Media bias isn’t just on TVs or in newspapers anymore. Now, it’s woven into digital devices, and it’s worse than you think.
MRC President David Bozell highlighted the issue in an interview with Laura Trump, host of the Right View Podcast, on Thursday, describing how it feels like Americans are “watching two different movies,” resulting in completely opposing realities.
The dichotomy between the left’s perception of America and the right’s perception of America is wider than ever. So what’s causing this divide? It’s no shock—from the Media Research Center’s perspective—that the elitist media plays an outsized role in shaping how Americans view the world.
According to Press Gazette, The New York Times was the most visited website with 445.2M visits in December, followed by CNN with 267.5M visits.
But as Bozell explained, the “believability rates of these outlets are in the toilet.” He referenced Gallup’s findings that only 28% of Americans somewhat believe the media, with a mere 8% fully trusting them. “If nobody believes them, why are all these websites getting all this traffic, tens of millions, hundreds of millions a month?” he asked.
The answer? The elitist media’s leftist bias is not just emanating from the mediums of old. In this new era of media bias and censorship, media bias is being propagated by digital giants — Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News (the “Big Four News Apps”).
With approximately 550 million views each month, the Big Four News Apps funnel the elitist media’s leftist bias directly into Americans’ digital devices. Three come preloaded: MSN on Microsoft computers, Google News on Androids and Apple News on iPhones.
"The net effect of this is a false mirror, where the narrative of whatever The New York Times puts out is sort of just considered to be consensus in the country," said Bozell. And it happens at the exclusion of right-leaning media outlets.
Furthermore, an Enders Analysis report warns of potential growth for Apple News with the growth of artificial intelligence usage. (It’s no stretch to infer that this would hold true for the other Big Four News Apps as well.) After all, Gallup has noted that AI usage nearly doubled from 2023 to 2025, with workplace adoption of AI-use continuing to grow.
From the Enders Analysis report, “In a ‘Google Zero’ environment—where search and AI-driven discovery increasingly resolve user intent without referral traffic —strategic reliance on platforms like Apple News is likely to intensify, particularly as publishers push audiences towards apps and controlled environments,” according to A Media Operator. “This increases competitive pressure for attention on the iPhone and raises the stakes around content selection: publishers will need to be highly selective about which stories are distributed via Apple News, balancing discovery and sampling for users likely to convert into direct subscribers against the risk of cannibalization.”
The Big Four News Apps’ clear imbalance in media representation isn't just about shaping opinions—it's a one-sided campaign to silence disagreement.
For example, a new MRC Free Speech America study revealed that the Big Four News Apps aggressively hammered ICE, amplifying attacks from leftist media outlets at the expense of their right-leaning media counterparts. The study found that 86% of headlines about ICE operations in Minneapolis, Minnesota were negative or missing context following the shooting of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. Out of 118 stories, a mere 3% came from right-leaning sources, and not one headline mentioned Good hitting Ross with her vehicle before the shooting.
The overtly biased coverage distorts public perception, framing ICE and Trump's administration as villains. The Big Four News Apps relied on sensational headlines like The Associated Press’s “Doctors in Minnesota decry fear and chaos amid Trump administration’s immigration crackdown,” positioning ICE as a threat without context. By almost exclusively promoting left-leaning outlets, these tech giants ensured a lopsided narrative, ignoring crimes by illegal aliens, such as the second shooting involving a Venezuelan suspect attacking officers. The Big Four News Apps appeared to prioritize agendas over balanced journalism, granting elitist media undue influence over public perception.
MRC is committed to fighting back against elitist media bias by exposing the truth through rigorous reporting and comprehensive studies. MRC will continue to dissect and highlight imbalances, like those in ICE-related coverage, by using data-driven analyses to uncover leftist agendas and educate the public to hold tech giants accountable for their role in shaping perceptions. Through persistent advocacy, MRC will champion the free speech principles Americans hold dear.
