If Americans thought a change in leadership at one of Silicon Valley’s biggest tech companies would change its trajectory, they’d be right. Apple has indeed changed since its new CEO John Ternus has taken the reins: its news app has gone from bad to worse.
Since former CEO Tim Cook left Apple and Ternus took over on Sept. 1, the company’s news aggregator has gone from promoting just over a dozen stories from right-leaning outlets (13) in August to sharing a relative few (3) in September. Apple’s tech titan competitors in the news aggregator space, however, did not follow Apple’s hard left turn. While Apple News notably increased the percentage of stories it promoted from left-leaning outlets and decreased the percentage of stories from right-leaning outlets from August to September, the percentage gap between stories from left and right on Google News and Microsoft’s MSN largely held pat from month to month.
Media Research Center President David Bozell called out Apple for its inexcusable bias since its new leader took over.
“Under new CEO John Ternus, Apple News has become even more politically lopsided. In September, just three stories from right-leaning outlets made Apple News’s top morning feed. Three. Apple has no shortage of conservative journalism to choose from. Apple is choosing to exclude conservative voices and deny its audience anything resembling a balanced news diet. For one of the most powerful companies in the world, such blatant discrimination is simply indefensible.”
MRC’s key findings:
- Apple News has taken a decidedly leftist turn since John Ternus took over as CEO. Already the most anti-conservative news app, Apple’s news aggregator went from promoting only 13 stories in August to pushing a paltry three in September. The news app pushed stories from left-leaning outlets 65% of the time compared to just 2% from right-leaning outlets in August. Meanwhile, it increased the percentage of stories from leftist outlets it promoted to 67% and decreased the percentage of stories from right-leaning outlets it shared to less than a percentage point (.5%) in September.
- Apple News’s competitors Google News and Microsoft’s MSN did not follow Apple’s hard left turn from August to September. Microsoft’s MSN actually reduced the percentage share of stories it promoted from both left-leaning and right-leaning outlets. Meanwhile, Google News shared roughly the same percentage of stories from left-leaning outlets from one month to the next, while slightly reducing the share of right-leaning stories.
Apple News Has Taken a Decidedly Leftist Turn Since Ternus Took Over
Apple News has consistently been the most radical, anti-conservative news app since MRC began tracking the Silicon Valley tech titan news aggregators back in November 2025.
From Nov. 3, 2025 through Feb. 13, 2026, MRC analyzed the top 20 morning feed on Apple News and found that it took the news aggregator 100 days to publish a single story from a right-leaning outlet. During the same span, Apple News promoted 1,379 stories from left-leaning outlets.
After MRC’s Special Report went viral following FTC Commissioner Andrew Ferguson’s letter to former Apple CEO Cook on the news aggregator’s left-wing bias, Apple News modestly adjusted its representation of stories from right-leaning outlets from 0% up to a still lowly 2% among its top 20 morning stories.
Apple News largely maintained the status quo during the last full month (August) with Cook at the helm. During that month, Apple News promoted 381 stories from leftist outlets (65%), 191 from center outlets (33%) and 13 from right-leaning outlets (2%), out of 585 stories from AllSides-rated media outlets.
But as Ternus took control, a dramatic leftward shift occurred on the news app. Put plainly, the percentage of stories from left-leaning outlets went up, and the percentage of stories from right-leaning outlets went down. In September, Apple News promoted 383 stories from leftist outlets (67%), 186 from center outlets (32.5%) and only three from right-leaning outlets (.5%), out of 572 stories from AllSides-rated media outlets.
In addition to the numbers, there was a clear anti-Trump slant among the headlines Apple News promoted during the month of September:
- “Trump touts America.gov, but its government-sourced AI answers undercut many of his statements,” from The Associated Press, promoted Sept. 30.
- “Republicans Break With Trump After Immigration Crackdowns Hit Home,” from The Washington Post, promoted Sept. 24.
- The Republicans breaking with Trump to save their campaigns,” from Apple News, promoted Sept. 29.
- “Republican candidate in Florida warns Trump his immigration agenda has ‘gone too far,’” from Reuters, promoted Sept. 18.
- “Taxpayers have funded nearly $1.5M in pro-Trump ads. Criticism is mounting, including from the GOP,” from The Associated Press, promoted Sept. 29.
- “Lawmakers slam Trump’s ‘unlawful’ move to cut $810 million in federal funds,” from NBC News, promoted Sept. 27.
- “Trump-appointed judge again holds admin in contempt over deportation,” from Axios, promoted Sept. 26.
- “Supreme Court rejects a Trump-backed Missouri congressional map for the third time,” from The Associated Press, promoted Sept. 26.
- “A Trump-backed crypto bill just suffered a bruising defeat in the Senate. Here’s why,” from NPR, promoted Sept. 16.
- “Trump faces down beef backlash. Will import plan pay off?” from The Hill, promoted Sept. 6.
Google News and Microsoft’s MSN Didn’t Follow Apple’s Hard Left Turn
While Apple News expanded the percentage gap between stories it promoted from leftist media and right-leaning media from August to September, Google News and Microsoft’s MSN largely held pat from month to month.
Google News, for its part, roughly maintained a steady 64% promotion of stories from leftist outlets and slightly reduced the percentage of stories from right-leaning outlets from August to September.
In August, the news aggregator promoted 355 stories from leftist outlets (64%), 152 from center outlets (28%) and 43 from right-leaning outlets (8%) out of 550 total stories from AllSides-rated media outlets. In September, Google promoted 333 stories from leftist outlets (63.8%), 155 from center outlets (29.7%) and 34 from right-leaning outlets (6.5%) out of 522 total stories from AllSides-rated media outlets.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s MSN similarly maintained relative balance from month to month, reducing the percentage of stories from both left-leaning and right-leaning outlets while increasing the articles from center-rated outlets from August to September.
In August, MSN promoted 213 stories from leftist outlets (57%), 113 from center outlets (30%) and 43 from right-leaning outlets (13%) out of 375 total stories from AllSides-rated media outlets. In September, MSN promoted 193 stories from leftist outlets (55%), 114 from center outlets (33%) and 41 from right-leaning outlets (12%) out of 348 total stories from AllSides-rated media outlets.
Methodology: During the time period August 1 - Sept. 30, 2026, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories featured on Apple 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 Apple News and analyzed the results.
