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Joni Mitchell becomes a U.S. citizen and shares footage of her ceremony

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 9 outlets. No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered it yet.

10 articles in total, 1 of them opinion. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Smiling older woman holding small American flag beside U.S. flag and Department of Homeland Security seal.
Image via The Daily BeastHow images are chosenReport this image

Folk singer Joni Mitchell, 82, has become a U.S. citizen. She was born in Canada and has lived in the United States since the mid-1960s, about 60 years. She announced the news on Instagram with footage of her naturalization ceremony and a photo of herself beside an American flag, captioned “A journey that began 62 years ago.” According to one report, citizenship means she can now vote in U.S. elections. Coverage differs mainly in emphasis: some left-leaning outlets tie the news to her past criticism of Donald Trump, while right-leaning outlets focus on her pride in becoming American.

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. Joni Mitchell, 82, has become a U.S. citizen.

    Across the spectrumReported byFar Left1Left3Right2Far Right3See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The New York Times, The Guardian, NBC News
    Right
    The Washington Times, New York Post
    Far Right
    Breitbart News, RedState, The Daily Caller

  2. Mitchell was born in Canada and has lived in the United States since the mid-1960s.

    Across the spectrumReported byFar Left1Left3Right1Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The New York Times, The Guardian, NBC News
    Right
    The Washington Times
    Far Right
    Breitbart News, The Daily Caller

  3. Mitchell announced her citizenship on Instagram, posting footage of her ceremony.

    Reported byLeft2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The New York Times, The Guardian
    Far Right
    Breitbart News

  4. Her caption read “A journey that began 62 years ago.”

    Reported byLeft1Right1Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Breitbart News, The Daily Caller

  5. According to one report, citizenship lets her vote in U.S. elections.

    One outletBreitbart News· Far Right

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that Joni Mitchell, 82, became a U.S. citizen after living in America since the mid-1960s and shared footage of her ceremony. Left headlines lead with her criticism of Donald Trump in one case, while right headlines stress her pride in becoming American.

  • the left

    4 outlets

    Mainstream left headlines report the citizenship plainly, while the Daily Beast ties it to Mitchell having slammed Donald Trump.

    Music Icon, 82, Becomes U.S. Citizen After Loaded verb“Slamming”The verb adds drama to a criticism of the president and presents it as an attack rather than a statement.More neutral: criticizingDisagree with this highlight? Trump
    The Daily BeastFar LeftAll 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

    5 outlets · 1 opinion

    Right headlines stress pride and patriotism, as in the Daily Caller’s “Proudly Becomes American Citizen”; the far-right RedState opinion piece casts the Left as hostile to her.

    Canadian Music Icon Joni Mitchell Proudly Becomes American Citizen
    The Daily CallerFar RightAll 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.

  • Left1

    Slamming

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right2

    zero tolerance policySneering Leftist Mob

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    SlammingMore neutral: criticizing

    The verb adds drama to a criticism of the president and presents it as an attack rather than a statement.

    Citizen After Slamming Trump

    Used byThe Daily Beast (Far Left)

  • Absolutist framing

    zero tolerance policyMore neutral: Some people on the political left criticized her citizenship

    Presents the author’s characterization of the left’s reaction as an established policy, which the article does not document.

    …folk singer Joni Mitchell is finding out the hard way that the Left has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to loving and appreciating the United States of America.

    Used byRedState (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    Sneering Leftist MobMore neutral: Critics

    “Sneering” and “mob” assign contempt and a collective motive to people whose posts the article quotes only in part.

    Sneering Leftist Mob Comes for Joni Mitchell After Her Proud American Moment

    Used byRedState (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

4 outlets

Leads with

  • Mitchell’s criticism of Donald Trump
  • her age and about 62 years in America
  • her own Instagram announcement
See the 4 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • NBC NewsLeft

    Joni Mitchell becomes an American citizen after more than 60 years

    Joni Mitchell can see both sides of the U.S.-Canada border freely now.

