AllSides News Briefing: March 1, 2023

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Hello! I’m AllSides Managing Editor Henry A. Brechter. It’s Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Here’s your AllSides balanced briefing for today.

TOP STORIES FOR MARCH 1

See news from left, center, and right-rated sources with our balanced Headline Roundups on these stories:

• Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan during initial arguments on Tuesday.

• Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot lost reelection on Tuesday night, becoming the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to fail a reelection bid. Two of her challengers are headed to a runoff.

• A new Cleveland Clinic study suggested a possible link between erythritol, a popular zero-calorie sweetener, and increased susceptibility to blood clot formation. 

GOOGLE BIAS

New year, same bias issues for Big Tech companies.

The 2022 AllSides Google News Bias Analysis found 61% of media outlets presented on Google News’ homepage over a 5-day period were from sources AllSides rates as Left or Lean Left. Meanwhile, just 3% were from outlets we rate as Right or Lean Right.

The search term “election” returned no results from Center-, Lean Right- or Right-rated media outlets in the days leading up to the 2022 midterm elections. Twenty-eight percent of articles presented by Google News for "elections" were from CNN (Left), and 16% of articles were from The New York Times (Lean Left).

This confirms our prior research: Google News consistently shows bias in favor of left-rated news sources.

Read more on our blog.

DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES

Should certain foreign citizens be banned from buying land in the U.S.?

Amid tensions with China, the concept has come to the Texas legislature. One Fox News (Right bias) writer said "state legislatures must pass legislation to develop necessary safeguards against foreign acquisition of strategic farmland." An opposed Washington Post (Lean Left bias) writer criticized the plan's supporters for purportedly "cloaking their hostility to Asian immigrants in the language of security."

See more perspectives with our balanced Headline Roundup.

2024 PREVIEW?

While President Joe Biden visited Ukraine last week in a show of support amid Russia's invasion, former President Donald Trump was making the rounds in East Palestine, Ohio, the site of a recent toxic train derailment.

According to one political commentator, "Both men used political visits to show off their positive characteristics to prospective voters."

Read more on our blog.

BY THE NUMBERS

Here are interesting poll numbers and data points from across the political spectrum.

• President Joe Biden’s job approval rating stood at 42% as of Tuesday. (Gallup, Center bias)

• The Conference Board's latest Consumer Confidence Index declined to 102.9 for February, down from 106.0 in January (Fox Business, Lean Right bias)

• Twenty-three dead whales have washed ashore along the East Coast since early December, a pace "worrisome to federal scientists." (New York Times, Lean Left bias)

TODAY'S WEATHER

See today’s weather radar and temperature maps for your area from the NOAA.

GOOD NEWS

Musician Dave Grohl and others held a 24-hour barbecue at a homeless shelter in Los Angeles.

Have comments on this briefing? Email us!

Henry A. Brechter is the Managing Editor of AllSides. He has a Center bias.

This briefing was reviewed by Politics Editor Beth Hicks (Right bias) and News Editor Joseph Ratliff (Lean Left bias).