How Media Divides Us

From a 2020 Pew Report, 60% of Republicans turn to Fox News for political news and 53% of Democrats turn to CNN. This means that a large portion of the country is being pushed two different versions of the world.

While this CNN vs. Fox News visualization is not exhaustive (it doesn’t capture radio/tv/podcasts) it shows that beyond how a story is covered, what is prioritized in the first place is equally important. Tune in to the discussion on Reddit here, which has reached the top of r/dataisbeautiful.

The following report is a quick way to read all of the mainstream news (left, center, & right, domestic & international) efficiently with a bias map - here’s the legend. The rankings and categorizations are entirely algorithmic - here’s how it works. We scrape all front-page stories and use AI to triangulate every side’s perspective.

Top 5 Topics of the Past Week

These topics are sorted by aggregated front-page attention across large mainstream media outlets across the left and right and have bubbled up to the very top.

Trump Organization Has Been Found Guilty Of Criminal Tax Fraud, And An Appeals Court Has Ruled Against Trump In Case Involving Documents Seized From Mar-a-Lago

Topic Ranking

Left #1
Right #6
International #6

Topic Maturity: 🐣 (In the news for 3.0 of the last 15 weeks)

Various Stories Related To Gun Violence, Including Police Shootings, Mass Shootings, And Gun Control Laws

Topic Ranking

Left #6
Right #2
International #16

Topic Maturity: 🥚 (In the news for 1.0 of the last 15 weeks)

🟦 Left Perspective

Focus on police accountability and consequences of police violence
Opposition to use of deadly robots (1) (2) (3)

🟥 Right Perspective

Support for gun rights and opposition to gun control
Emphasis on law enforcement and criminal justice (1) (2) (3) (4)

⬜️ Center Perspective

Focus on need for gun control and regulation
Highlighting consequences of violence (1) (2) (3)

Raphael Warnock Wins Georgia Runoff Against Herschel Walker, Increasing Democratic Control Of Senate

Topic Ranking

Left #2
Right #11
International #44

China Is Facing Protests From Its Citizens Due To Harsh Covid Lockdowns, And Government Is Cracking Down On These Protests

Topic Ranking

Left #4
Right #17
International #1

Topic Maturity: 🥚 (In the news for 1.0 of the last 15 weeks)

🟦 Left Perspective

Focus on need for China to address Covid-19 crisis and protests have arisen in response to it
Highlight human rights issues in China and need for international support (1) (2) (3)

🟥 Right Perspective

Emphasize need for US to take action against China for its perceived security threats
Highlight protests in China and need for Chinese government to act (1) (2) (3) (4)

⬜️ Center Perspective

Focus on changes in China's Covid-19 policies and impact on economy
Highlight nuances of situation in China and need for balanced approach (1) (2) (3)

Democratic Party Is Considering Making South Carolina First Primary State For 2024 Election, Which Would Shake Up Current Nominating Calendar

Topic Ranking

Left #9
Right #4
International #45

Topic Maturity: 🥚 (In the news for 1.0 of the last 15 weeks)

🟦 Left Perspective

Focusing on Biden's plans to elevate South Carolina as first primary state, as well as potential implications of his decision
Also discussing potential implications of Trump's plans to run in 2024 (1) (2) (3) (4)

🟥 Right Perspective

Criticizing Biden's plans and calling for fight against them
Also speculating about potential of Bolton running for president in 2024 (1) (2) (3) (4)

⬜️ Center Perspective

Discussing potential changes to 2024 presidential primaries
Also looking at implications of Biden's decision to make South Carolina first primary state (1) (2) (3) (4)

Right Ignore 🟥🙈

The left and center are putting serious attention on this topic and the right isn’t which suggests the right is attempting to minimize this topic.

