Even Google couldn’t mask PBS's bias when comparing how the outlet treated former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
MRC researchers asked Google’s AI chatbot Gemini on Monday, “Does PBS coverage favor Nancy Pelosi or Mike Johnson?” The chatbot tried to hedge its answer, citing PBS’s purported “commitment to journalistic integrity.” But ultimately, when Google referred to the outlet’s actual reporting, it became clear where PBS’s biases lie. While Google subtly highlighted PBS reporting on Pelosi’s achievements and “legacy,” the chatbot primarily focused on divisions within the GOP and Johnson’s challenges and criticisms. MRC researchers asked the same question about NPR’s coverage of the two U.S. House speakers, but in the end, Gemini hedged its answer to the questions concerning both outlets by calling it a matter of “interpretation.”
Google’s Gemini began by citing “PBS Standards,” a page which lists the outlet’s supposed “Core Principles,” as if that was evidence that supported that PBS follows them. Only after describing these standards did Gemini refer to a recent White House Fact Sheet that cited MRC NewsBusters research showing that “‘congressional Republicans faced 85% negative coverage, compared to 54% positive coverage of congressional Democrats,’ on PBS’s flagship news program.”
Gemini proceeded to describe PBS’s news reporting on the two U.S. House speakers, which transparently revealed the outlet’s bias. The AI chatbot predictably noted PBS reporting on Pelosi’s achievements: “PBS, particularly through programs like Frontline, has produced in-depth documentaries and interviews exploring her political career, how she gained and wielded power, and the challenges she faced,” Gemini wrote.
