Year in Review: Where Did Readers See the Most Media Bias in 2024?

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Awareness of media bias is one of the first steps toward understanding the news. That’s why we thought it appropriate to reflect on the most prominent instances of biased news in 2024. And how better to do that than to ask you, our loyal audience?

Will 2025 bring even more bias? Probably. But by recalling the biggest examples of slant and sensationalism from this past year, we’ll all be better equipped to fight off bias in the year to come.

Survey submissions differed depending on the respondent’s self-described bias. People on the right saw more bias overall, but particularly in coverage of immigration, the economy, and the Middle East. People on the left were less likely to see bias in coverage of the issues mentioned, but more likely to note bias in coverage of Hurricanes Milton and Helene.

Here’s where you and the rest of our readers saw the most media bias in 2024.

Abortion

Roughly 94% of people who took the survey said they saw some degree of bias in news coverage of abortion in 2024.

Throughout the year and in the context of the presidential election, media on the left often focused on restrictive abortion laws and the potential for the Trump administration to restrict abortion further. These outlets also sometimes highlighted deaths and arrests they saw as related to restrictive abortion laws.

The right often responded with clarifications about the laws and Trump’s plans, and sometimes downplayed the issue by citing polls that say it’s not a top concern for voters.

Controversy followed an investigation from ProPublica (Lean Left) that suggested a restrictive Georgia abortion law led to the deaths of at least two women. Pro-choice advocates praised the report as proof that abortion bans can kill. Others said ProPublica misled its readers about the law and potential side effects of the abortion pill mifepristone.

The Middle East

The Israel-Hamas conflicts and other dust-ups in the Middle East cast a shadow over geopolitics for the duration of 2024.

The conflict doesn’t fit neatly on the left-right spectrum, but U.S. media outlets have still shown plenty of bias in their coverage.

Throughout the conflict, some outlets on the right have been much quicker to describe members of Hamas as “terrorists,” and to focus on the atrocities they’ve committed. The left tends to focus more on Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, and less on the actions of Hamas “militants.”

In the U.S., campus protests over the conflict also spurred biased media coverage. Outlets differed in their framing of pro-Palestine protesters, and whether their actions – protests that sometimes devolved into violence and vandalism – were justified.

The issue of aid for both Israel and Gaza – conditions, amounts, and means of delivery – has also been a center of media controversy.

For example, the short-lived floating pier built by U.S. troops to deliver aid to Gaza was questioned by the left over how much aid it could deliver, and questioned by the right over how its construction could potentially subject U.S. troops to enemy fire.

Immigration

Stories about immigration – border encounters, unauthorized immigrants, and legal pathways – often showcase media bias.

News sources on the left tend to frame immigration as inherently good, and highlight humanitarian concerns about the state of U.S. immigration. Sources on the right tend to focus much more on the issues stemming from unauthorized immigration.

One of the bigger immigration-related stories of the year was the murder of Laken Riley by an unauthorized immigrant in February. The right covered the story emotionally, fixating on the migrant’s legal status and blaming Riley’s death on lax border security. Coverage from the left was less prominent overall, and sometimes downplayed the killer’s legal status.

In the eyes of readers, economic coverage also often showed some level of bias. For example, when covering monthly inflation reports pre-election, outlets on the right were more likely to highlight underlying pressures and pessimism about the economy.

That split has now flipped after Trump’s win, with the left expressing more negativity about the economy, and the right doing the opposite.

President Biden at times made false or confusing statements on inflation, which also fuelled divided headlines.

When Biden falsely said inflation was at 9% when he took office, the Associated Press (Left bias) said he “cited an erroneous inflation statistic,” putting the burden of “error” on the statistic. The New York Post (Lean Right) bluntly said Biden “lied.”

Other top submissions for the most biased stories included subjects like the Olympic boxing controversy and the government’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which included an instance of a FEMA employee instructing other relief workers to skip pro-Trump houses.

Thank you for reading AllSides in 2024. Here’s to improving media literacy in 2025 and beyond!