How biased is Google “News” (the quotation marks, I assure you, are mine, not Google’s)?
Read the beginning of Gabriela Pariseau’s article at newsbusters.org and see for yourself:
Google News all but excluded right-leaning news outlets from coverage of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, with 183 left-leaning stories to just six right-leaning ones.
In March, war updates dominated Google News, with 239 stories highlighting the conflict in Iran and its proxies in neighboring countries. But the digital news gatekeeper excluded every single right-leaning news outlet, with the exception of a handful of Fox News stories. In fact, out of all the stories Google News promoted in its March morning editions (non-war-related stories included), just 2% came from AllSides-rated right-leaning sources. With 100–150 million Americans using smartphones pre-installed with Google News, the impact of Google’s one-sided editorial choice could be seismic.
MRC’s Findings of Google News’s Top 20 Morning Editions in March:
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- Google News presented readers with at least 239 stories about the Iran war, with 183 stories from sources rated left-leaning by AllSides, 44 from sources rated center and just six from sources rated right-leaning.
- The tech giant promoted 78 stories from 10 foreign-based outlets, including Al Jazeera, BBC News, Deutsche Welle (DW), Euro News, Reuters, The Guardian, The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, WION and Ynetnews.
- Google News presented readers with at least 239 stories about the Iran war, with 183 stories from sources rated left-leaning by AllSides, 44 from sources rated center and just six from sources rated right-leaning.
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- Of the 540 total AllSides-rated stories across all topics, Google News presented 12 stories (2%) from right-leaning outlets, 146 (27%) from center-rated outlets and 382 stories (71%) from left-leaning outlets.
- Google News’s promotion of 71% stories from left-leaning outlets is a 7% increase compared with the previous month.
- Of the 540 total AllSides-rated stories across all topics, Google News presented 12 stories (2%) from right-leaning outlets, 146 (27%) from center-rated outlets and 382 stories (71%) from left-leaning outlets.
That clear enough for you?
And what does it mean? It means that people who rely on Google “News” to stay informed about the United States’ and Israel’s action in Iran are getting a hopelessly skewed version of what that action is/what it means/who is right or wrong.
Are you surprised? I would hope not. I write about media bias all the time. And here it is again (and again and again and again). Right in our faces. Google “News” is barely the tip of the iceberg.
What can be done about it? Nothing. All we can do is remember that this is the way things are, and think about reports from venues like Google “News” accordingly.
