According to a study conducted by researchers at MRC Free Speech America, Google is highlighting coverage of traditional media outlets in its search results about political candidates that are allied with the Harris campaign and often biased against the Trump campaign.
This finding is important because undecided voters looking for specific policy solutions or honest opinions about candidates have to sift through many links before finding the natural result of their intended search, the study found.
For example, MRC Free Speech America conducted a study on two searches: “Donald Trump 2024” and “Kamala Harris 2024.” Both searches generated results from Democratic media outlets, e.g. The New York Times And CNN was at the top of the search results.
In the past, Google has hidden campaign websites for Republican candidates. Now, the search giant is clearly padding its search results for political candidates with left-leaning, traditional news articles, many of which are hostile to Republicans and neutral or favorable to Democrats. Readers will have to sift through biased news before seeing the natural results of their search, let alone the candidate's website.
On September 6, researchers at MRC Free Speech America searched for the keywords “Donald Trump 2024” and “Kamala Harris 2024” to see where each candidate's presidential campaign website appeared in Google searches. The New York Times It appeared at the top of the search results.
Former President Donald Trump's campaign website appears as the sixth result in a search for “Donald Trump President 2024.” But before landing on Trump's website, readers are given the option to click through seven other articles from left-wing sources. The New York Times, POLITICO and The Washington Post It was listed on the “Top Stories” panel.
Google isn't the only company that appears to be skewing political coverage: An August study by the Media Research Center found that TV networks have given Harris 84% ”positive coverage” since she began her presidential run, compared with 89% negative coverage of former President Donald Trump.
Ahead of the Trump/Harris debate, ABC News Tonight's World News According to a Media Research Center (MRC) survey, the network gave generally positive coverage to Harris but generally negative coverage to Trump.
After the debate, Democrats in the mainstream media slammed ABC News debate moderators David Muir and Lindsey Davis for their biased performances. “I have to say the ABC hosts went above and beyond,” said Jennifer Rubin, ABC's “pro-democracy” opinion writer. The Washington Post.
Media coverage is seen by voters. According to a 2023 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Policy Research poll, 6 in 10 Americans say the established media is to blame for misinformation. Nearly 3 in 4 Americans say the media is responsible for polarization, and about half of those surveyed have little or no trust in the accuracy or fairness of media coverage.
Read more about MRC's investigation into Google bias against Joe Biden's campaign here.
Wendell Fsebo is a political reporter for Breitbart News and a former war room analyst for the Republican National Committee. He is the author of: The Politics of Slave MoralityFollow Wendell “X” @WendellHusebø or The truth of society @WendellHusebo.
