Last Week in the News
Sep 16-23; Divided on Migrants to Sanctuary Cities, the Border "Crisis", Fed Rate Hike, China; United on the Queen's Funeral and Putin
In Top Down News, we unify, compare, and distill many mainstream perspectives that capture most of America’s political readership to approximate the truth. Dive deeper into the analysis for this post here, powered by AI-based Natural Language Understanding and D3-based Dynamic visualizations. There is a corresponding post on Reddit each week which garners thousands of views and hundreds of comments. Join the discussion!
What if we walk across the divide and look at the news on both sides?
From a 2020 Pew Report, 60% of Republicans turn to Fox News for political news and 53% of Democrats turn to CNN. By comparing what CNN and Fox is focused on, we can get a current top-down view of the partisan divide in the US over the past week.
Putin Nuclear War Ukraine
TLDR: The Russia-Ukraine war is escalating further after a successful counter-offensive by Ukraine. There are several things happening: Ukraine is liberating areas of Luhansk, Russia is targeting civilian infrastructure, Russians and Pro-kremlin Russians are retreating and regrouping. Putin is issuing nuclear threats and more reserve troops. Concern is united across the spectrum. The left puts this news front and center of their front page while right-leaning media makes more use of sensationalism in their headlines however it is further down their editorial totem-pole.
Top Recent Headlines from Left
(cnn) Putin orders more troops in escalation of Ukraine war
(nbcnews) Here's how seriously the West should take Putin's latest nuclear threats
(nytimes) Putin Calls Up More Troops as His War Effort Falters
(washingtonpost) Putin calls up reservists amid losses and backs annexation plans
Top Recent Headlines from Right
(foxnews) Putin issues chilling warning to Western countries about his threat to resort to nuclear weapons
(washingtontimes) Putin finds few defenders as Biden, Western leaders slam ‘outrageous’ escalation
(washingtonexaminer) Putin threatens nukes, calls up 300,000 reservists in sign of desperation
Top Recent Headlines from Center
(wsj) Putin Dials Up Nuclear Threat, Orders Draft of Reservists to Ukraine
(reuters) Exclusive: NATO chief calls Putin's nuclear threat a 'dangerous' escalation
Migrants Sanctuary Cities
TLDR: DeSantis takes credit for sending Venezualan migrants on a plane to Martha's Vineyard. He may be facing legal action from multiple parties. The left is portraying DeSantis negatively while the right is portraying DeSantis as powerful and dynamic. The left and right are reporting different subsets of people in Martha's Vineyard who are left either feeling 'enriched' or 'not happy'.
Top Recent Headlines from Left
(cnn) Martha's Vineyard residents react to migrants' visit
(nbcnews) Migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard sue DeSantis in class action alleging fraud
(nytimes) Migrants Flown to Martha’s Vineyard Say They Were Misled
Top Recent Headlines from Right
Top Recent Headlines from Center
(wsj) Migrants Flown by Florida to Martha’s Vineyard Move to Cape Cod
(reuters) DeSantis defends Martha's Vineyard migrant flights, suggests more to come
Let’s discuss: If DeSantis is making a political statement about the immigration by sending planes full of migrants over to Martha’s Vineyard, what would be the equivalent statement on the left?
Trump Mar Lago DOJ
TLDR: DOJ gets to keep Trump’s classified documents for review, rather than let them be handled by the special master, who is considered a more independent lawyer. There is united coverage here across the spectrum, with the least emphasis from the center.
Top Recent Headlines from Left
(cnn) DOJ can resume criminal probe of Mar-a-Lago documents
(nbcnews) Federal judge appoints special master to review documents seized at Mar-a-Lago
(nytimes) Court Restores Justice Dept. Access to Mar-a-Lago Files
(washingtonpost) Special master named to examine documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property
Top Recent Headlines from Right
(foxnews) DOJ makes appeal over special master review of docs seized from Trump
(washingtonexaminer) DOJ can continue investigation using classified Mar-a-Lago docs, court rules
Top Recent Headlines from Center
(wsj) Special Master Named to Review All Records Seized at Trump’s Home
(reuters) Special master examining Trump documents to hold first hearing on Tuesday
Fed’s Rate Hike
TDLR: Fed raises the overnight bank lending rate. The Right places significantly less front-page attention on it compared to the center and left and adds bias by spin with 'pain' and 'historic'
Front Page Headlines for CNN
Front Page Headlines for Fox News
Fed likely to deliver more economic 'pain' with historic rate hike
Front Page Headlines for Reuters
Fed delivers another big rate hike; Powell vows to 'keep at it'
Central banks raise rates again as Fed drives global inflation fight
Let’s Discuss: How does the Fed’s Rate Hike and Putin’s nuclear warnings, happening in the same week, affect our day-to-day prices and spending?
Border “Crisis”
TDLR: Border arrests are higher in 2022 than the past several years. The Right labels it as a crisis and places significant front-page coverage on the politics over it. The center places much less front-page attention on it but describes the countries that are driving up border arrests.
Top Recent Headlines from Left
Top Recent Headlines from Right
(foxnews) Dem lawmaker from Texas debunks Harris’ border claim — and he has devastating data to prove it
(foxnews) Biden lashes out at Republicans for their move to hold Democrats accountable for border crisis
(washingtonexaminer) Wives of Border Patrol agents are fed up with Biden, running for Congress
Top Recent Headlines from Center
(wsj) Migrants From Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua Drive Border Arrests
(reuters) Giant refugee puppet joins 'huddled masses' in New York
Let’s discuss: How would we know if we have a border crisis? What constitutes a crisis and who or what institution would be the best to decide so? Would the country trust it? Join the discussion on Reddit here. Read Matthew Yglesias’s fascinating piece on bipartisan immigration consensus
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.