Last Week In The News
Sep 1 - Sep 8; Trump tops the headlines; School Scores Plummet; Biden's speech fires up the divide; Water and Heat crises continue;
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.
Divided
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.
What if we walk across the divide and look at the news on both sides?
Beyond the classified records found in Trump’s home and the Artemis Nasa Launch, Fox and CNN differ quite a bit on what they report on. CNN is distinctly focused on Water Crisis in Jackson Mississippi, Poll Workers, Trump's pardons of Jan 6 Rioters, and Abortion Issues in various states. Fox is distinctly focused on the Republican’s request to the Treasury for Hunter Biden’s reports, Immigration, and the abducted jogger in Memphis.
Unified
These are the top topics over the last week aggregated by attention (based on front-page ranking) from various mainstream media outlets.
Topic Deep Dive
For the top topics, let’s see how all mainstream media is reporting on them:
Classified Records Trump Florida Home
Gist: The headlines discuss the classified documents (more than 11,000 records) and potentially missing documents (48 empty folders) that were found at Trump's Florida home. The consequences of finding these classified documents are not yet known. Trump has been critical of the FBI's handling of the situation. Trump has been critical in the past of opponents mishandling classified information, such as Hillary Clinton.
Top Recent Headlines from Left
(cnn) For years, Trump called for jail time for people he claimed mishandled classified information
Top Recent Headlines from Right
(foxnews) Liberal paper ridicules Melania's sex life after FBI raided her ‘panties'
(washingtonexaminer) Half of US wants Trump prosecuted over classified docs
Top Recent Headlines from Center
(wsj) Trump Criticizes FBI Search at Pennsylvania Midterm Election Rally
(reuters) FBI found more than 11,000 government records at Trump's Florida home
Schools Education Scores
Gist: The gist of this topic is that schools are returning after the pandemic and facing severe learning losses.
Top Recent Headlines from Left
(cnn) Royal children George, Charlotte and Louis arrive for first day at new school
(nytimes) The Pandemic Erased Two Decades of Progress in Math and Reading
Top Recent Headlines from Right
(foxnews) American students' test scores plummeted during school shutdowns
(washingtonexaminer) Critics of the pandemic school closures have been vindicated
Top Recent Headlines from Center
(wsj) Schools Are Back and Confronting Severe Learning Losses
(reuters) Uvalde parents filled with angst, anger as kids return to school
Water Crisis
Gist: There are is a fresh water crisis in the US across several cities and key water sources such as the Colorado River. The headlines from left-leaning sources focus on the immediate crisis facing Jackson, Mississippi, and Las Vegas, New Mexico, which is facing a water shortage due to old and failing infrastructure combined with climate change. The headlines from right-leaning sources focus on the Mississippi public schools going virtual due to the water crisis. The headlines from center-leaning sources provide an overview of the water crisis in the American West, specifically in Utah.
Top Recent Headlines from Left
(cnn) This city has around 20 days of fresh water left. Officials race to find another source
(nytimes) There’s a Way to Avert the Worst Changes Ravaging the Colorado River
Top Recent Headlines from Right
(washingtonexaminer) Here's why Mississippi's capital lacked running water for a week
Top Recent Headlines from Center
(wsj) Utah’s Great Salt Lake Is Disappearing, With Mounting Economic Costs
(reuters) Mississippi city says water pressure restored for now but setbacks possible
Ukraine Russia
Gist: The Ukrainian government is currently carrying out a counteroffensive against the Russian Military in the southern region of Kherson. Officials are optimistic about the progress of the offensive, but some analysts believe that Russia has more troops in the region than previously thought. Ukraine could face an energy blackouts in the coming months due to a recently crippled nuclear power plant.
Top Recent Headlines from Left
(cnn) Ukrainian officials upbeat on progress of Kherson counteroffensive
(nbcnews) Ukraine's much-heralded counteroffensive could work. The defeatists won't admit it.
(nytimes) Fighting Intensifies in South Ukraine as Russia Bolsters Forces
Top Recent Headlines from Right
(foxnews) American artist paints symbols of hope as Ukraine war rages on
(washingtontimes) Morale and discipline problems with Russian troops in Ukraine, analysts say
(washingtonexaminer) Putin: Russia has 'lost nothing' in Ukraine
Top Recent Headlines from Center
(wsj) Ukraine Faces Energy Blackouts as Its Forces Press On in South, East
(reuters) Russia warns Moldova not to threaten its troops in breakaway region
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.