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Former San Francisco deputy police chief and daughter killed in suspected murder-suicide

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 4 outlets, mostly right-leaning (75%).

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

Split image: uniformed woman smiling before flag beside smiling young woman in a field.
Image via Fox NewsHow images are chosenReport this image

Authorities are investigating the deaths of Ann Mannix, 65, a former San Francisco deputy police chief, and her daughter Katie, 24, at the family’s home in Marin County on Sunday. Investigators describe the deaths as a suspected murder-suicide and say Ann’s husband, retired police sergeant Kevin Mannix, 68, shot them before killing himself. Friends said the couple’s marriage had been troubled and that they were heading toward divorce. According to reports, a memorial planned by the San Francisco Police Officers Association was canceled because the family felt it was too soon.

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

What happened

Key points

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

  1. Former San Francisco deputy police chief Ann Mannix, 65, and her daughter Katie, 24, were killed.

    Reported byLeft1Right2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    NBC News
    Right
    New York Post, Daily Mail
    Far Right
    Fox News

  2. Investigators describe the deaths as a suspected murder-suicide by Ann’s husband, retired police sergeant Kevin Mannix, 68, who then killed himself.

    Reported byLeft1Right2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    NBC News
    Right
    New York Post, Daily Mail
    Far Right
    Fox News

  3. The killings happened at the couple’s home in Marin County on Sunday, according to police.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Fox News

  4. Friends said the couple’s marriage had been troubled and that they were heading toward divorce.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    New York Post, Daily Mail

  5. A memorial planned by the San Francisco Police Officers Association was canceled, and the family reportedly said it was too soon.

    One outletNew York Post· Right

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that former San Francisco deputy chief Ann Mannix and daughter Katie were killed by Ann’s husband Kevin, who then died, in a suspected murder-suicide. Right-side headlines dwell on family grief and marital strife, while NBC News leads with the victim’s career and the investigators’ label.

  • the left

    1 outlet

    A single NBC News headline leads with the victim’s decorated career and attributes the murder-suicide label to investigators.

    Decorated San Francisco police officer and her daughter killed by her husband in suspected murder-suicide
    NBC NewsLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    No coverage yet

    No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the right

    3 outlets

    Headlines lean on grief, crime-drama wording and the killer’s conduct, most strongly in New York Post pieces, while the far-right Fox News headline is a plain news summary.

    Heartbroken family Loaded verb“slams”The verb makes a family’s Facebook statement sound like an attack, where the reports describe a statement of grief.More neutral: saysDisagree with this highlight? SF cop who Loaded verb“slaughtered”A gory verb replaces the neutral word for killing, adding drama to a shooting that police describe in factual terms.More neutral: killedDisagree with this highlight? wife and daughter, shares new details
    New York PostRightAll 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.

  • Left0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right12

    Secret marital strifehorrific murder-suicidegushedslaughter

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    Secret marital strifeMore neutral: Marital difficulties

    ‘Secret’ and ‘strife’ present private marital details as hidden drama beyond what the friend’s account supports.

    Secret marital strife between top San Francisco cops before horrific murder-suicide — as family…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    horrific murder-suicideMore neutral: murder-suicide

    ‘Horrific’ adds an emotional judgement to a killing that the headline could describe plainly.

    Secret marital strife between top San Francisco cops before horrific murder-suicide — as family friend speaks out

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    gushedMore neutral: said

    ‘Gushed’ characterizes the friend’s account with emotional colour the reported words do not require.

    Ex-top San Francisco cop gushed about split from ‘possessive’ husband — weeks before slaughter

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    slaughterMore neutral: killings

    ‘Slaughter’ adds drama to a shooting that the headline could describe plainly.

    Ex-top San Francisco cop gushed about split from ‘possessive’ husband — weeks before slaughter

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

Show 8 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Loaded verb

    revealed she had marital troublesMore neutral: said she had marital troubles

    Revealed presents a friend’s account as a disclosure rather than as her account, which the coverage does not confirm.

