AMAC Exclusive – By Aaron Flanigan
Microsoft—one of the world’s most successful and widely-used tech companies—is risking its reputation with its news aggregator, MSN (short for Microsoft Network), in a way that could send it into a woke descent similar to corporations like Bud Light, Disney, and Target.
While news aggregators are supposed to focus on journalism rather than ideological activism, MSN seems to have assembled a news operation comprised of editors and AI software that practices the opposite of journalism, which is preventing readers from accessing the vast array of political, social, and cultural views embedded within American culture.
Although many media outlets have experienced significant levels of pushback in recent years over their blatant liberal bias, news aggregation platforms like Pocket, Yahoo! News and MSN have generally received less attention. But as more and more Americans rely on these curators as their primary sources of information, it is becoming increasingly clear that supposedly neutral aggregation sites—some of which use artificial intelligence to aggregate stories from across the web—are nothing more than another channel for Big Tech and media companies to impose their far-left values on the American people.
Microsoft’s MSN is increasingly falling into this category. MSN’s aggregation service is built into many Windows computers, as well as Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, and its web browser, Edge.
According to its website, MSN provides “personalized content that informs and inspires,” sorted by algorithms that “comb through hundreds of thousands of pieces of content.” The platform also relies on “human oversight” to “ensure that the content we show aligns with our values.” Boasting more than half a billion monthly readers, MSN strives to be “a critical part of our social fabric” that “gives people access to trustworthy content.”
The platform, however, has a notable tendency to promote transparently left-wing narratives that call its supposed trustworthiness into question.
After several weeks of monitoring, AMAC Newsline has noticed the MSN website promoting a Vox piece insisting America has a “gun problem,” an Atlantic essay claiming that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign could cause a “war” on blue-leaning states, and an article from The Hill suggesting that Donald Trump is “duping” voters by touting his increasing political support from African Americans.
MSN has also aggressively boosted the left-wing media’s new favorite narrative that a second Trump term would spiral America into a dictatorship. Within the span of just a few days, the platform has promoted a story from USA Today asserting Trump is “an unprecedented danger to democracy,” MSNBC coverage stating that Trump poses a “threat” of “authoritarian government,” a Washington Post analysis warning of “a looming Trump dictatorship,” a Mediaite article puffing up Mitt Romney’s claim that a second Trump term is a “dangerous course to go down,” and a State of the Union piece validating Liz Cheney’s statement that the Republican Party is on track for an “existential crisis” in 2024. The list goes on.
Meanwhile, the platform has also promoted content lamenting the “gender gap” in STEM fields, a piece plugging a “Latinx geologist” who is “disrupting stereotypes of who can be a scientist,” and a guide detailing COVID-19 masking and vaccine protocols.
Though MSN might claim that it has maintained some semblance of political balance (it sometimes curates content from platforms Fox News and Newsweek), its peddling of left-wing content and narratives far outweighs any credence it may give to right-of-center views—calling into question the platform’s commitment to providing “trustworthy content.”
Of course, MSN is far from the only online news curator known for pumping up left-wing content. Pocket, a news aggregator managed by Mozilla, which makes the popular Firefox web browser, boasts more than 10 million active users and circulates only the most culturally and politically charged left-wing hit pieces.
As this left-wing bias becomes more obvious, news aggregation sites like MSN may soon find themselves facing the same collapse in trust now befalling traditional media outlets such as CNN, as well as corporations that have toed the line of left-wing extremism.
This year, several American companies have already seen what can happen when they embrace the creeds of wokeism with the expectation that consumers won’t notice. Bud Light, Target, Disney, and several other major companies have all suffered massive blows to their public image and revenue after they openly promoted far-left social politics.
Though many liberal corporate actors often go out of their way to ignore it, the fact remains that Americans are paying attention—and when their values are under assault, they will fight back and ensure that woke companies pay the price.
If Microsoft wants to avoid such backlash, perhaps it should think about something truly revolutionary: hiring conservative editors and other staff who might have a different view of the world and would present a far broader scope of content to MSN users—especially by promoting articles from hard-hitting and respected conservative publications like The Federalist, The Daily Caller, The Daily Wire, Washington Examiner, or Breitbart.
But that would mean making at least a few of MSN’s current parochially minded editors uncomfortable with their own narrow mindset and impoverished understanding of what journalism is all about in the first place.
Aaron Flanigan is the pen name of a writer in Washington, D.C.
Gee hate to break it to you but saying Microsoft has a “left-wing slant” is about as breaking news as discovering many major universities “censor free speech” and actually encourage hate!
