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Cornell students stage sit-in over lawsuit alleging 2024 Chi Phi assault

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 12 outlets across the spectrum.

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

Jane Doe, a former Cornell student, filed a civil lawsuit in September against Cornell University and seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity, alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted at a fraternity house in October 2024. Prosecutors had initially declined to bring charges, and the case has since been reopened. Lawyers for several of the accused men deny the allegations. Doe’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, says he and his client have received threats. Students held a sit-in at a Cornell dining hall on Wednesday in solidarity with Doe and to protest how the university handles complaints of sexual violence. According to the Daily Mail and the New York Post, Cornell confirmed that two of the men named in the lawsuit are still enrolled, and teachers have said they are struggling to teach their classes.

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. Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit in September against Cornell University and seven Chi Phi fraternity members, alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted in October 2024.

    Reported byFar Left3Left1Center1Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Truthout, HuffPost, The Nation
    Left
    NBC News
    Center
    BBC News
    Right
    Daily Mail, New York Post

  2. Prosecutors initially declined to bring charges, and the case has since been reopened.

    Reported byFar Left1Center1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Truthout
    Center
    BBC News
    Right
    Daily Mail

  3. Lawyers for several of the accused men have denied the allegations.

    Reported byLeft2Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    NBC News, CBS News
    Right
    Daily Mail

  4. Cornell officials confirmed that two of the men named in the lawsuit are still enrolled in classes.

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

  5. Doe’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, says he and his client have received death threats, and her family home has been threatened.

    Reported byLeft1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Center
    BBC News
Show 2 more pointsShow fewer points

  1. Students held a sit-in at a Cornell dining hall on Wednesday in solidarity with Doe, planned to last seven hours.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    HuffPost
    Left
    NBC News
    Far Right
    Townhall

  2. A lawyer for a U.S. Marine with the same name as one accused man says the Marine’s family was threatened after a court filing listed his client’s address in error.

    One outletFox News· Far Right

What is contested

Where accounts differ

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

  • Whether the seven men named in the lawsuit committed the assault alleged in it.

    Doe alleges the men drugged and sexually assaulted her. Lawyers for several accused men deny the allegations, and one attorney told CBS the seven have been lumped together. The New York Post describes the men as accused of gang raping a classmate, while Truthout reports signs reading Stop Protecting Rapists.

  • Whether Cornell’s handling of sexual assault complaints has been inadequate.

    Student groups, as reported by the AP and Truthout, say the university is slow to respond to complaints and protects its reputation. Right-leaning outlets report the protests and the enrolled students, and the supplied coverage does not include a response from Cornell on the handling of the complaint.

How each side tells it

Compare views

  • the left

    5 outlets

    Center-left and mainstream left outlets (NBC, CBS, and the AP report carried by HuffPost) lead with the student sit-in and the attorneys’ statements and use “alleged” in their headlines, while the far-left Truthout headline states “Rape Case” without a qualifier and The Nation’s headline is descriptive.

    Inside Cornell’s Week of Protest
    The NationFar LeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    The single center article, from BBC Newsnight, leads with the attorney’s claim of threats against the accuser and puts the word “threats” in quotation marks, adding Donald Trump’s recent comments as context.

    Cornell rape case accuser has received ‘threats’, attorney tells BBC Newsnight
    BBC NewsCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    6 outlets

    The Daily Mail and New York Post lead with the two accused men still on campus and the strain on teachers, Fox News leads with a misdirected address for a Marine’s family, and the far-right Townhall headline frames the student sit-in as an anti-fraternity protest with “Ditch Classes” and “Massive”, while The Free Press headline reports fraternity members outside Cornell facing threats and the Fox News and NY Post headlines use the nickname “Cornell 7”.

    Why an Independent Reporter Blew Up at Ithaca's Common Council Over the Cornell Case
    TownhallFar 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.

