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Protesters and police clash at anti-austerity rally in Brussels

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 4 outlets across the spectrum.

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

Riot police in helmets and shields face a crowd of masked and hooded protesters on a street.
Image via Deutsche WelleHow images are chosenReport this image

Clashes broke out between police and protesters on the edge of an anti-austerity march in Brussels on Friday, October 9. Thousands took part in the rally against Belgium’s austerity measures and the cost of living, according to Al Jazeera English and Fox News. Deutsche Welle and Al Jazeera English report that police used water cannon and tear gas. Breitbart News reports 110 arrests in Brussels and says public transport and flights were disrupted. Breitbart also attributes the violence to far-left extremists and antifa. Fox News describes masked agitators, and Deutsche Welle describes masked rioters among the crowd.

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. Clashes broke out between police and protesters at the edge of an anti-austerity march in Brussels on Friday.

    Reported byLeft1Center1Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English
    Center
    Deutsche Welle
    Far Right
    Fox News, Breitbart News

  2. Thousands took part in the rally against Belgium’s austerity measures and the cost of living.

    Reported byLeft1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English
    Far Right
    Fox News

  3. Police used water cannon and tear gas against the crowd, and Al Jazeera English also reports baton charges.

    Reported byLeft1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English
    Center
    Deutsche Welle

  4. A report cites 110 arrests in Brussels on Friday.

    One outletBreitbart News· Far Right

  5. A report says public transport and flights in Brussels were disrupted and vehicles and buildings were damaged.

    One outletBreitbart News· Far Right

  6. A report says trade unions called separate strikes and protests in Brussels the same day.

    One outletBreitbart News· Far Right

What is contested

Where accounts differ

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

  • Who carried out the violence at the Brussels march.

    Breitbart News attributes it to antifa and far-left extremists who hijacked the protest. Fox News and Deutsche Welle describe masked agitators or rioters. Al Jazeera English describes ‘troublemakers’ on the sidelines of the main rally, and does not name a group.

  • The Brussels protests are a spread of the French student protests.

    Breitbart News says the French student protests spread to Belgium and were hijacked by extremists. The other supplied articles do not link the Brussels events to France.

How each side tells it

Compare views

  • the left

    1 outlet

    Al Jazeera English leads with the size of the rally and treats the clashes as a secondary development, and its description calls the people at the sidelines ‘troublemakers’.

    Thousands rally for anti-austerity protest in Brussels amid clashes
    Al Jazeera EnglishLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    Deutsche Welle’s headline puts the violence first with the label ‘Rioters’ for those clashing with police, and its description stresses that many were masked.

    Brussels: Rioters clash with police at anti-austerity rally
    Deutsche WelleCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    2 outlets

    Fox News frames the event as thousands flooding the streets that erupted into clashes, while Breitbart News, at the far end of the right, frames it as left-extremist rioting with antifa infiltration blamed.

    Loaded modifier“Left-Extremist”The headline labels the protesters as extremists before the facts about who took part are established.More neutral: Left-wingDisagree with this highlight? Rioting Spreads to Brussels With Delegitimizing label“Antifa Infiltration”Infiltration implies a covert takeover of the protests by a named group, a claim the supplied text does not establish.More neutral: Far-left activists reported among protestersDisagree with this highlight? of Protests Blamed
    Breitbart NewsFar 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.

  • Left0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Center1

    Anti-police

  • Right7

    Masked agitatorshijackedextremist left-wing elementsso-called

In the outlets’ own words

  • Partisan shorthand

    Anti-policeMore neutral: describe the policing or sentencing policy

    Attributes a motive nobody claims.

    Anti-police slogans echoed through the streets, and similar graffiti covered nearby walls.

    Used byDeutsche Welle (Center)

  • Loaded modifier

    Masked agitatorsMore neutral: Masked protesters

    Agitators is a label that pre-judges the protesters' intent before the facts are established, while the other outlets describe the same people as masked protesters.

    Masked agitators clashed with riot police in Brussels as thousands of others marched against…

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    hijackedMore neutral: joined

    The verb asserts that the protests were taken over by others, a judgement about the organizers.

