Alleged widespread fraud in Minnesota has made mainstream headlines since early December, with outlets across the political spectrum providing uniquely slanted analyses and reporting.
Much of the mainstream coverage was laden with spin, word choice bias, and sensationalism. Some sources decided to focus on the fraud scandals and the people involved, while others emphasized President Trump’s rhetoric on the matter.
Generally speaking, coverage differed in framing who was to blame, the seriousness of the fraud, and in identifying the ‘true’ victims of it. Outlets in the last two months have covered two main stories related to fraud:
Feeding Our Futures
- Since 2022, prosecutors have found significant evidence that funds were stolen from a COVID-19 relief program called “Feeding Our Futures.” So far, the investigation has led to 78 indictments and 57 convictions, according to FBI director Kash Patel.
Alleged Healthcare Fraud
- Most recently, YouTuber Nick Shirley has alleged there is widespread child and healthcare fraud in the state. In a viral video investigation, Shirley alleged that fraudulent daycares, autism centers, and medicare businesses are receiving taxpayer funds, but not providing the services they claim to. Some mainstream media outlets and Democratic politicians have disputed Shirley’s findings, and federal investigators have now begun investigating these claims.
AllSides has distinguished between the two stories in our analysis to examine how news outlets report on the Minnesotan fraud cases, and how much bias was shown in their coverage.
How Left & Lean Left Outlets Covered the Fraud
Coverage from the left differed particularly in whether their criticisms implicated Somalis – often downplaying claims of fraud or attempting to distance Somalis from the fraud schemes. Some reports scrutinized President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on Somalis as “xenophobic” or discriminatory.
- Key Takeaways:
- Left and Lean Left outlets framed Somali participation in the alleged fraud more softly.
- These outlets tended to highlight comments by the accusers of fraud, such as Donald Trump or David Hoch, on Somalis as inflammatory, discriminatory, and divisive.
- They also implied that these scandals do not speak for the Somali population at large.
Feeding Our Futures
PBS NewsHour (Lean Left) published on Dec. 5, “Fraud scandals and Trump’s rhetoric escalate fears in Minnesota’s Somali community.” The article included less detail on the scandals themselves and framed Trump as “escalating” tensions and discrimination against the Somali diaspora.
CNN (Lean Left) wrote the sensational headline, “Scorned by the president, Somalis in Minnesota are embraced by the state that took them in.” CNN also dismissed the scandal as “a report in a journal published by a conservative think tank.” Nonetheless, the story was widely covered by mainstream media across the spectrum at the time, and other outlets from the Left, such as the following CBS article, did not frame it as such.
CBS News (Lean Left) published more balanced coverage than many of its fellow Lean Left outlets. A Dec. 8 article titled, “Minnesota officials saw signs of massive fraud even before COVID hit” thoroughly logged the longevity of this fraud and the role of Minnesota’s state government. The aforementioned coverage was published alongside a more polemic report by CBS with the headline, “Luxury cars and private villas: See how Minnesota fraudsters spent millions intended for hungry kids.” The sensational inclusion of “hungry kids” emphasized who the victims of the fraud are, according to CBS. Moreover, CBS wrote that Trump’s claim Somalis “contribute nothing” was an “attack” on the Somali community. Despite word choice bias in headlines, both writings included balanced perspectives, giving coverage to the fraud report while raising concerns about Trump’s rhetoric.
Alleged Healthcare Fraud
The Intercept (Left) published the headline "Unnamed Source in Viral Minnesota Somali Fraud Video is Right-Wing Lobbyist Who Called Muslims ‘Demons’”, seeking to paint Shirley’s critical source, David Hoch, as a bigot. The article showed viewpoint placement bias in how it framedHoch. The article quotes Hoch as having allegedly said, “EVERY Somali in MN is engaged in fraud. ALL of them,” while sensational subheadings include the term “Far-Right Frenzy,” to describe the right’s reaction to Shirley’s reporting.
CNN (Lean Left) published a report titled “Federal payment freeze puts some Minnesota families in danger of losing child care amid investigation into alleged fraud,” showing negativity bias in how it emphasized the implications of state’s measures to address fraud rather than engaging with why the state initiated these measures. CNN cited a quote from a manager from the Quality Learning Center, who said, “There’s no fraud going on whatsoever.” This has been one of the most highly scrutinized child-care facilities featured in Shirley’s viral video, as its official sign misspelled “learning” and read “Quality Learing Center.” CNN makes no note of this criticism in the article, and does not scrutinize the manager’s claim, but published a full piece the following day about the Quality Learning Center, revealing 121 violations by the facility and several near-closures due to failed inspections – which is omitted in the first piece.
How Center Outlets Covered the Fraud
Center outlets often remained neutral, but occasionally used sensational language in headlines or subheadings. Their coverage frequently included balanced perspectives on the developing healthcare fraud story.
- Key Takeaways:
- These outlets often scrutinized Somalis as participants in the scandals and highlighted ways the government was defrauded and the luxury items the money was spent on.
- They utilized direct quotes from both left and right sources to maintain impartiality.
- Sensational language was used periodically throughout most Center articles analyzed by AllSides.
