Last Week In The News
Sep 29-Oct-6; United on Hurricane Ian (again), Putin Annexation of Ukraine; Divided on Biden "Gaffe", Kamala Equity Based Hurricane Relief, Ukraine Gains, Opec
Our country is divided and the media is polarized. In Top Down News, we unify, compare, and distill many mainstream perspectives that capture most of America’s political readership to approximate the truth.
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.
This week in particular shows a divide in the set of topics and stories each outlet is covering. Let’s anchor this to a media outlet that’s considered center (political bias determined by Allsides Media Bias Chart).
CNN vs Fox vs WSJ
Beyond the more obvious differences of The Wall Street Journal covering financial news more than other topics, certain topics are seemingly only covered by Fox News: “Biden Gaffe White House”, “Harris Equity-Based Hurricane Relief”. Other topics such as “Ukraine Gains” or the “Shootings Crime Cops” are supported by WSJ’s coverage. Both sources place little attention on “Inflation Fed Strong Dollar”. We’ll go into all of these topics further in the topic deep dive.
There is a corresponding post on Reddit each week which garners thousands of views and hundreds of comments. Join the discussion!
There is a corresponding analysis on Observable where you see the data and drill down into any topic
Stitching together Mainstream Media
Here are the top trending topics from mainstream media over the past week aggregated by front-page coverage. Is this aligned with your news diet?
We can break down these same topics by media bias, where media bias is categorized by the AllSides Media Bias Chart.
This draws a map of America’s partisan divide, on what each side is concerned about and can also tell you what you might be missing.
Topic Reveal
In Top Down News, we look deeply into topics with the following criteria:
Skewed coverage from one side (e.g. Biden Gaffe)
Differing media bias from multiple sides (e.g. Pandemic)
We will not drill down into topics with the following criteria:
United Front-page Attention and Low Subjectivity (e.g. Hurricane Ian)
Not enough attention from any side across an entire week (e.g. Soccer Stampede in Indonesia)
Biden Gaffe White House
TLDR Biden‘s “Where’s Jackie?” Gaffe. The headlines for CNN and Fox News are quite different, with CNN's headline being more analytical and focused on the political implications of Biden's gaffe, while Fox News' headline is more focused on the gaffe itself and the reaction to it. Fox places significantly more front-page attention on it than CNN. Reuters does not cover it.
Front Page Headlines for CNN
Front Page Headlines for Fox News
White House’s spin of Biden’s ‘Where’s Jackie’ gaffe raises media eyebrows
Ukraine Gains
TLDR The headlines for CNN focus on the Ukrainian army's recent successes in retaking the city of Lyman from Russian forces, while the headlines for the Wall Street Journal focus on the economic implications of the Ukrainian army's successes. Fox is not placing front-page attention on this topic.
Front Page Headlines for CNN
What a CNN team saw during visit to key city after Ukraine regained control
Front Page Headlines for Wall Street Journal
Ukraine Gains Full Control of Lyman, Days After Putin Claimed Russia Rules There
Discussion: Why does the Right not care about this as much?
Harris Equity-Based Hurricane Relief
TLDR Fox is placing front-page criticism on Kamala Harris after suggesting that hurricane relief should be distributed based on race. Harris dodged a question about whether or not she would support dispersing Ian relief based on 'equity.' CNN and Reuters are not placing front-page attention on this topic.
Front Page Headlines for Fox News
SEE IT: Kamala Harris confronted after suggesting race-based hurricane relief distribution
SEE IT: Harris dodges question about dispersing Ian relief based on 'equity'
Shootings Crime Cops
TLDR Authorities are searching for a shooter after six people were shot near a school campus in Oakland, California. The killings all happened in dark areas where surveillance cameras were scant, and police are still working to determine a motive. In other news, a cop who was killed in California was investigating a fellow officer for gang rape, and authorities believe a suspected serial killer may have underestimated his death toll. Fox is covering the various shootings with higher coverage than Fox or CNN.
Front Page Headlines for CNN
Authorities search for shooter after 6 shot near a school campus in Oakland, California
Front Page Headlines for Fox News
Cop killed was investigating fellow officer for gang rape, lawyer says
Suspect sought after deadly shooting at high school football game
Cops may have underestimated suspected serial killer's death toll
Front Page Headlines for Wall Street Journal
Opec Oil Production Cut
TLDR The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a group of oil-producing countries that have come together to agree on how much oil each country will produce. This week, OPEC is meeting to discuss production cuts, which would reduce the amount of oil available on the market and likely drive up prices. The United States is not a member of OPEC, but is concerned about the potential impacts of the production cuts. The White House has urged OPEC not to go through with the cuts, calling them a 'total disaster' for the oil industry. All sides are covering it but Fox and CNN headlines exhibit both Bias by Sensationalism and Slant.
Front Page Headlines for CNN
OPEC is expected to significantly cut oil production. White House makes a last-ditch effort to avoid a 'total disaster'
Inside the White House's failed attempt to stop OPEC from creating a 'total disaster'
Front Page Headlines for Fox News
White House calls out OPEC for 'shortsighted decision' to reduce oil production
Oil producers reportedly considering reducing output at meeting this week
US oil industry mocks Biden after OPEC+ announces production cuts
Front Page Headlines for Wall Street Journal
OPEC+ Decision to Cut Oil Output Prompts U.S. to Weigh Options
OPEC+ Agrees to Biggest Oil Cut Since Start of Pandemic
OPEC+ Girds for Contentious Meeting Over Oil-Production Cuts
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.