Apple News Under New CEO Shows Increased Left-Leaning Bias, Study Claims
A Media Research Center study found a significant shift in the political leanings of stories promoted by Apple News following John Ternus's appointment as CEO.
Apple News has exhibited a more pronounced leftward political bias since John Ternus took over as CEO, according to a study by the Media Research Center (MRC). The conservative media watchdog's analysis claims that in September, the month Ternus assumed leadership, 67% of the stories promoted by the news aggregator came from left-leaning outlets.
This represents an increase from August, the final month under former CEO Tim Cook's tenure, when 65% of promoted stories originated from left-leaning sources. Concurrently, the study found that the proportion of stories from right-leaning outlets decreased from 2% in August to less than 1% in September.
“Under new CEO John Ternus, Apple News has become even more politically lopsided,” said MRC President David Bozell. “In September, just three stories from right-leaning outlets made Apple News’s top morning feed. Three.” Bozell criticized this trend, stating, “Apple has no shortage of conservative journalism to choose from. Apple is choosing to exclude conservative voices and deny its audience anything resembling a balanced news diet.”
Michael Morris, director of MRC Free Speech America and the study's author, noted that competitors Google News and Microsoft’s MSN did not follow a similar shift. Morris reported that MSN reduced the percentage of stories from both left and right-leaning outlets it promoted, while Google News maintained a similar share of left-leaning stories and slightly decreased its right-leaning content.
Critics have previously pointed to Lauren Kern, Apple News's editor-in-chief, who formerly held executive editor roles at New York Magazine and deputy editor at The New York Times Magazine. A 2018 New York Times report highlighted her role in leading a team of former journalists who curate news for millions of iPhone users, positioning her as a potentially powerful figure in media.
Apple News, which comes pre-installed on iPhones, reported over 100 million monthly active users in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Canada in 2020. The platform has faced accusations of liberal bias in the past, with previous MRC studies prompting inquiries from lawmakers and even the Federal Trade Commission.
In February, Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sent a letter to then-CEO Tim Cook expressing concerns about alleged political bias. A previous MRC study, reportedly drawing attention from FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, led to a modest increase in the representation of right-leaning stories on Apple News, from 0% to 2% among its top 20 morning stories.
John Ternus has been with Apple since 2001, working extensively in product design and hardware engineering before joining the executive team in 2021. His leadership has overseen the development of hardware for major Apple products and the transition to in-house Apple Silicon chips.