    …of murdered former deputy police chief Ann Mannix in San Francisco revealed she had marital troubles before her husband Kevin shot and killed her, their daughter and…

    Used byDaily Mail (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    slamsMore neutral: says

    The verb makes a family’s Facebook statement sound like an attack, where the reports describe a statement of grief.

    Heartbroken family slams SF cop who slaughtered wife and daughter, shares new details

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    slaughteredMore neutral: killed

    A gory verb replaces the neutral word for killing, adding drama to a shooting that police describe in factual terms.

    Heartbroken family slams SF cop who slaughtered wife and daughter, shares new details

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    cop killerMore neutral: man who shot his wife and daughter

    The label defines the man by the act before the reports set out the sequence of events.

    California cop killer tragedy takes heartbreaking turn as reason for abruptly cancelled memorial revealed

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    heartbreaking turnMore neutral: memorial canceled

    It frames the cancellation of a memorial as a dramatic development rather than a reported detail.

    California cop killer tragedy takes heartbreaking turn as reason for abruptly cancelled memorial revealed

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Partisan shorthand

    cancelledMore neutral: was fired or lost a contract

    Frames consequences as persecution; state what happened.

    California cop killer tragedy takes heartbreaking turn as reason for abruptly cancelled memorial revealed

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    bizarreMore neutral: late-life

    The outlet’s own voice calls his appearance changes bizarre, a judgement the reports do not attribute to anyone.

    …down his wife and daughter before turning the gun on himself was in the throes of a bizarre late-life makeover — as a a family friend said he had “a monster inside him.” Kevin…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    DisturbingMore neutral: New

    It tells readers the new details are disturbing before they read them.

    Disturbing new details emerge about California cop killer who slaughtered wife and daughter:…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

Words quoted from someone else (2)Hide the quoted words

Loaded words that outlets reported someone else saying. They show what was said, not how the outlet chose to say it.

  • Loaded modifier

    Quoted

    possessiveMore neutral: said the relationship had been in a bad place

    ‘Possessive’ labels the husband with a character judgement that comes from one friend’s account.

    Ex-top San Francisco cop gushed about split from ‘possessive’ husband — weeks before slaughter

    Quoted byNew York Post (Right)

    These are Marie Hurabiell’s words. The outlets are reporting them.

  • Dehumanizing label

    Quoted

    MonsterMore neutral: described as having a violent side

    A single word from a friend’s remark is lifted into the headline as a label for the man, without the context of the remark.

    …new details emerge about California cop killer who slaughtered wife and daughter: ‘Monster’

    Quoted byNew York Post (Right)

    These are Mary Conde’s words. The outlets are reporting them.

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

1 outlet

Leads with

  • decorated career of the victim
  • investigators’ murder-suicide label
  • department mourning

Leaves out

  • Family statements and friends’ accounts of marital trouble

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the headline from the leftHide the headlines
  • NBC NewsLeft

    Decorated San Francisco police officer and her daughter killed by her husband in suspected murder-suicide

    The San Francisco Police Department was in mourning Tuesday after a trailblazing police officer and her husband, who also had worked for the department, were found dead along with their daughter in what investigators are calling a “suspected double-murder suicide.”

    Read at NBC News (opens in a new tab)

From the center

0 outlets

No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the right

3 outlets

Leads with

  • family grief and tributes
  • the killer’s character and behavior
  • marital troubles before the killings
  • memorial and community reaction

Leaves out

  • Police Department mourning described by NBC News

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 3 headlines from the rightHide the headlines

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, 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

    1 day 5 hr later

    Its first report, Oct 13, 3:41 PM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    New York Post, Oct 12, 10:25 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. New York PostRightOct 12, 10:25 AM EDT
  2. Daily MailRightOct 12, 12:24 PM EDT
  3. Fox NewsFar RightOct 12, 3:52 PM EDT
  4. NBC NewsLeftOct 13, 3:41 PM EDT

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

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