Feeding Our Futures
A Wall Street Journal (Center) headline, “A Sprawling Fraud Scandal Puts Minnesota’s Somali Community in the Spotlight,” sensationally described the fraud as “sprawling.” This article provided balanced coverage not only of concerns over Trump’s controversial remarks about Somalis, but also in-depth descriptions of how the fraudsters allegedly misused and spent taxpayer funds.
Fox 9 KSMP (Center) ran the headline, “Fraud in Minnesota: Detailing the nearly $1 billion in schemes.” The authors draw from both left and right media coverage to piece together the timeline of events and who is to blame, but abstained from using overtly biased language when mentioning the involved parties. Fox 9 offered direct quotes from Minnesotan officials and shared quotes from both Republicans and Democrats.
Alleged Healthcare Fraud
NewsNation (Center) spun the headline “Feds launch massive taxpayer fraud probe in Minnesota after viral video,” which emphasized the “massive” nature of the Federal response to the alleged fraud. NewsNation avoided the use of sensational language when discussing the investigations, but used subheadings such as “Viral video shows empty day care facilities that received $110M,” a claim that currently remains mostly unsubstantiated as the fraud is, as of now, without proof and persists to be alleged and speculative.
Newsweek (Center) published the story, “Minnesota Daycare Seen Packed With Kids After ‘Fraud’ Video Goes Viral,” which slanted its headline by focusing the story around how claims of empty daycares are inaccurate, citing selective footage that it didn’t link to in the article. On the other hand, the photo of Tim Walz portrayed in the article is an example of photo bias, as Walz appears to shrug his shoulders nervously with his mouth open, conveying a sense of weakness and incapacity to confront the alleged fraud.
How Right & Lean Right Outlets Covered the Fraud
Right and Lean Right outlets covered the fraud more critically, often prioritizing focus on implicating Somalis and the failures of the Walz administration, rather than on Trump’s controversial statements about Somalis or the attempts to combat fraud by Minnesotan officials.
- Key Takeaways:
- Right and Lean Right outlets often focused primarily on Somali involvement and Walz’s failures, omitting coverage of Trump’s comments or the state government’s attempts to combat fraud.
- These outlets emphasized the scale of the fraud, often with sensational descriptors.
- They also highlighted the greater immigration debate and framed the Somalis as being the clear perpetrators of the alleged fraud.
Feeding Our Futures
Fox News (Right) published the headline, “A timeline of the ‘largest COVID-19 fraud scheme' in the United States,” with the subheadline reading, “Former Acting US Attorney Joseph Thompson described the scams as ‘schemes stacked upon schemes’ that drained tens of millions from Medicaid.” Thompson’s claim of “schemes stacked upon schemes” sensationally describes the amount of fraud that took place.
The Washington Examiner (Lean Right) ran the story “How Minnesota’s Somali fraud industrial complex has stolen millions from Medicaid,” which exhibited ad-hominem or mudslinging bias and subjective qualifier bias, as the headline implicated all Somalis as part of an “industrial” fraud complex – an adjective phrase often used to describe substantial enterprises that are deliberately nefarious and calculated. The article generalized Somalis under a “culture” of fraudulent behavior and of “funneling funds.” While evidence suggests the majority of those involved in fraud in Minnesota have been of Somali or east-African origin, the headline suggests the fraud schemes are purely Somali-driven.
Alleged Healthcare Fraud
The Daily Mail (Lean Right) published the headline “Daycare accused of multimillion-dollar fraud shifts blame for 'revealing' mistake above its front door... as kids are suddenly 'trucked in,’ which slanted the story by focusing on an alleged cover-up by the Quality Learning Center. The article used word choice bias by alleging the kids were “trucked in” instead of having arrived organically. Furthermore, the article explained that a spokesperson for the daycare “attempted to shift blame for the incorrect 'learing' sign,” suggesting that the staff were aware of their guilt and implication in the fraud.
Fox News (Right) spun a story titled “Feds launch 'massive operation' in Minnesota amid fraud scandal,” which used vague language emphasizing the size and scope of recent federal investigations into fraud. Fox labeled this story under the tag “ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS,” which uses story placement and word choice bias to frame the fraud as an immigration issue rather than a problem with organized crime or governmental safeguards.
The Washington Examiner (Lean Right) published a piece with the headline, “These are the Walz appointees who failed to stop rampant Minnesota fraud,” slanting the story to scrutinize the Walz administration for its failures to combat fraud. This was coupled with bias by omission, as the story omitted previous efforts from the Minnesotan government to combat fraud, including strengthening oversight and hiring outside auditors to investigate high-risk programs – as Walz’s press office told CNN.
Final Notes
Various types of media bias were evident in the coverage examined above, demonstrating a split in how media across the spectrum covered the story.
In general, outlets from the left more ambiguously framed who may be to blame for the alleged fraud and who the victims are, but elevated President Trump’s inflammatory remarks regarding Somalis in Minnesota. Center outlets were generally visibly critical of all implicated parties and occasionally utilized biased verbiage. Outlets from the right clearly implicated Somalis and Minnesotan officials as implicit in fraud and highlighted concerns of unauthorized immigration and assimilation.
Keeping an eye out for media bias is critical for maintaining balance and nuanced perspectives on important social and political issues. When gone unnoticed, bias can often alienate and radicalize readers, harm relationships, and weaken critical thinking.
Gabriel James is a content intern for AllSides. He has a Center bias.
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