Archive · 21 Aug 2026
Study Finds Democratic Endorsement Tilt Among Major News Aggregator Sources
The Media Research Center studied news companies that appeared often on Apple News, Google News, and MSN.
It looked at which presidential candidates those companies officially supported.
From 1988 to 2024, the Apple News and Google News groups mostly supported Democratic candidates.
The study says they gave no formal endorsements to Republican candidates in those groups.
USA Today sometimes criticized Donald Trump without formally endorsing a Democrat.
The MSN group supported Democrats 25 times and Republicans twice.
Both Republican endorsements in the MSN group supported George H.W. Bush.
The study shows a pattern in endorsements, but it does not prove that the news apps chose these outlets because of their political views.
The Media Research Center says top-promoted outlets on Apple News and Google News endorsed Democrats 31 times and Republicans zero times from 1988 through 2024.
Apple News’s examined outlets recorded 28 Democratic endorsements and no Republican endorsements, while USA Today issued an anti-Trump editorial in 2016.
Google News’s examined outlets recorded 27 Democratic endorsements and no Republican endorsements, with USA Today again excluded from formal Democratic totals.
The study says five prominent MSN outlets issued 25 Democratic and two Republican endorsements, with both Republican endorsements supporting George H.W. Bush.
The analysis documents endorsement histories but does not prove that Apple News, Google News, or MSN intentionally promoted outlets because of their politics.
- Who
- The Media Research Center examined major news outlets promoted by Apple News, Google News, and MSN.
- What
- The analysis compared those outlets’ presidential endorsements from 1988 through 2024 and found a strong Democratic tilt among the Apple News and Google News groups.
- When
- The endorsement period covered 1988 through 2024; the aggregator-promotion data was collected during specified periods from November 2025 through July 2026.
- Where
- The study examined outlets promoted on Apple News, Google News, and Microsoft MSN.
- Why
- The Media Research Center said it wanted to assess the political diversity of news sources prominently promoted by major digital news aggregators.
Media Research Center’s Interpretation
Study’s Stated Limitations
Political diversity of promoted outlets
Media Research Center’s Interpretation
The Media Research Center argues that the outlets most prominently promoted by Apple News and Google News show a substantial Democratic endorsement imbalance.
Study’s Stated Limitations
The analysis identifies the outlets’ endorsement histories but does not establish that the platforms intentionally promote them because of their political positions.
Meaning of editorial endorsements
Media Research Center’s Interpretation
The Media Research Center says favorable descriptions of Democratic candidates and sharply negative descriptions of Republican candidates demonstrate a recurring partisan contrast.
Study’s Stated Limitations
A newspaper’s presidential endorsement does not necessarily mean that every news story it publishes reflects the editorial board’s political views.
USA Today’s 2016 position
Media Research Center’s Interpretation
The study treats USA Today’s warning that Donald Trump lacked the necessary temperament, knowledge, steadiness, and honesty as evidence of an anti-Republican editorial stance.
Study’s Stated Limitations
USA Today did not formally endorse a Democratic candidate in 2016, so the study counted its anti-Trump editorial separately from formal Democratic endorsements.
- Study author
- Media Research Center
- Endorsement period
- 10 presidential elections from 1988 through 2024
- Apple News findings
- 28 Democratic endorsements and zero Republican endorsements among the identified outlets; USA Today was counted separately.
- Google News findings
- 27 Democratic endorsements and zero Republican endorsements among the identified outlets; USA Today was counted separately.
- MSN findings
- 25 Democratic endorsements and two Republican endorsements among five examined outlets.
- MSN Republican endorsements
- Both supported George H.W. Bush, in 1988 and 1992, according to the study.
- Methodology
- Researchers reviewed the top 20 promoted stories and used historical newspaper databases, the Wayback Machine, Newspapers.com, and other open-source databases.