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Catholic bishops object to White House sharing video of prayer over Trump

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Coverage spectrum

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

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

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Image via The Washington TimesHow images are chosenReport this image

According to The Daily Beast and The New York Times, Catholic leaders prayed over President Donald Trump at a White House meeting, and the White House shared a video of the prayer. The Daily Beast reports that Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee, in an apology, said the White House manipulated faith leaders into a political photo opportunity. The New York Times reports that one archbishop said the video was shared without permission. The Washington Times reports that two bishops regret agreeing to the meeting, which produced a publicly distributed photo, and say it was used politically. The sources disagree on whether the meeting was meant to be political.

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. Catholic leaders prayed over President Donald Trump at a White House meeting.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The New York Times
    Right
    The Washington Times

  2. Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob and 11 other bishops were seen praying over Trump, according to a video posted by White House aide Margo Martin.

    One outletThe Daily Beast· Far Left

  3. The White House shared a video of the prayer.

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The New York Times

  4. Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob said in an apology that the White House manipulated faith leaders into a political photo opportunity.

    One outletThe Daily Beast· Far Left

  5. One archbishop said the video was shared without permission.

    One outletThe New York Times· Left

  6. Two bishops said they regret agreeing to the White House meeting, which produced a publicly distributed photo of them praying with Trump.

    One outletThe Washington Times· Right

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • The White House manipulated faith leaders into a political photo opportunity.

    Archbishop Grob, in an apology reported by The Daily Beast, says so. The New York Times reports that Catholic leaders say the meeting was not intended to be political. The Washington Times reports that two bishops say the photo was used politically.

How each side tells it

Compare views

The sides present report that bishops prayed over President Trump at a White House meeting and that a photo or video was shared publicly. The left stresses the apology and the claim that the White House manipulated the bishops; the right stresses their regret over agreeing to the meeting.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Left headlines center the bishops' statements; the Daily Beast casts the apology as humiliating, while The New York Times leads with the leaders' view that the meeting was not meant to be political.

    Top Catholic Issues Sensational language“Humiliating”The adjective judges the apology's effect on the bishop rather than describing the apology itself.More neutral: ApologyDisagree with this highlight? Apology for Praying Over 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

    1 outlet

    The Washington Times headline leads with two bishops' regret over agreeing to a meeting and their view that the photo was used politically, not with an apology.

    Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically
    The Washington TimesRightAll 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

    Humiliating

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    HumiliatingMore neutral: Apology

    The adjective judges the apology's effect on the bishop rather than describing the apology itself.

    Top Catholic Issues Humiliating Apology for Praying Over Trump

    Used byThe Daily Beast (Far Left)

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

  • Grob's apology
  • White House manipulation claim
  • video shared without permission
See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

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

  • bishops' regret
  • photo used politically
  • agreeing to the meeting
See the headline from the rightHide the headlines
  • The Washington TimesRightAssociated Press report

    Catholic bishops regret White House prayer photo with Trump, say it was used politically

    Two Catholic bishops have expressed regret about agreeing to a White House meeting that produced a publicly distributed photo of them praying with President Donald Trump.

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

    Also published by ABC News. It counts once.

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

    First to report

    The Daily Beast, Oct 25, 3:46 PM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    1 hr 25 min later

    Its first report, Oct 25, 5:11 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The Daily BeastFar LeftOct 25, 3:46 PM EDT
  2. The New York TimesLeftOct 25, 5:00 PM EDT
  3. The Washington TimesRightOct 25, 5:11 PM EDT
  4. ABC NewsLeftOct 25, 5:54 PM EDT

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

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