MRC Watchdogs churn out breaking news on a daily basis. Don't miss Today's Highlights, where you can keep up with the top MRC content, whether it's the latest study on media bias, a glaring omission from the elitist media, or how the Big Tech companies are serving up the same leftist spin as the media.
Top Stories:
- STUDY: Broadcast Networks Are Hiding Lemon’s Grand Jury Indictment from their Audiences
- Kimmel Claims Lemon 'Was Arrested For Committing Journalism'
- 15 to 2: MSN Recommends Leftist Outlets 7.5x More than Right-Leaning Outlets in ‘Suggested Publishers’ List
- Media circle the wagons to protect their anti-Trump reporting
STUDY: Broadcast Networks Are Hiding Lemon’s Grand Jury Indictment from their Audiences
Broadcast networks deliberately concealed the grand jury indictment: ABC, CBS, and NBC devoted over 14 minutes across seven reports to Don Lemon's arrest (from January 30 to February 3 morning), yet not once mentioned that his arrest stemmed from a grand jury indictment on January 29, instead portraying it as a reckless Justice Department overreach.
Media framed Lemon as a victim of censorship: Networks unanimously expressed outrage, with reporters like NBC's Liz Kreutz repeating eight times that Lemon was arrested for "reporting" or "covering" the protest, while grouping him with "independent journalists" critical of the Trump administration—ignoring the grand jury's finding of probable cause for charges like conspiracy and interfering with religious freedom.
Key information hidden from viewers: Despite covering related elements (e.g., failed warrant attempts by magistrates and appeals courts), the networks omitted the most critical fact: a grand jury—after those rejections—indicted Lemon and eight others, making the arrest the result of standard legal process, not authoritarian abuse.
Clear evidence of bias in protecting a left-leaning figure: By suppressing mention of the grand jury indictment while amplifying sympathetic narratives, the big three networks hid damning evidence against a former CNN host critical of Trump, proving once again their willingness to shape stories to fit an anti-administration agenda rather than report the full truth.
Kimmel Claims Lemon 'Was Arrested For Committing Journalism'
Jimmy Kimmel framed Don Lemon's arrest as persecution for journalism: On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel introduced Lemon as a "longtime TV and digital newsman who on Thursday night was arrested for committing journalism, which is a very serious crime under our current administration," portraying the arrest as authoritarian crackdown on free press rather than accountability for alleged disruption.
Kimmel amplified outrage while omitting critical allegations against Lemon: During the sympathetic interview, Kimmel expressed concern for Lemon's well-being ("I hope you're mentally okay after what happened to you") but failed to question Lemon about key accusations: that he refused to leave the church when asked by the pastor and allegedly obstructed exits during the anti-ICE protest that interrupted a worship service—undermining the "just journalism" narrative.
Kimmel pushed hypocritical and evidence-free attacks on the Trump administration: Kimmel accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of "lying" and hypocrisy for defending restrictions on disrupting houses of worship (while allowing ICE access in some cases), sarcastically mocking the pastor-ICE official connection as "just as Jesus would want," yet provided no substantiation for the "lie" claim and ignored Lemon's role in the church invasion—exemplifying late-night media's bias in shielding a left-leaning figure critical of Trump while distorting facts to fit an anti-administration storyline.
Extreme imbalance in recommendations: MSN's "recommended publishers" list features 15 leftist outlets compared to just 2 right-leaning ones (Fox News and the Washington Examiner), meaning leftist sources are recommended 7.5 times more often than conservative ones—even after excluding neutral/center-rated outlets from the count.
Deliberate exclusion of major conservative sites: MSN blocks users from adding three of the top five right-leaning news outlets (Breitbart, Daily Mail, and The Gateway Pundit) to their personalized feeds, with searches for these sites returning zero results, while allowing only Fox News and the New York Post from that group—severely limiting conservative choices.
False personalization amid clear bias: Despite MSN's claim that feeds are "more personal than ever," the platform pushes radical leftist sources like AlterNet, The Atlantic, Cosmopolitan, and Marie Claire into recommendations, while sidelining prominent conservative voices and forcing reliance on left-leaning options like The Washington Post, undermining user control in an era when news aggregators are increasingly dominant.
Media circle the wagons to protect their anti-Trump reporting
Elite media still controls the agenda: Despite plummeting trust and shrinking audiences (except among liberals), legacy outlets like MSNBC dominate what the nation talks about by selecting stories and framing them—proving the old maxim: they can't tell you what to think, but they dictate what to think about.
Story selection weaponized against ICE enforcement: In the second Trump term, mainstream media spotlights "heroic resistance" in Minneapolis to ICE operations as heroic and nonviolent, while burying or downplaying the underlying massive welfare fraud convictions involving dozens of Somalis—pushing a narrative of federal agents as murderers to erode public support for immigration enforcement.
Biased tone and language double standard: Coverage is overwhelmingly negative (e.g., 93% anti-ICE on evening news), portraying protesters as loving "neighbors" defending their "immigrant community" while demonizing ICE as "Trump’s personal Gestapo" or violent; yet when Democrats like Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey use extreme rhetoric (calling ICE Gestapo or telling them to "get the F--- out"), media platforms it sympathetically or excuses it as "about love," not hate.
