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Body of missing hiker recovered on Mount Whitney after storm delays

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly left-leaning (67%).

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

Snow-dusted jagged granite peaks under blue sky with wind-blown snow plumes.
Image via The Daily BeastHow images are chosenReport this image

A hiker who failed to check out of a motel in Lone Pine, California, has been found dead on Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. The Inyo County Sheriff’s Office was alerted on October 19 after the guest left belongings behind and did not answer messages. A California Highway Patrol helicopter located the body on the Mountaineer’s Route, and it was lifted off the mountain on Sunday after a winter storm delayed recovery for several days. The hiker has not been publicly identified.

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. A hiker who missed a motel checkout in Lone Pine, California, was found dead on Mount Whitney.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post

  2. The body was located on the Mountaineer’s Route and recovered on Sunday.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post

  3. A winter storm delayed the recovery of the body for several days.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post

  4. Police and the sheriff’s office have not publicly identified the hiker.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets report that a hiker who missed a motel checkout was found dead on Mount Whitney after a storm delayed recovery. The New York Post’s headline stresses the checkout detail, while the Guardian and Daily Beast focus on the storm and the mountain’s height.

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Guardian uses a plain report headline, while the far-left Daily Beast headline stresses the 13,600-foot elevation and snow-covered setting.

    Body of missing California hiker recovered on Mount Whitney
    The GuardianLeftAll 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

    1 outlet

    New York Post headline opens with the dramatic word Horror and centers the missed motel checkout as the hook.

    Sensational language“Horror”The word adds dramatic emotion to a report of a death that the headline does not need to editorialize.More neutral: Hiker’s body foundDisagree with this highlight? as climber’s body found on Mount Whitney hours after he missed checkout time
    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.

  • Right1

    Horror

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    HorrorMore neutral: Hiker’s body found

    The word adds dramatic emotion to a report of a death that the headline does not need to editorialize.

    Horror as climber’s body found on Mount Whitney hours after he missed checkout time

    Used byNew York Post (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

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the storm and delayed recovery
  • the mountain’s danger and altitude
  • the sheriff’s condolences to the family
See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • The Daily BeastFar Left

    Climber Found Dead 13,600 Feet Up Snow-Covered Mountain

    Rescuers found the body of a California man on snow-covered Mount Whitney days after he went missing on a hike. The California Highway Patrol deployed a helicopter to search for the man, whose body was found at around 13,600 feet on a path leading to the mountain’s summit. …

    Read at The Daily Beast (opens in a new tab)
  • The GuardianLeft

    Body of missing California hiker recovered on Mount Whitney

    Hazardous storm conditions delayed retrieval efforts on mountain that has proved to be a perilous hiking spot The body of a missing California hiker, blanketed in a layer of snow, was recovered on Mount Whitney on Sunday after a blustery storm delayed retrieval operations for …

    Read at The Guardian (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

1 outlet

Leads with

  • the missed checkout time
  • the dramatic tone of the discovery
  • the steep, dangerous route
See the headline from the rightHide the headlines
  • New York PostRight

    Sensational language“Horror”The word adds dramatic emotion to a report of a death that the headline does not need to editorialize.More neutral: Hiker’s body foundDisagree with this highlight? as climber’s body found on Mount Whitney hours after he missed checkout time

    A hiker who missed checkout at a Northern California motel was found dead on Mount Whitney, with a helicopter locating the body on the rugged Mountaineer’s Route on Oct. 20.

    Read at New York Post (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 26 min later

    Its first report, Oct 27, 7:39 PM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    New York Post, Oct 27, 3:13 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. New York PostRightOct 27, 3:13 PM EDT
  2. The GuardianLeftOct 27, 7:39 PM EDT
  3. The Daily BeastFar LeftOct 28, 8:29 AM EDT

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

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