Possible Abolishment Of Morality Police In Iran, In Light Of Recent Protests Against Government

Topic Ranking

Left #12
Right #55
International #5

Topic Maturity: 🥚 (In the news for 1.0 of the last 15 weeks)

Top Headlines

⬜🌍 BBC: Iran carries out first execution over protests

⬜🌍 Reuters: Iran protesters call for three-day strike from Monday

🟦🇺🇸 Washington Post: Iran conducts first known execution of prisoner arrested in anti-government protests, state media reports

EU And US Are Working Together To Set Price Cap On Russian Oil, In Order To Reduce Russia's Revenue

Topic Ranking

Left #33
Right #60
International #3

Topic Maturity: 🥚 (In the news for 2.0 of the last 15 weeks)

Top Headlines

Note: Headlines across the spectrum are similar. Here's one:

⬜🇺🇸 The Wall Street Journal: EU Asks Members to Set Russia Oil-Price Cap at $60

Right Obsess 🟥👁

The right is putting serious attention on this topic compared to the left and center, indicating that the right is magnifying this topic.

Elon Musk And Tim Cook Are At Odds Over Twitter's Censorship Policies

Topic Ranking

Left #25
Right #3
International #26

Topic Maturity: 🐔 (In the news for 13.0 of the last 15 weeks)

Top Headlines

🟥🇺🇸 Washington Times: Vulgarian Trump and barbarian Musk at the gate

🟥🇺🇸 The Blaze: According to Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company never considered yanking Twitter from the App Store

🟥🇺🇸 Fox News: Elon Musk’s Twitter faces new threat after free speech triumph

Hunter Biden Was Confronted About Laptop Story At White House Event, And Elon Musk Has Released Trove Of Emails Detailing Debate At Twitter Over Censorship Of Story

Topic Ranking

Left #60
Right #1
International #N/A

Topic Maturity: 🐣 (In the news for 7.0 of the last 15 weeks)

Top Headlines

🟥🇺🇸 Washington Times: Musk fires Twitter lawyer who blocked Hunter Biden laptop story

🟥🇺🇸 Fox News: Hunter Biden revelations in Twitter Files prompts media reckoning for insiders, critics

🟥🇺🇸 Washington Examiner: Hunter Biden confronted about laptop drama at White House event

Reaction Of European Leaders To President Biden's Proposed Tax And Climate Change Legislation, As Well As Reaction Of US Secretary Of State Pompeo To Same Legislation

Topic Ranking

Left #45
Right #12
International #49

Topic Maturity: 🥚 (In the news for 1.0 of the last 15 weeks)

Top Headlines

🟥🇺🇸 Washington Times: European blowback over Biden’s tax-and-climate law shakes up state visit by France’s Macron

🟥🇺🇸 Washington Examiner: Pompeo accuses Biden of threatening US security by prioritizing climate change

🟥🇺🇸 The Blaze: Democratic congressman-elect says people who 'disagree with scientists about science' are simply 'incorrect'

Domestic Ignore 🇺🇸🙈

International Media is putting serious attention on this topic and US-based outlets media aren’t which suggests domestic media is attempting to minimize this topic.

EU And US Are Working Together To Set Price Cap On Russian Oil, In Order To Reduce Russia's Revenue

Topic Ranking

Left #33
Right #60
International #3

Topic Maturity: 🥚 (In the news for 2.0 of the last 15 weeks)

Top Headlines

Note: Headlines across the spectrum are similar. Here's one:

⬜🇺🇸 The Wall Street Journal: EU Asks Members to Set Russia Oil-Price Cap at $60

Oil Prices Are Falling Due To Decreased Demand, And This May Have Negative Consequences For Oil Industry And Economy

Topic Ranking

Left #39
Right #58
International #4

Topic Maturity: 🐣 (In the news for 7.0 of the last 15 weeks)

Top Headlines

⬜🌍 Reuters: Explainer: What happened to the 2022 global oil rally?

🟦🇺🇸 Washington Post: U.S. gas prices fall toward $3 a gallon as demand drops worldwide

🟦🇺🇸 NBC News: Too late for a Saudi rethink? Critics say oil cut was a predictable blow for Biden

In Top Down News, we unify and compare a multitude of mainstream perspectives that capture the majority of America’s political readership to approximate the truth. This entire newsletter is composed using a transparent and ever-improving methodology. Read how this works here. Dive deeper into the analysis for this post here, powered by AI-based Natural Language Understanding and D3-based Dynamic visualizations.

Last Week From The Top Down