    …protests" have spread to Belgium, and just like in France they have been quickly hijacked by extremist left-wing elements.

    Used byBreitbart News (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    extremist left-wing elementsMore neutral: left-wing groups

    Calling the participants extremist pre-judges them before their conduct is established.

    …to Belgium, and just like in France they have been quickly hijacked by extremist left-wing elements.

    Used byBreitbart News (Far Right)

Show 4 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Delegitimizing label

    so-calledMore neutral: French student protests

    The phrase casts doubt on the protests’ stated purpose without evidence.

    The French so-called “student protests” have spread to neighbouring Belgium, and just like in France they…

    Used byBreitbart News (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    day of chaosMore neutral: day of disruption

    Chaos is a dramatic word; the excerpt’s own details of arrests and disruption describe the day without it.

    110 people were arrested in Brussels on Friday after a day of chaos which saw public transport and flights disrupted across the Belgian capital,…

    Used byBreitbart News (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    Left-ExtremistMore neutral: Left-wing

    The headline labels the protesters as extremists before the facts about who took part are established.

    Left-Extremist Rioting Spreads to Brussels With Antifa Infiltration of Protests Blamed

    Used byBreitbart News (Far Right)

  • Delegitimizing label

    Antifa InfiltrationMore neutral: Far-left activists reported among protesters

    Infiltration implies a covert takeover of the protests by a named group, a claim the supplied text does not establish.

    Left-Extremist Rioting Spreads to Brussels With Antifa Infiltration of Protests Blamed

    Used byBreitbart News (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

1 outlet

Leads with

  • size of the rally
  • police response with tear gas and baton charges
  • sidelines of the main march

Leaves out

  • the 110 arrests reported on the right
  • disruption to transport and flights

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

See the headline from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • violent rioters at the edge of the march
  • masked participants
  • police water cannon and tear gas
See the headline from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • masked agitators
  • scale of the crowds
  • antifa and left-wing extremist involvement
  • 110 arrests and disruption to transport

Leaves out

  • Fox News’s supplied text does not mention arrest figures

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

See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • Breitbart NewsFar Right

    Loaded modifier“Left-Extremist”The headline labels the protesters as extremists before the facts about who took part are established.More neutral: Left-wingDisagree with this highlight? Rioting Spreads to Brussels With Delegitimizing label“Antifa Infiltration”Infiltration implies a covert takeover of the protests by a named group, a claim the supplied text does not establish.More neutral: Far-left activists reported among protestersDisagree with this highlight? of Protests Blamed

    The French "student protests" have spread to Belgium, and just like in France they have been quickly Loaded verb“hijacked”The verb asserts that the protests were taken over by others, a judgement about the organizers.More neutral: joinedDisagree with this highlight? by Loaded modifier“extremist left-wing elements”Calling the participants extremist pre-judges them before their conduct is established.More neutral: left-wing groupsDisagree with this highlight?.

    Read at Breitbart News (opens in a new tab)
  • Fox NewsFar Right

    Thousands flood Brussels streets as anti-austerity protests erupt into clashes with police

    Loaded modifier“Masked agitators”Agitators is a label that pre-judges the protesters' intent before the facts are established, while the other outlets describe the same people as masked protesters.More neutral: Masked protestersDisagree with this highlight? clashed with riot police in Brussels as thousands of others marched against Belgium's austerity measures and cost of living crisis.

    Read at Fox News (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

    13 min later

    Its first report, Oct 9, 12:07 PM EDT

  • Center

    First to report

    Deutsche Welle, Oct 9, 11:54 AM EDT

  • Right

    1 hr 55 min later

    Its first report, Oct 9, 1:48 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Deutsche WelleCenterOct 9, 11:54 AM EDT
  2. Al Jazeera EnglishLeftOct 9, 12:07 PM EDT
  3. Fox NewsFar RightOct 9, 1:48 PM EDT
  4. Breitbart NewsFar RightOct 10, 1:00 AM EDT

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

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