EXCLUSIVE: Did you know that a historic and symbolic landmark of the nation’s capital was recently vandalized by an individual currently sought after by the FBI? If the story escaped your attention, thank the Big Four News Apps — Apple News, Google News, Microsoft’s MSN and Yahoo News — which largely ignored the attack, only featuring one article on the story over four days.
On Feb. 20, Fox News exclusively reported that the Trump-Kennedy Center had been subjected to an alleged act of vandalism after a suspect poured a “toxic,” dark substance onto an outdoor ice rink earlier that morning. The attack marked a major escalation of violence on a federal property, particularly one that holds national significance.
The Media Research Center examined the Big Four News Apps to determine whether they featured the vandalism story among their top 20 headlines during the mornings of Feb. 21 through Feb. 24. The results were telling.
MRC’s Findings:
- In the four days following the Trump-Kennedy Center vandalism story, the Big Four News Apps featured only one story on the attack in their top 20 morning editions. None of the digital news gatekeepers featured the original Fox News bombshell.
- Google News was the only digital news gatekeeper to feature a story on the attack. It elevated radical, left-wing outlet The Daily Beast.
- The Big Four News Apps devoted 70% of their featured coverage to left-leaning outlets, while right-leaning outlets were nearly shut out at just 5% in their top 20 morning editions.
Big Four News Apps Snub Fox News Report on Center’s Attack — Largely Ignore Widespread Coverage
What the Big Four News Apps largely ignored: On the evening of Feb. 20, Fox News reported that the Trump-Kennedy Center had been targeted in a “calculated, malicious attack” earlier that morning.
An unidentified suspect damaged the center’s outdoor ice rink by pouring what officials described as a toxic chemical onto the surface. The rink, installed for a limited run of Canada’s Le Patin Libre: Murmuration and worth thousands of dollars, was so damaged that the show was canceled, as reported by Fox News.
The U.S. Park Police and the FBI launched an investigation and processed the chemical container for DNA, according to the Trump Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations Roma Daravi. The probe underscores the seriousness of attacks on federal property.
Fox News’s reporting sent shock waves across Washington, D.C., as several outlets, primarily right-leaning ones, also reported the story, including Just the News, New York Post, RedState, The Daily Mail and OANN. Left-leaning outlets like The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Independent and The Daily Beast, as well as at least one center-rated outlet, NewsNation, also covered the attack.
Yet despite the attack’s severity and growing coverage, Apple News, MSN and Yahoo News ignored the story entirely. Google News did feature one story on it, only through a left-leaning lens. (More about this later in this story.)
MRC spoke with Daravi, who condemned the blackout:
“The media's blatant disregard for a targeted attack on the Trump Kennedy Center is disappointing but no surprise, given their constant stream of verbal attacks on us for over a year now. As activist journalists ignore this crisis, we are working closely with authorities to identify the vandal and bring them to justice.”
Trump Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell, who has called the suspect a “terrorist,” echoed that sentiment on X: “You know what’s NOT shocking? The number of fake news outlets ignoring the vandalism attack on the Trump Kennedy Center because they like it.”
Google News Covers Attack — But Only Through a Leftist Outlet
Americans using Google News may have seen coverage of the attack, but only through a left-leaning lens, courtesy of none other than The Daily Beast, an outlet independent media bias firm AllSides rates as “left.”
On Feb. 22, Google News featured The Daily Beast’s write-up while bypassing the original Fox News exclusive. Notably, AllSides rates Fox News as “right,” making Google’s editorial decision difficult to dismiss as neutral.
True to form, The Daily Beast framed the attack through criticism of President Donald Trump and the board of the center’s decision to rename the Kennedy Center.
First, The Daily Beast’s subtitle immediately tied the vandalism to the renaming. “A dark liquid dumped across the ice forced a cancellation at the high-profile venue amid ongoing controversy over its renaming,” wrote the article’s author, Olivia Ralph. [Emphasis added.]
Directly beneath that framing, the left-wing outlet embedded a video of anti-Trump author Michael Wolff attacking the center’s new name under the headline:
“The Real Reason Trump Is Wrecking The Kennedy Center.”
Even in describing the damage, The Daily Beast injected sarcasm, calling images from the scene “less high-stakes heist, more clumsy clean-up aisle five.” The outlet also cast doubt on the center’s description of the substance as “toxic,” noting that “the exact chemical has not been publicly identified.”
The Daily Beast then returned to the renaming controversy, noting: “For the new name to be officially adopted requires an act of Congress, but that did not stop Trump from adding his name to that of the building last year.”
Big Four News Apps Overwhelmingly Promote Left-Leaning Outlets During Review Period
It was perhaps unsurprising that the Big Tech News Apps left no trace of the Fox News report. Over four days, a combined 70 percent of featured stories came from left-leaning outlets, while just 5 percent came from the right.
MRC reviewed 320 stories promoted in the top 20 slots in the morning editions across four days on the Big Four News Apps. MRC researchers then used AllSides, an independent media bias ratings firm, to classify the outlets behind those stories. Of the 320 outlets reviewed, 266 were rated by AllSides:
- 187 (70%) came from left-leaning sources
- 65 (24%) from “center.”
- 14 (less than 6%) from right-leaning sources.
For every outlet rated “right,” the Big Four News Apps promoted more than 13 from left-leaning outlets.
Notably, the Big Four News Apps overwhelmingly reserved their most prominent slots for left- leaning outlets, with left-leaning Yahoo.com appearing 25 times, followed by unrated BuzzFeed (14); left-leaning CBS News (13); right-leaning Fox News (13); left-leaning The Washington Post (13); left-leaning USA Today (13); unrated ParadePets (12); center Reuters (11); left-leaning CNN (11); left-leaning The Associated Press (10); and left-leaning NBC News (10).
MRC Free Speech America Contributor Catherine Salgado assisted with this report.
Methodology: MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories on Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News at approximately 8:30 AM ET from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24. They specifically looked for the inclusion of a Fox News report revealing that the Trump-Kennedy Center had been targeted by vandalism on Feb. 20, or for any coverage related to the attack. MRC only found a write-up from The Daily Beast. A total of 320 stories were reviewed (top 20 stories per app × 4 apps × 4 days = 320). MRC used AllSides media bias ratings, which classify outlets as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right,” or “right,” to assess the overall bias presented by the Big Four News Apps.
