MRC Watchdogs churn out breaking news on a daily basis. Don't miss Today's Highlights, where you can keep up with the top MRC content, whether it's the latest study on media bias, a glaring omission from the elitist media, or how the Big Tech companies are serving up the same leftist spin as the media.
Top Stories:
- Apple Shows Its True Colors
- FCC Chair: ‘I Was Highly Entertained’ by the ‘Hoax’ Colbert, Talarico Played on the Media
- Poo Omission Over? NBC Breaks Dam on Potomac Sewage, ABC, CBS Still on the John
- Fact-Check the News You’re Getting, Question Major Media Reports, Americans Agree
Apple News Leadership Ties to Legacy Media Bias: Apple News Editor-in-Chief Lauren Kern is a former deputy editor of The New York Times Magazine and executive editor of New York Magazine—highlighting how former liberal-leaning outlet leaders curate stories for millions of iPhone users daily, influencing what gets elevated and potentially skewing selection toward legacy perspectives.
Dramatic Divide in Trump Approval by News Platform: A late-January poll shows President Trump's net approval at +9 among X users but plummets to -33 among consumers of websites and newspapers—a stark, non-coincidental gap driven by sustained promotion of the same legacy outlets on platforms like Apple News, Google News, Yahoo News, and MSN.
Platform Promotions Drive Traffic and One-Sided Narratives: MRC's Digital News Tracker shows Apple News promoted the left-leaning Minnesota Star Tribune 11 times in January (Google News 5 times), boosting it to 48th among top U.S. news sites with 16M+ visits—enabling dominant, one-sided framing (e.g., on immigration enforcement as excessive and blaming Trump/ICE), proving consistent elevation of one side shapes public opinion over time.
FCC Chair: ‘I Was Highly Entertained’ by the ‘Hoax’ Colbert, Talarico Played on the Media
Media Gullibility Exposed by Hoax: FCC Chair Brendan Carr described how Stephen Colbert and Democrat candidate James Talarico orchestrated a hoax claiming CBS and the FCC banned an interview due to the equal-time rule, tricking legacy media into blindly promoting the false narrative for clicks and fundraising, revealing their predictable bias and lack of fact-checking.
Entertainment in Watching Media Fall for It: Carr admitted he was "highly entertained" watching the story unfold, noting that anyone without "Trump Derangement Syndrome" could see it was a setup, and mocked the media's eagerness to "eat it up like slop" without verification.
Equal-Time Rule Promotes Fairness, Not Censorship: The FCC's equal-time provision is designed to prevent media elites from influencing elections by requiring broadcasters to offer airtime to all candidates, emphasizing "more speech, not less" to empower voters rather than suppress content.
Eroding Public Trust in Media: Carr compared trust in national news to "gas station sushi," criticizing outlets for refusing to correct their misreporting even after the hoax was revealed, encapsulating why Americans have lost faith in the press.
Poo Omission Over? NBC Breaks Dam on Potomac Sewage, ABC, CBS Still on the John
Massive Sewage Spill Ignored by ABC & CBS Over 240 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac from a collapsed pipe—E. coli levels 10,000× above safe limits, making the river unsafe for weeks. ABC and CBS flagship newscasts completely ignored the historic disaster for nearly a month.
NBC Finally Breaks the Silence After weeks of blackout, NBC led with a ~2-minute Nightly News segment calling it “one of the largest environmental disasters ever,” plus a Today show mention—finally cracking the “Poo-tomac” omission dam.
Legacy Media Bias Still Lingers Even post-NBC coverage, ABC gave only one brief digital mention and CBS stayed silent on its main broadcasts. Fox pressed the White House on the stench; the rest still “on the John,” fueling distrust in selective environmental reporting.
Fact-Check the News You’re Getting, Question Major Media Reports, Americans Agree
Bipartisan Consensus on Fact-Checking 94% of Democrats and Republicans agree it's important for people to do their own research to verify news accuracy, with 66% calling it extremely or very important to fact-check media reports—showing universal skepticism toward unverified news.
Most Americans Actively Verify News 82% of U.S. adults at least sometimes do their own research (37% very often), using methods like comparing multiple sources (84%), questioning major news outlets (70%), and reviewing diverse political views (88% say it's important).
Many Stay Informed Without Chasing News 47% believe they can stay informed without actively following the news (vs. those who say they must seek it out), thanks to passive exposure—half (49%) now mostly encounter news incidentally, up from 39% in 2019, reducing reliance on traditional media.
