Conservative Google Play and Apple users have taken advantage of an app that is used to review media outlets – taking complaints about liberal bias to the grass roots, which have certain outlets a bit concerned.
According to Digiday, since the election, many news publishers such as CNN, Mic, Quartz and USA Today have been bombarded by one-star reviews and citing “liberal bias” as their main complaint. Half of the reviews CNN has received during the past month have been one-star reviews, but since their app has been out longer, it doesn’t create as much a dent for their overall rating as it would to Mic and Quartz – which are fairly new to the game.
Samples of complaints included:
“Absurdly left-leaning rhetoric…I’m all for the first amendment but also representing the facts,” said one user on November 4.
“Literally nothing but LIARS!” wrote another about CNN.
Bigger outlets who have had their app out for a longer of period of time won’t need to worry about the reviews impacting their overall rating – it’s the newer outlets who have just begun using the app who have the most to potentially lose – jeopardizing their place among app stores and losing an audience.
“Low reviews affect the ranking of an app in the top charts, which decreases app discoverability and, in turn, means fewer downloads, which would continue driving them further down the top charts,” said Amir Ghodrati, a director of market insights at the app analytics business App Annie.
The negative response Mic has received has caused their product team to re-think what they were pushing to their audience. Mic’s chief strategy officer, Cory Haik, and its editorial director, Kerry Lauerman, didn’t see anything that needed correcting, but they did say they were being “extra vigilant” on making sure whatever they provide to their audience is a balance of information.
Mic describes itself as a different kind of news approach that is “as unique as our generation,” that gives young people a news destination with “quality coverage tailored to them,” and how their generation will “define the future” and make sense of the world. Well, we can certainly hope so, but with stories like this – which are fabricated to politicize just about everything – including menstruation and creating a ““Menstruavolution” – Mic has a far way to go.
