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:
- 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.
- 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.
MRC President David Bozell called out Google News for its imbalanced coverage. “When a dominant platform decides which stories Americans see, it has the power to shape public opinion,” Bozell said. “Google News is using that power to promote a radical left-wing agenda.”
Google News Highlights Left-Leaning Outlets for Stories on Iran War
Google News showed a clear bias toward left-leaning outlets in its coverage of the ongoing Iran war.
Of the 239 stories that Google News promoted on the war, the tech giant elevated 183 stories from left-leaning sources. Meanwhile, it only promoted six stories on the war from right-leaning outlets. This massive disparity has enormous consequences as Google pushes a one-sided narrative to nearly a hundred million Americans each month.
The news aggregator included headlines like:
- “Al Jazeera investigation: Iran girls’ school targeting likely ‘deliberate,’” from Al Jazeera
- “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei obituary,” from The Guardian.
- “Trump keeps telling America he’s winning in Iran. He’s less clear in explaining how the war ends," from The Associated Press, which did not label the story as commentary or analysis.
- “Trump insisted he didn’t need allies’ help in Iran. Now he’s demanding they step in,” and “Why the US and Iran are fighting two different wars,” both from CNN analysis.
- “Trump Humiliated by Allied Pilot Who Downed $100 Million Worth of U.S. Jets,” from The Daily Beast.
MRC Free Speech America VP Dan Schneider noted that the lopsided coverage distorts what is really happening in the war. “We have not seen a more dominant military action since William Wallace defeated the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, but you’d never guess it if you only read the stories pumped through your smartphone,” Schneider said. “Google News has a long history of being the conduit for left-wing propaganda. It actively drives down support for things like the Save Act, immigration enforcement and conservative candidates for office.”
Google News relied heavily on foreign-based news outlets in its promotion of stories on the Iran war (78 total stories), including 20 stories from the Qatari-based outlet Al Jazeera. MRC Free Speech America has previously reported on how Al Jazeera glossed over the atrocities committed by the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while whitewashing and ignoring acts by the foreign terrorist organization Hezbollah.
Google News Favored the Left, Silencing Most Right-Leaning Outlets Throughout March
While Google News promoted a handful of right-leaning stories on the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran, the digital news gatekeeper restricted the already limited space to just two right-leaning news outlets throughout the whole month of March.
While the news aggregator included Fox News and New York Post in its March coverage, Google News excluded every other top 50 right-leaning outlet, according to Press Gazette, including Daily Mail (19/50), Breitbart (ranked 36/50), The Gateway Pundit (38/50) and Newsmax (ranked 43/50). For some context, Google included left-leaning outlets that are ranked lower than most of these right-leaning outlets, including The Atlantic (39/50), Bloomberg (40/50), Al Jazeera (47/50) and The Daily Beast (48/50).
What’s more, Google only doubled down on its favoring of leftist outlets between February and March. The tech giant highlighted only 2% of stories from right-leaning news outlets, while 71% came from left-leaning outlets. The increase of articles from leftist outlets was a whole 7% higher compared with the previous month, which was already heavily inundated with left-wing content.
Google News’s paltry use of right-leaning content was even worse than the numbers suggest. Of the 12 stories the tech giant featured, nearly half of the stories from right-leaning outlets it promoted had nothing to do with domestic politics, foreign policy or any of the other pressing issues Americans face ahead of a looming midterm election and partial government shutdown. Instead of elevating news reporting on the war from right-leaning outlets, Google promoted stories about Chicago’s increased tourist tax, entertainment news and airport drama.
Methodology: During the time period March 1 - 31, 2026, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories featured on Google News each day at approximately 8:30 AM ET. MRC researchers used the AllSides media bias ratings, which categorize an outlet as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right” or “right” to determine the overall bias presented by Google News and analyzed the results. Researchers additionally identified stories related to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran by analyzing headlines with key words. Key words included: “Ayatollah” “Beirut,” “Hormuz,” “Hezbollah, “Iran,” “Iraq,” “Kahmenei,” “Kharg,” “Lebanon,” “Middle East,” “Military,” “Oil,” “Tehran” and “War.”
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