Apple News has shifted further to the left in its content selection since new CEO John Ternus took over, according to a study by the Media Research Center. The study compared the news aggregator's content during the final month of former CEO Tim Cook's tenure with the first month under Ternus.
The study found that Apple News pushed stories from left-leaning outlets 65% of the time in August, when Cook was still in charge, compared to just 2% from right-leaning outlets. In September, under Ternus, the percentage of stories from left-leaning outlets increased to 67%, while the percentage of stories from right-leaning outlets decreased to less than 1%.
The Media Research Center's study also noted that Apple News' competitors, Google News and Microsoft's MSN, did not follow Apple's leftward shift. Microsoft's MSN actually reduced the percentage share of stories it promoted from both left-leaning and right-leaning outlets, while Google News shared roughly the same percentage of stories from left-leaning outlets as the previous month, with a slight reduction in the share of right-leaning stories.
The study's findings have raised concerns about the bias of Apple News, which comes preinstalled on every iPhone in America. Critics point to the app's editor-in-chief, Lauren Kern, who previously served as the executive editor of New York Magazine and deputy editor of The New York Times Magazine. Kern leads a team of former journalists who select the news that tens of millions of people will read.
The Media Research Center has been critical of Apple News' bias for some time, and has previously noted that many of Apple's top executives and board members have made substantial contributions to Democrats in various election cycles.
NTC Report coverage is based on reporting from the original publisher.
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