Prominent news outlets featured on Apple News and Google News have exclusively endorsed Democratic presidential candidates over the past 10 presidential elections, according to a new analysis from the Media Research Center (MRC), a conservative watchdog group. The study alleges this pattern indicates an anti-conservative bias within the popular news aggregators.
The MRC's analysis found that the five most-featured outlets on Apple News—The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, and USA Today—collectively made 28 endorsements for Democratic presidential candidates between 1988 and 2024. The New York Times endorsed Democrats in all 10 elections reviewed. The Washington Post endorsed Democrats eight times, The Guardian five times, The Los Angeles Times four times, and USA Today once.
Similarly, the five most-featured outlets on Google News—The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, USA Today, and The Atlantic—made a combined 27 Democratic endorsements. The Atlantic endorsed Democrats three times, with its endorsements dating back to 2016. In total, the most prominent outlets on both Apple News and Google News showed a 31-0 record favoring Democratic presidential candidates over the period studied.
"Big Tech executives insist their news platforms serve as objective public squares, but our findings lay bare the massive corporate tilt driving these algorithms," said MRC President David Bozell in a statement. "Apple and Google systematically funnel tens of millions of users into media sources that have backed Democrats for president 31 times without a single Republican endorsement in 40 years."
Microsoft's MSN, another news aggregator, was also examined. Its five most-featured outlets—The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, and USA Today—issued 25 endorsements for Democratic presidential candidates and two for Republicans since 1988. The San Francisco Chronicle accounted for both Republican endorsements, backing George H.W. Bush in 1988 and 1992.
Google has stated it "refutes the methodology" of the MRC's studies. Representatives for Apple and Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment.
The MRC researchers analyzed the top 20 stories promoted daily on Google News from November 1, 2025, through January 12, 2026. For Apple News, the review period was November 3, 2025, through July 31, 2026. The analysis for Microsoft's MSN covered January 13, 2026, through July 31, 2026.
Researchers identified the most frequently appearing news outlets and then determined whether their editorial boards had endorsed presidential candidates. Outlets without endorsements were excluded from the final tally. The group used open-source research to compile endorsement records for the 10 presidential elections from 1988 to 2024.
This is not the first time these aggregators have faced scrutiny. In February, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson sent a warning letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook following an MRC analysis that also alleged bias favoring left-leaning outlets on Apple News.
An earlier analysis by AllSides, a group that classifies news outlets by political leaning, found that Google News, Apple News, and other aggregators drew a small fraction of their articles from right-leaning news sources.