The Big Four News Apps largely buried a significant development in the ongoing fight for stricter voter ID laws across the country.
California recently saw a major voter ID victory, when a petition drive rallied 1.3 million signatures in favor of adding a ballot initiative for better election safeguards, far exceeding the needed 875,000 signatures. Yet, on March 6, only Yahoo News featured a story on the petition, while Apple News, Google News, and Microsoft’s MSN failed to highlight it for their massive audiences. The development in California came as Congress battles over the SAVE Act, legislation that would prevent illegal aliens from voting by requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
Apple News, Google News, and MSN completely ignored the story entirely despite overwhelming support from Californians for stronger voter ID laws—as evidenced by over 1.3 million signatures—and its relevance to the national debate over election integrity. Instead, the news apps prioritized a range of extraneous stories.
Apple News, Google News, and MSN featured a range of national and international stories but did not prominently highlight the petition effort despite its massive signature total and its relevance to the national debate over election integrity.
Entertainment news was all the rage. For example, MSN prominently featured a fourth headline from Fox News: “Britney Spears arrested in California after late-night incident.”
Google News similarly featured a story by Variety criticizing the movie Anchorman. “Christina Applegate Says ‘Anchorman’ Pay Offer Was ‘Offensive,’ So Will Ferrell and Adam McKay Gave Her More Money From Their Own Salaries: ‘I Know My Worth,’” the long, raging headline read. The California voter ID petition again received no coverage.
Apple News made room to highlight a Formula One racing story from left-leaning outlet The Guardian, headlined: “Aston Martin fear they may not be able to race in Australian GP after practice disaster.”
The news app even gave a spot to an anti-Trump yammering published by the left-leaning USA Today. “New date for White House ballroom vote amid deluge of angry comments,” the headline read. The California voter ID petition was again absent from the top headlines.
Only Yahoo News highlighted a single Fox News story on the California voter ID petition. Even so, Yahoo News buried the story at number 18 among its top 20 headlines.
The Big Four News Apps’ omission fits a broader pattern of ignoring the Democratic Party’s scandals and shifting the narrative away from stories Americans care about.
In a recent analysis, MRC researchers found that the Big Four News Apps similarly ignored one of President Donald Trump’s top legislative priorities, the SAVE Act, despite its significance in the national debate over election integrity.
The muted coverage of California’s voter ID petition follows the same trend. Both developments center on strengthening election safeguards through voter identification or proof of citizenship requirements, yet both have struggled to gain visibility across major news platforms despite their potential national impact.
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