with a negative framing agains the Trump administration or Republicans broadly. 

"For months the media has been claiming that Trump is on the ballot for the midterm elections. Given that Apple News has run only eleven stories from right-leaning outlets in October leading up to the election and nearly half were framed negatively against Trump, it’s apparent how Apple under John Ternus hopes the election turns out," Dan Schneider of MRC told Fox News.

As MRC has pointed out in the past, Apple News comes pre-loaded on hundreds of millions of iPhones, iPads and laptops throughout the U.S. and world giving the tech giant "unmatched reach to shape voter sentiment through biased curation." MRC found similar bias unfolded on Google News during the same period in October. 

According to MRC's research, 45 of 87 headlines mentioning Donald Trump on Google News were negative, while just one headline was positive and 41 were neurtral. "Negative headlines emphasized Trump’s clashes with foreign leaders, legal setbacks, GOP divisions and voter dissatisfaction with his economic policies," MRC wrote in its report. "Others amplified criticism from Democratic opponents, highlighted controversies surrounding his conduct and administration, and included an NBC News headline accusing Trump of hurling an antisemitic slur."