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Appeals court narrows order for LinkedIn to disclose journalists’ records in leak probe

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Covered by 7 outlets across the spectrum.

7 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

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A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the Justice Department’s orders for LinkedIn to hand over journalists’ records were overbroad and must be narrowed. The unanimous three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, who wrote that confidentiality of sources is essential to a free press. The orders sought journalists’ metadata in a national security leak investigation. The New York Times reports the request could reveal numerous unrelated confidential sources. MS NOW reports that reporters’ records have also been sought in several other leak investigations.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. A federal appeals court ruled that the government’s orders for LinkedIn to disclose journalists’ records were overbroad and must be narrowed.

    Reported byFar Left2Left1Center1Right2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Raw Story, MS NOW
    Left
    The New York Times
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    Reason, The Washington Times
    Far Right
    The Epoch Times

  2. The unanimous three-judge panel’s opinion was written by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson.

    Reported byFar Left1Center1Right2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Raw Story
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    Reason, The Washington Times
    Far Right
    The Epoch Times

  3. The orders sought journalists’ metadata in a national security leak investigation.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Center1Right2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Raw Story
    Left
    The New York Times
    Center
    The Hill
    Right
    Reason, The Washington Times
    Far Right
    The Epoch Times

  4. The New York Times reports the request could reveal numerous unrelated confidential sources.

    One outletThe New York Times· Left

How each side tells it

Compare views

All sides report that a federal appeals court ruled the Justice Department’s orders for LinkedIn to hand over journalists’ records were overbroad and must be narrowed. Left headlines stress the secret scope of the orders and threats to sources, while right and center headlines mostly report the ruling itself.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Headlines frame the ruling as a rebuke of the administration’s secret demand, most sharply at far-left Raw Story, which says the court shreds it.

    Appeals court Loaded verb“shreds”Shreds describes a complete destruction of an argument, which goes beyond a court ruling that the order was overbroad.More neutral: rejectsDisagree with this highlight? Trump DOJ’s secret bid to unmask confidential sources
    Raw StoryFar LeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    Frames the ruling as a limit on the Trump DOJ’s broad access to journalists’ private chat logs, emphasizing the judge’s warning of a damaging blow to First Amendment rights.

    Appeals court limits Trump DOJ's access to journalists’ private chat logs
    The HillCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    3 outlets

    Headlines split between the ruling itself, as in Epoch Times and Washington Times, and Reason’s framing of a rebuke of the administration over asking LinkedIn for information on critics.

    4th Circuit Loaded verb“Rebukes”Rebuke carries a judgement of wrongdoing that goes beyond the court’s ruling that the request was overbroad.More neutral: rules againstDisagree with this highlight? Trump Administration for Asking LinkedIn To Turn Over Info on Loaded modifier“Critics”Calling the targeted journalists critics pre-judges their stance, which the ruling does not establish.More neutral: journalistsDisagree with this highlight? in the News Media
    ReasonRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left3

    aggressively targetedsharply rebukedshreds

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right3

    RebukesCriticsseize

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    aggressively targetedMore neutral: has sought records of reporters

    The adverb adds a judgement about the administration’s conduct that the ruling itself does not state.

    The federal appeals court ruling comes as the Trump administration has aggressively targeted reporters’ records across multiple leak investigations.

    Used byMS NOW (Far Left)

  • Loaded verb

    sharply rebukedMore neutral: ruled against

    Sharply rebuked adds a judgement of the government’s conduct beyond the court’s finding that the orders were overbroad.

    A federal appeals court sharply rebuked President Donald Trump's Justice Department over a secret effort that reached far…

    Used byRaw Story (Far Left)

  • Loaded verb

    shredsMore neutral: rejects

    Shreds describes a complete destruction of an argument, which goes beyond a court ruling that the order was overbroad.

    Appeals court shreds Trump DOJ’s secret bid to unmask confidential sources

    Used byRaw Story (Far Left)

  • Loaded verb

    RebukesMore neutral: rules against

    Rebuke carries a judgement of wrongdoing that goes beyond the court’s ruling that the request was overbroad.

    4th Circuit Rebukes Trump Administration for Asking LinkedIn To Turn Over Info on Critics in the News…

    Used byReason (Right)

Show 2 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Loaded modifier

    CriticsMore neutral: journalists

    Calling the targeted journalists critics pre-judges their stance, which the ruling does not establish.

