A Media Research Center (MRC) review says Apple News promoted a small share of stories from right-leaning outlets during October and that its Trump-related headlines were predominantly negative or neutral. The findings are the watchdog group’s assessment of the news aggregator’s selections, not an independent audit described in the supplied material.
The MRC said it counted 504 stories promoted by Apple News during the first 27 days of October. Eleven came from right-leaning outlets, while 67.3% came from publications rated left-leaning by AllSides, a media-bias rating organization. The group reported that 2% of the stories came from right-leaning outlets.
The organization said it had previously compared Apple News content during the final month of Tim Cook’s tenure as CEO with the first month after John Ternus took over on Sept. 1. It characterized the service’s selections as having shifted left. The MRC then tracked the service through October and said the share of stories from left-leaning outlets remained consistent month to month, with a modest increase in right-leaning content during Ternus’ second month.
The MRC also assessed how stories from right-leaning organizations were framed. It said nearly half of those stories were negative toward Trump’s administration or Republicans generally. Dan Schneider, of MRC Free Speech America, argued that the outlet mix and framing could affect how users encounter political coverage ahead of the midterm elections.
In a separate count, the watchdog reviewed stories with Trump’s name in the headline from Oct. 1 through Oct. 28. It identified 96 such stories: 49 it classified as negative, 47 as neutral and none as positive. MRC editor Luis Cornelio said the headlines included critical descriptions of Trump and coverage of legal setbacks and policy controversies. The group also argued that favorable headlines were available but not selected; the supplied material does not provide a list or independent assessment of those omitted stories.
MRC President David Bozell criticized Apple’s editorial choices, saying the figures reflected the company’s decisions about which stories to feature. The source report says Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, so no response from the company is included.
The findings are presented by a conservative media watchdog, and the report does not describe a review by an independent researcher or provide the full story sample. The figures therefore reflect the MRC’s classifications and methodology as reported, rather than an independently verified measure of Apple News’ overall political balance.