Did you expect anything less from Gates? Leftists use familiar words but they mean the opposite to them.
Mr. Flanigan, your last paragraph says it all. Excellent read, thank you.
Love AMAC but this article, though correct, is a day late and a dollar short. I gave up on MSN 5 years ago. They are impossibly left leaning. What’s needed is a quality, more even-handed platform that offers the competition to MSN. Maybe it’s out there but I haven’t found it.
This is Microsoft’s choice it will be 100% Microsoft’s consequences.
If Microsoft ends up like Bud Lite or Disney so be it. WE THE PEOPLE vote with our pocketbook (or should anyway).
Not being super tech savvy, would like to know alternatives to Microsoft. Have long known their values are not in line with mine.
Haven’t these companies learned anything from the Disney and Bud Light debacles? Apparently not and if that’s the case, Microsoft would deserve the same fate as Disney, Bud Light and any other company stupid enough to go woke.
MSN aggressively censors posts. MSN is an enthusiastic volunteer in the government’s efforts to control thought and expression, making it a dangerous enemy of freedom, liberty, and the American way of life.
Can’t expect much else from MSN. I stopped reading them years ago. Leftists gonna lean further left with each passing day/week/month/year.
Well, better to be late to the party than never arriving at all. This is Not News or anything new – Fake News is as Fake News does.
My reason for switching to Apple
I check MSN to see what the left is pushing. I check news.google.com and it gives me left propaganda and then it insults my intelligence by telling me it found articles based on my interests. But I’m not interested in fake news so I go to the alternative news sites.
I have read some of the articles on MSN a lot of the stuff is very far fetched, they have a comment section on most of their article I like to call them out on them they also make up a lot of false news and wonte let you comment on it , or they will block your comments stating ot wasn’t appropriate do to the nature of the content in wich case they are becomes just like face book with their fact checkers . I don’t go on it any more do to their woke junk , and holding back on freedom of speech.
Too late…..
Microsoft has been woke for years. they just hide it better.
90 percent of the world population despises everything about Microsoft and that will not change, they have earned it with their woke BS.
Micro”soft” on Democrats (Marxists, supporters of institutionalized infanticide, open borders, high taxes). Brutal to conservatives. Another cesspool of liberalism that basically trumpets: Democrats good, morally and intellectually superior; conservatives bad. It is really that simple.
You do know that the MS in MSNBC stands for Microsoft don’t you? MSN has had a significant left leaning slant since day one.
Political correctness is intellectual poison. Woke is cultural suicide. Diversity, inclusion, and equity (DIE) is corporate-, academia-, and state-sanctioned discrimination.
Yahoo! News is the worst.
Not only is the MSN leftist, but its comment section is totally woke and will censor any comments that don’t fit the woke narrative, e.g., if you say that there are only 2 genders, or that illegal migrants are an increasing problem for our nation, you will get notified that your comments don’t meet their “community standards.” The site is totally biased.
I’ve been looking for a reason to make the move to Linux.
The American Voter is waking up now and paying attention. Be very careful MSN.
tell us something we don’t know
Excellent article.
Serves Microsoft right since they promoted Communism. FACT.
Go WOKE. Go BROKE.
The more alarming part is the limiting of commenting by readers on articles falsely praising Harris in an attempt to quell dissent. Yet they allow comments on all Trump articles to give the impression most are against trump and no one is against Harris
It is frustrating to view most MSN online articles every time you log on to the internet. Some of the information posted can influence impressionable minds, creating biased thinking, as some believe the information on the internet is the gospel. Is this a left—or right-wing agenda? It gives you something to think about.
Given that the esteemed author uses a pen name, he’s probably in a position to intimately understand and bemoan Microsoft’s imbalance.
If M$ goes down the drain maybe the world will get a computer operating system whose first troubleshooting step is something other than ‘reboot’.
I wasn’t aware anyone used these useless news aggregate apps. They have never filtered out the Hollywood crap I am never interested in. And the last thing I care about what is considered “trending” stories. The number of people clicking a link has nothing to do with whether it is a noteworthy news story.
Good article
Simply remove MSN from your computer’s programming. Change it in settings.
Microsoft, today, is as irrelevant as General Motors when discussing political thinking. Microsoft is now the equivalant of cereal (Kellogg), home products ( Proctor-Gamble), and cars (Ford). Plain stuff. Political thinking, sadly, is now the domain of new tech stocks like Google, X, and Tesla. This needs to be understood as we should not be influenced by any company. Sadly, we are.
Merge with other brand
To Ft. Wurth…get a life u turd!
About time!
The old adage no tree grows up yo heaven comes to mind