    4th Circuit Rebukes Trump Administration for Asking LinkedIn To Turn Over Info on Critics in the News Media

    Used byReason (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    seizeMore neutral: obtain

    Seize implies taking property by force, while the orders were court-issued demands for records.

    10 that the Trump administration’s bid to seize journalists’ records to investigate the source of a classified leak to the press was…

    Used byThe Epoch Times (Far Right)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

3 outlets

Leads with

  • Secret orders reaching far beyond the leak target
  • Threat to confidential sources and press freedom
  • Administration’s broad demands for journalists’ records
See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • Raw StoryFar Left

    Appeals court Loaded verb“shreds”Shreds describes a complete destruction of an argument, which goes beyond a court ruling that the order was overbroad.More neutral: rejectsDisagree with this highlight? Trump DOJ’s secret bid to unmask confidential sources

    A federal appeals court sharply rebuked President Donald Trump's Justice Department over a secret effort that reached far beyond its target. A unanimous three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. …

    Read at Raw Story (opens in a new tab)
  • The New York TimesLeft

    Appeals Court Blocks Trump Administration Demand for Journalists’ LinkedIn Data

    The court said that the request was too broad and could reveal numerous unrelated confidential sources.

    Read at The New York Times (opens in a new tab)
  • MS NOWFar Left

    Appeals court limits DOJ search of journalists’ source records in leak probe

    The federal appeals court ruling comes as the Trump administration has Loaded verb“aggressively targeted”The adverb adds a judgement about the administration’s conduct that the ruling itself does not state.More neutral: has sought records of reportersDisagree with this highlight? reporters’ records across multiple leak investigations.

    Read at MS NOW (opens in a new tab)

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • Limit on DOJ access to journalists’ records
  • Damaging blow to First Amendment rights
  • Judge Wilkinson’s unanimous opinion
See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • The HillCenter

    Appeals court limits Trump DOJ's access to journalists’ private chat logs

    A federal appeals court's three-judge panel unanimously limited Tuesday the Trump administration's broad access to journalists' LinkedIn records as part of a national security leak investigation, suggesting it could impart a "damaging blow" to First Amendment rights. …

    Read at The Hill (opens in a new tab)

From the right

3 outlets

Leads with

  • Confidentiality of sources and free press
  • LinkedIn users’ privacy concerns
  • Overbroad government request
See the 3 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • The Epoch TimesFar Right

    Appeals Court Orders Trump Administration’s Bid for Journalists’ LinkedIn Records Narrowed

    'Access to sources ... is essential where the press seeks to ensure public accountability,' Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote in a decision.

    Read at The Epoch Times (opens in a new tab)
  • ReasonRight

    4th Circuit Loaded verb“Rebukes”Rebuke carries a judgement of wrongdoing that goes beyond the court’s ruling that the request was overbroad.More neutral: rules againstDisagree with this highlight? Trump Administration for Asking LinkedIn To Turn Over Info on Loaded modifier“Critics”Calling the targeted journalists critics pre-judges their stance, which the ruling does not establish.More neutral: journalistsDisagree with this highlight? in the News Media

    The ruling sends the case back to a lower court, which must now weigh the First Amendment implications of the government’s request.

    Read at Reason (opens in a new tab)
  • The Washington TimesRight

    Appeals court limits order for LinkedIn to disclose journalists' communications in leak probe

    A judge must narrow an order requiring LinkedIn to divulge journalists' communications on the social media platform to the Trump administration as part of a leak investigation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in a case with profound free-speech implications.

    Read at The Washington Times (opens in a new tab)

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    4 hr 23 min later

    Its first report, Nov 10, 5:23 PM EST

  • Center

    First to report

    The Hill, Nov 10, 1:00 PM EST

  • Right

    3 hr 53 min later

    Its first report, Nov 10, 4:54 PM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The HillCenterNov 10, 1:00 PM EST
  2. The Washington TimesRightNov 10, 4:54 PM EST
  3. MS NOWFar LeftNov 10, 5:23 PM EST
  4. The New York TimesLeftNov 10, 7:41 PM EST
  5. Raw StoryFar LeftNov 10, 8:38 PM EST
  6. ReasonRightNov 11, 3:32 PM EST
  7. The Epoch TimesFar RightNov 12, 5:13 AM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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