EXCLUSIVE: A new Media Research Center study revealed that the Big Four News Apps relentlessly smeared President Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement in what amounted to a coordinated campaign of hostile, one‑sided coverage that amplified attacks from leftist broadcast networks.
The new MRC analysis found that Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News flooded their platforms with a staggering 86% of negative and uncontextualized headlines about ICE operations in Minneapolis, Minn., following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a federal agent.
The study encompassed all stories with headlines about ICE’s presence in the state from Jan. 7 through Jan. 21. MRC’s findings pointed to a broader effort by the Big Four News Apps to shape public perception through selective article curation.
MRC’s Findings:
- The Big Four News Apps ran 118 stories with headlines on ICE operations in Minnesota. An overwhelming majority of the articles’ headlines, 101 (85.6%), were negative or lacked crucial context, while 16 (13.6%) were neutral. Only one story (less than 1%) gave ICE positive coverage.
- The Big Four News Apps’ negative coverage of ICE was made possible by an imbalance of leftist stories, with 101 stories (86%) coming from leftist sources, 13 (11%) from center outlets, while a mere four (3%) came from right-leaning sources.
- The four right-leaning articles pushed by the Big Four News Apps all came from a single source: Fox News. MSN featured two, while Google News and Yahoo News each shared one.
- None of the headlines pushed by the Big Four News Apps mentioned that Good struck ICE agent Jonathan Ross with her vehicle or referenced crimes committed by illegal aliens.
The Data Explained: MRC researchers examined the top 20 featured stories from Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News for 15 days starting on the date of the fatal shooting of Good by Ross. In that period, MRC identified the 118 promoted stories that focused on ICE in Minnesota.
To assess bias, MRC applied AllSides media bias ratings to classify each outlet’s ideological leaning. Researchers then reviewed headlines and content, evaluating claims and context to determine whether articles were positive, negative, neutral or lacked key context (See more about this in the Methodology section).
Across the four major news apps, MRC found a single dominant narrative: coverage framed Trump’s administration and ICE as responsible for turmoil in Minnesota, often omitting key context or alternative perspectives.
The Big Four News Apps Promote Sensational and Fear-Mongering Headlines
Beyond narrative framing, MRC found that the Big Four News Apps routinely elevated headlines that relied on sensational and inflammatory language, blurring the distinction between straight reporting and political advocacy.
On the rare occasions that the Big Four News Apps-promoted headlines did not reflect partisan viewpoints, they often used alarmist or crisis-oriented rhetoric. At times, these apps employed charged phrasing to present the presence of ICE in Minnesota as inherently threatening, resulting in headlines like:
Apple News
- “Doctors in Minnesota decry fear and chaos amid Trump administration's immigration crackdown,” by The Associated Press.
- “‘This is not sustainable’: the ICE surge in Minneapolis fuels chaos,” by Apple News
- “How Twin Cities restaurants are changing amid ICE surge: ‘We are pretty much back to COVID’” by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Google News
- “It feels like an invasion': Minnesotans stunned as federal officers flood their state,” by NBC News.
- “ICE Now So Hated Even Their Own Agents Are Terrified,” by The Daily Beast.
MSN
- “‘Sloppy’: Journalist who went through ICE’s hiring process details experience to CNN,” by CNN.
Yahoo News
- “How Kristi Noem turned ICE into the Proud Boys,” by Salon.
- “‘It’s going to happen again’: Residents say ICE is treating Minneapolis as a ‘war zone,’” by Salon.
The Big Four News Apps Nearly Exclusively Promoted Leftist Sources for Minnesota ICE Coverage
The MRC also found that the Big Four News Apps overwhelmingly promoted left-leaning outlets in their coverage of ICE border enforcement operations in Minneapolis. The imbalance was stark, amounting to 86% left-leaning sources versus just 3% right-leaning.
