FIRST ON FOX—Apple News and other prominent aggregators are failing to provide balanced coverage of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, according to a study.
The conservative-leaning Media Research Center (MRC) examined Apple News, Google News, Microsoft’s MSN and Yahoo News for the first month of the DHS funding lapse. The MRC wanted to see how the four major news aggregators had been curating information related to the partial government shutdown that began on Feb. 14, and findings indicate many Americans are only hearing one side of the story.
The four apps limited their coverage of the DHS shutdown to only 1%, comprising 28 stories, out of the 1,977 promoted during the period, according to the MRC. Of the 28 stories, 19 came from "leftist" media sources and seven came from "center" sources.
"Out of the 28 articles about the shutdown, only one headline exclusively blamed Democrats," MRC Vice President Dan Schneider told Fox News Digital.
Apple News published 17 stories related to the shutdown, but none of them came from right-leaning news organizations. None of the stories featured a headline that blamed Democrats, and only one of the 17 even mentioned Democrats in the headline at all, according to the MRC.
Apple News published 12 stories from organizations that the MRC considers "left" or "lean left," and five from outlets labeled "center." No right-leaning or conservative outlets had DHS shutdown content published by Apple News, according to the MRC.
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"When a dominant platform like Apple News delivers 71 percent left-leaning coverage and zero right-leaning perspectives on a major political fight, that is not balance. That is the information pipeline tilting the playing field," MRC President David Bozell told Fox News Digital.
During the time period Feb. 14 to March 14, 2026, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories featured on the Big Four News Apps — Apple News, Google News, Microsoft’s MSN and Yahoo News — each day at approximately 8:30 AM ET and searched the article headlines for the terms "DHS," "Homeland Security," "shutdown" and "shut." 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 Google News and analyzed the results.
Google News published six stories on the topic, and none of them featured a headline that blamed Democrats or even mentioned the party. Four were from left-leaning outlets, according to the MRC, while two stories from the BBC and Reuters were considered "center" by the media watchdog.
When reached for comment, Google questioned the methodology of the study and said Google News changes throughout the day and is personalized to users.
Apple News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft’s MSN only pushed a single article related to the shutdown, which came from Bloomberg News, according to the MRC.
"Microsoft is especially egregious in covering up the Democrat-led effort to shut down DHS in the middle of the U.S. fight against Iran. Even the one story it published was from Bloomberg, which buries stories behind its paywall. Only users who pay extra can access the one story MSN published about the shutdown," Schneider said.
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MSN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yahoo News was the most balanced, publishing four stories, including a pair from Fox News.
Democrats on Capitol Hill are accusing Republicans of walking away from attempts to shrink the size of a partial shutdown, arguing that the impasse over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doesn’t need to hold up funding for other agencies.
Democrats are demanding a ban on masks for ICE agents, an end to roaming patrols, stiffer warrant requirements and visible identification markings. Their demands came about in the wake of the deaths of two civilians in Minnesota who lost their lives in escalated confrontations with immigration enforcement.
Without those demands, Democrats say there’s no way to press on towards funding ICE. As the partial government shutdown continues to drag on, Transportation Security Administration officers are not getting their paychecks due to the lapse in funding.
Over the weekend, airports across the country faced long security delays, with TSA officers calling out of work.
Republicans maintain the demands would handcuff President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown efforts.
Republicans can’t advance funding legislation in the Senate without the help of at least 7 Democrats. Republicans hold 53 seats in the chamber and need 60 votes to break the threat of a filibuster.
Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno and Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report.
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