Millions of Americans were impacted when it was announced that SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits would stop on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown. Federal judges have since ruled that the government must use emergency funds for the program. Our analysts rated media coverage in our Topic of the Week.

Reporting from CBS News and ABC Denver 7 KMGH provided the most fact-based and minimally biased coverage from our content set. The CBS article explains the effects of the delayed SNAP benefits to families, food banks and to local businesses such as grocers. KMGH focuses its reporting on how the SNAP suspension affects a local family and food pantry. Both articles were found to be a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “balanced” bias.

An article from Salon was found to be “opinion” with a “hyper-partisan left” bias. The article’s bias is evident in the headline: “MAGA salivates at the chance to cut off food stamps.” The subhead accuses “the right” of spreading “tired, racist tropes about recipients” (“welfare queens, couch potatoes”) to “stoke division and shore up continued support for the shutdown from the MAGA base.” The article concludes that for the GOP, “starving the hungry might not simply be an unfortunate byproduct of required austerity. It could very well be its true purpose.”

Scoring slightly lower was a video from The Joy Report YouTube channel. The video’s headline gives an overview of the topic: “Poor White Americans FURIOUS To Learn SNAP Was NEVER Just For Black People!” The video shows various social media clips of people pointing out that most SNAP beneficiaries are white and claiming that some Trump voters are surprised to learn that not just black people will lose benefits, but they will, too. The host, Gladys Liyala, shares USDA statistics about SNAP and says that for years, politicians have “radicalized” the program by making “welfare sound like something only minorities used” but in fact, most recipients are white and living in red states. Analysts noted the mocking headline and use of stereotypes when rating the video as “selective or incomplete/unfair persuasion” with a “hyper-partisan left” bias.

Looking at media coverage on the right, analysts rated an article published by RedState and a video from the MattMorseTV YouTube channel. The article clearly blames Democrats for the government shutdown, and thus, the lapse in SNAP benefits (“Democrats continue to put politics over people,” the headline says). The article repeats Republican talking points about the “Schumer shutdown” and proclaims, “… Senate Republicans have voted 14 times to fund SNAP, while Senate Democrats have declined to do so 14 times.” Analysts found the writing to be “selective or incomplete/unfair persuasion” with a “hyper-partisan right” bias.

The video also blames the government shutdown on the left, stating that it’s “entirely manufactured by Chuck Schumer and the Democrats,” but it goes further. The host, Matt Morse, says that most SNAP recipients aren’t Americans at all and that whites receive only 8% of SNAP benefits (USDA and Department of Agriculture data refutes both of these claims). He accuses the Democrats of “trying to lie about the entire situation” while they “import immigrants from the Third World” while “handing out benefits left and right to illegal aliens.” Morse further states that “the Democrat’s number one policy point really is not just replacing all of us actual Americans, but also making all of us pay for the entire process.” Analysts noted several inaccuracies related to immigration and SNAP benefits and the inclusion of conspiracy theories. The video was rated as containing “inaccurate/fabricated info” with a “hyper-partisan right” bias.

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