Elitist media outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Politico, NPR, CBS, ABC and NBC repeatedly appeared across all four digital gatekeepers. In contrast, right-leaning sources were hardly represented, with only four articles from Fox News being included. Other right-leaning outlets were entirely excluded.
Notably, among the most‑promoted outlets were the Big Three broadcast networks. A separate MRC study of ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS’s Evening News and NBC’s Nightly News found that those newscasts delivered 93% negative coverage of ICE in the days following the Minneapolis shooting, largely focusing on outrage rather than offering context about the agency’s mission or actions.
On top of the minimal presence of right‑leaning sources, even the limited Fox News coverage promoted by the Big Four News Apps rarely challenged the left’s dominant narrative. For instance, MSN promoted one Fox News article that focused entirely on Joe Rogan’s negative reaction to the fatal shooting in Minneapolis rather than questioning protester conduct.
The only explicitly positive headline identified by MRC came from Yahoo News promoting a Fox News story: “Minneapolis police nowhere to be found as agitators seize control of street after ICE shooting.” That story centered on local law enforcement being missing in action following Good’s shooting.
The Big Four News Apps’ Headlines Never Reported Good Struck Ross Before Fatal Shooting
The most notable example of the Big Four News Apps' blatant bias was evident in their headline coverage of the death of 37-year-old, anti-ICE activist Good, who was killed by Ross in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
Her death, which Trump described as a “tragedy,” is interpreted through two different perspectives. Leftist politicians claim that Good did not pose a threat to Ross, while ICE maintains that Good was shot in self-defense after she hit Ross with her vehicle.
Of the 44 stories about her death promoted across Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News, not a single headline noted that her vehicle actually struck Ross before he opened fire.
The Big Four News Apps selected only four stories from Fox News, but none of those articles mentioned Good’s vehicle hitting Ross either. In fact, one of the Fox News stories promoted by MSN focused entirely on Trump ally and popular podcast host Joe Rogan raising concerns about the shooting: “Joe Rogan calls Minnesota ICE shooting footage ‘horrific,’ ‘very ugly’ to shoot someone in the face.”
Meanwhile, Yahoo News promoted headlines from radical leftist outlets like Salon’s “‘Propaganda machine’: Trump and DHS embrace conspiracy theories tied to ICE killing” and The New Republic’s “MAGA Blames Minnesota ICE Shooting on Victim for Unhinged Reason.”
Combined with these obviously negative headlines, the Big Four News Apps pushed other headlines in an apparent attempt to frame Good’s tragic death as a moral indictment of the Trump administration, long before investigations shed light on what transpired. The biased coverage was evident in headlines like:
Apple News
- “US immigration agent fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis, mayor disputes government claim of self-defense” by Reuters.
- “New video of fatal Minnesota ICE shooting, from officer's perspective, brings fresh scrutiny” by The Associated Press.
- “ICE tactics and training under scrutiny after Minneapolis shooting,” by The Washington Post.
Google News
- “Trump Goon Waffles When Cornered on Smear Against Minneapolis Victim,” The Daily Beast.
- “ICE shooting of woman in Minneapolis sparks protests, condemnation,” The Washington Post.
MSN
- “Woman fatally shot by ICE officer remembered as 'one of the kindest people,’” by NBC News.
Yahoo
- “Woman dies after federal agent opens fire on her vehicle amid immigration crackdown,” by Yahoo News.
The Big Four News Apps Ignored Crimes Allegedly Committed by Illegal Aliens in Minnesota
In addition to the 44 articles related to Renee Good, MRC identified 74 other headlines covering Minnesota ICE developments.
These stories focused on protests after the Minneapolis shootings, a second shooting of a Venezuelan illegal immigrant, the surge of federal agents in the state, reactions from Minnesota leaders and community fear and unrest.
None of these articles mentioned crimes allegedly committed by illegal aliens, even though the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has repeatedly stated that criminal activity is a central reason for the agency’s presence in Minnesota.
Instead, MRC found numerous headlines that omitted key context, leaving readers with an incomplete picture of events.
