PBS news program heavily biased against Trump, Republicans leading up to election: study
A new study reveals that a taxpayer-funded news program frequently referred to Republican politicians and policies by using labels such as “far right,” “extremist” and “hard-liner” while characterizing Democratic politicians and progressive policies more favorably.
The Media Research Center’s NewsBusters blog, which is dedicated to combating and exposing progressive media bias, released a study last week that found the nightly news program "PBS NewsHour" used the phrase “far right” to describe the Republican Party 27 times more often than it used the term “far left” to characterize the Democratic Party.
After analyzing statements made by the government-funded news outlet's anchors, reporters and contributors from June 1, 2023, to Nov. 30, 2024, the Media Research Center found that the term “far right” and variations of it were used 162 times. By contrast, the phrase “far left” and variations of it were only used six times.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Among PBS' reporters in particular, the phrase “far right” was used 64 times compared to just two occasions where the term “far left” was used to describe Democratic policies and politicians. Guests on the nightly news program used the phrase “far right” to characterize Republican policies and politicians 52 times, while only on 19 occasions did "PBS NewsHour" guests use the corresponding label of “far left” when talking about Democrats.
Additional findings of the study showed that on-air personalities appearing on "PBS NewsHour" used the phrase “right-wing” and its variations to describe Republican policies and politicians 33 times, and labeled Democratic policies and politicians as “left-wing” only six times. When it comes to the use of the term “extreme right” to describe conservative organizations, politicians or the suggestion that such groups and individuals held “extremist” views, "PBS NewsHour" embraced this terminology 57 times.
On the other hand, only on three occasions did "PBS NewsHour" personalities use the term “extreme left,” “extremist” or “extreme” to characterize liberal organizations. When analyzing the use of the phrase “hard line” or “hard liner” frequently used on "PBS NewsHour," the Media Research Center found that Republicans and conservatives were assigned that label or variations of it 25 times. "PBS NewsHour" reporters never used the words “hard line” or “hard liners” to describe Democrats or progressives.
The study also found that "PBS NewsHour" staff and guests used the term “fascist” to describe President-elect Donald Trump and his policies in the weeks leading up to the presidential election 17 times, usually when quoting others’ characterizations of him.
While "PBS NewsHour" anchors, reporters and guests rarely pushed back against these allegations, they did not hesitate to rebuke the portrayal of Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, as a “Communist” two of the three times the phrase was used on air.
The study concluded with the Media Research Center contending that the findings of its research demonstrate that the taxpayer-funded network does not live up to its mandate from Congress to maintain a “strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature.”
Additional studies from the Media Research Center show that ideologically tilted coverage regarding the 2024 presidential election was not limited to PBS.
When analyzing specifically evaluative coverage of Harris and Trump leading up to the presidential election, a study published the week before the election found that 78% of the coverage of Harris and her campaign by evening news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC was positive between July 21 and Oct. 25. By contrast, Trump received 83% negative coverage on the three network news programs during the same time.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