    Read at NBC News (opens in a new tab)
  • The GuardianLeft

    Joni Mitchell becomes US citizen: ‘A journey that began 62 years ago’

    Canada-born singer-songwriter, 82, posts footage of citizenship ceremony to Instagram Joni Mitchell has become a US citizen, after first moving to the country in the mid-1960s. …

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

    Joni Mitchell Is Now an American, After 60 Years of Living in the U.S.

    On Tuesday, she announced the news of her U.S. citizenship on social media with a video and a photo of herself at the ceremony.

    Read at The New York Times (opens in a new tab)
  • The Daily BeastFar Left

    Music Icon, 82, Becomes U.S. Citizen After Loaded verb“Slamming”The verb adds drama to a criticism of the president and presents it as an attack rather than a statement.More neutral: criticizingDisagree with this highlight? Trump

    Canada-born folk icon Joni Mitchell, 82, has officially embraced the stars and stripes. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has become a U.S. citizen after living in the States for nearly 62 years. …

    Read at The Daily Beast (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

5 outlets · 1 opinion

Leads with

  • pride in American citizenship
  • her Canadian origins and long residence
  • her own caption about the journey
See the 6 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • Fox NewsFar Right

    Canadian singer Joni Mitchell officially becomes American citizen after 62-year journey

    Joni Mitchell shared a photo and video from her naturalization ceremony, becoming a U.S. citizen at 82 while retaining Canadian citizenship.

    Read at Fox News (opens in a new tab)
  • The Daily CallerFar Right

    Canadian Music Icon Joni Mitchell Proudly Becomes American Citizen

    Canadian music icon Joni Mitchell proudly became an American citizen after moving to the US in the mid-1960s. The 82-year-old singer shared a photo of herself standing beside the American flag, along with a video clip from her citizenship ceremony, in a Tuesday Instagram post …

    Read at The Daily Caller (opens in a new tab)
  • Breitbart NewsFar Right

    Singer Joni Mitchell Becomes U.S. Citizen: ‘A Journey That Began 62 Years Ago’

    Better late than never. Canada-born singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is now a U.S. citizen after first moving south across the border in the mid-1960s.

    Read at Breitbart News (opens in a new tab)
  • New York PostRight

    Joni Mitchell celebrates becoming a US citizen: ‘A journey that began 62 years ago’

    The Canadian-born singer, 82, shared a photo of herself holding an American flag.

    Read at New York Post (opens in a new tab)
  • The Washington TimesRight

    Canadian-born Joni Mitchell sworn in as U.S. citizen after decades in America

    Joni Mitchell, the Canadian-born folk icon who has lived in the United States since the 1960s, has been sworn in as a U.S. citizen.

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

    Loaded modifier“Sneering Leftist Mob”“Sneering” and “mob” assign contempt and a collective motive to people whose posts the article quotes only in part.More neutral: CriticsDisagree with this highlight? Comes for Joni Mitchell After Her Proud American Moment

    Legendary folk singer Joni Mitchell is finding out the hard way that the Left has a Absolutist framing“zero tolerance policy”Presents the author’s characterization of the left’s reaction as an established policy, which the article does not document.More neutral: Some people on the political left criticized her citizenshipDisagree with this highlight? when it comes to loving and appreciating the United States of America.

    Read at RedState (opens in a new tab)

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

    30 min later

    Its first report, Oct 13, 4:46 PM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    The Washington Times, Oct 13, 4:16 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The Washington TimesRightOct 13, 4:16 PM EDT
  2. The Daily BeastFar LeftOct 13, 4:46 PM EDT
  3. The New York TimesLeftOct 13, 8:42 PM EDT
  4. The GuardianLeftOct 14, 4:39 AM EDT
  5. New York PostRightOct 14, 5:28 AM EDT
  6. Breitbart NewsFar RightOct 14, 9:28 AM EDT
  7. NBC NewsLeftOct 14, 11:14 AM EDT
  8. The Daily CallerFar RightOct 14, 12:46 PM EDT
  9. Fox NewsFar RightOct 14, 9:04 PM EDT

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

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