For example, four headlines covering the second ICE-related shooting in Minneapolis failed to mention that the suspect was an illegal alien from Venezuela who reportedly attacked federal officers.
According to DHS, the officer fired only after the suspect fled a traffic stop, crashed, attempted to escape on foot and allegedly assaulted the officer, along with two other illegal aliens, using a snow shovel and broom handle.
Of the four stories promoted by Google News and Apple News on the same topic, none of the headlines included critical details about the suspect. Instead, the headlines emphasized the shooting and protests: The Washington Post’s “ICE agent shoots man in leg as Minneapolis protests flare,” The New York Times’s “Federal Agent Shoots Man in Minneapolis, Prompting Tense Protests,” NPR’s “DHS: ICE officers in Minneapolis shoot Venezuelan man in the leg,” and Al Jazeera’s “Federal agent shoots Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis: What we know.”
MRC also found that at least 11 headlines pushed by the Big Four News Apps about escalating violence systematically downplayed unrest. None of the headlines used the term “riots,” opting for sanitized terms like “march,” “events” or “protests.”
Only Yahoo News pushed a Fox News story referencing minor aggression, noting protestors were “agitators” and local police were “nowhere to be found.”
Other headlines amplified by the Big Four News Apps featured leftist condemnation of ICE without mentioning alleged criminal activity, framing federal operations as politically aggressive rather than responses to alleged crimes.
The Big Four News Apps also sided with Minnesota leaders in the federal-state conflict, consistently promoting headlines favoring Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Frey, while downplaying the Trump administration’s legal authority or rationale.
Headlines that nominally supported the administration often undercut themselves with scare quotes or framing that weakened the coverage.
MRC found coverage consistently portrayed ICE as a source of fear and chaos. Headlines stressed community panic, threats to schools and workplaces and dramatic incidents involving citizens and immigrants. This left readers with a skewed perception of ICE.
MRC Free Speech America intern Joseph Schneider provided key research assistance for this report.
Methodology: The Media Research Center examined headline framing across Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News to assess how the Big Four News Apps presented coverage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and related developments in Minnesota.
MRC reviewed the top 20 featured AllSides-rated stories on each platform from Jan. 7 through Jan. 21, 2026 at approximately 10:00 AM ET from Jan. 7 - Jan. 11, 2026 and at approximately 8:30 AM ET from Jan. 12 - Jan. 21, 2026, totaling 1,200 stories. MRC researchers then reviewed the stories to identify coverage directly related to ICE activity and Minnesota developments.
Only stories that explicitly referenced ICE, federal immigration enforcement or related developments in Minnesota were included. Duplicate stories promoted across multiple days or platforms were counted separately to reflect repeated exposure to users. In total, the Big Four News Apps promoted 118 stories that met the inclusion criteria, and the headlines of those stories were analyzed.
MRC relied on AllSides Media Bias ratings, which classify outlets as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right” or “right,” to assess the ideological slant presented by the Big Four News Apps and analyzed the results.
Each headline and its corresponding article were reviewed to determine whether coverage was positive toward ICE; negative toward ICE or missing context; or Neutral.
To determine whether a headline missing context, MRC evaluated whether it omitted relevant facts or claims associated with the underlying event, including: 1) Allegations of criminal conduct, 2) Disputed claims about events such as the Minneapolis shooting and verifiable law-enforcement accounts and 3) Whether headlines omitted key facts that were part of the public record (i.e. details confirmed in subsequent reporting about the Jan. 7 shooting).
Articles were also marked as missing context if they used charged or sanitized language to omit violent protests, or if they framed incidents as political controversies rather than disputed events.
For example, none of the headlines about the Jan. 7 Minneapolis shooting of Renee Good noted whether her vehicle struck ICE agent Jonathan Ross before she was shot, despite that claim being part of conflicting public accounts.
Negative coverage was defined as headlines that employed detrimental wording or emotional language against ICE or federal border enforcement without balancing context.