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right7

    doxxedadmittedexplosive September lawsuitDitch Classes

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    doxxedMore neutral: listed the address of

    Doxxed implies the plaintiff deliberately published private information, while the coverage describes a filing that listed a wrong address and was corrected.

    Cornell Jane Doe allegedly doxxed a US Marine with no ties to university with wrong address in filing

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    admittedMore neutral: said

    Admitted suggests a confession, while the professors’ concerns are described as struggles with teaching.

    …a classmate are still on campus — and professors at the prestigious university admitted they’re struggling to do their jobs with the explosive case in the spotlight.

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    explosive September lawsuitMore neutral: September lawsuit

    The word explosive adds drama that the lawsuit itself does not require.

    Both students have been attending classes since being identified in an explosive September lawsuit from Jane Doe, who claimed they were among seven Chi Phi fraternity…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    Ditch ClassesMore neutral: Skip Classes for

    Ditch suggests students are skipping class irresponsibly, while the article describes a planned sit-in and economic blackout.

    Students Ditch Classes for Massive 7-Hour Anti-Frat Protest After Sexual Assault Allegations

    Used byTownhall (Far Right)

Show 3 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Sensational language

    MassiveMore neutral: Seven-Hour

    Massive adds a sense of scale that the article does not establish.

    Students Ditch Classes for Massive 7-Hour Anti-Frat Protest After Sexual Assault Allegations

    Used byTownhall (Far Right)

  • Dehumanizing label

    online mobMore neutral: online critics

    Describes unnamed online critics collectively as a mob, a characterization that goes beyond the facts reported.

    To the online mob, belonging to the same national fraternity as the accused is crime enough, report…

    Used byThe Free Press (Right)

  • Delegitimizing label

    so-calledMore neutral: (omit)

    Sneer quotes in word form.

    …collusion, he was one of the original skeptics who did a good job tearing apart the so-called bombshells and exposing them as nothingburgers.

    Used byTownhall (Far Right)

Words quoted from someone else (1)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.

  • Dehumanizing label

    Quoted

    Stop Protecting RapistsMore neutral: Stop Protecting the Accused

    Labels accused men as rapists before any finding, although it is a protest sign that the article reports.

    Students held signs that said “We are Jane Doe,” “Stop Protecting Rapists,” and “We Want Sentences, Not Essays.

    Quoted byTruthout (Far Left)

    Inside a quotation: the outlets are reporting someone else’s words.

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

5 outlets

Leads with

  • student sit-in and protests
  • university’s handling of complaints and sexual violence
  • threats against Doe and her attorney
  • lawyers saying the seven men have been lumped together

Leaves out

  • Cornell confirmed that two of the named men remain enrolled
  • a court filing that listed the wrong address for a Marine’s family

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

See the 5 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • threats against the accuser and her lawyer
  • case reopened after the civil suit
  • Donald Trump’s recent comments

Leaves out

  • student sit-ins and protests
  • two accused men still enrolled at Cornell

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

See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • BBC NewsCenter

    Cornell rape case accuser has received ‘threats’, attorney tells BBC Newsnight

    Thomas Giuffra is representing a woman, known in legal documents as Jane Doe, who alleges she was raped at a frat house on campus in 2024.

    Read at BBC News (opens in a new tab)

From the right

6 outlets

Leads with

  • two accused men still enrolled at Cornell
  • strain on Cornell teachers
  • misdirected address and harassment of a Marine’s family
  • threats against Chi Phi members at other campuses

Leaves out

  • threats reported against Jane Doe and her attorney

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

See the 6 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

    22 min later

    Its first report, Oct 7, 10:50 AM EDT

  • Center

    10 hr 18 min later

    Its first report, Oct 7, 8:46 PM EDT

  • Right

    First to report

    Daily Mail, Oct 7, 10:28 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Daily MailRightOct 7, 10:28 AM EDT
  2. NBC NewsLeftOct 7, 10:50 AM EDT
  3. Fox NewsFar RightOct 7, 12:00 PM EDT
  4. TruthoutFar LeftOct 7, 12:10 PM EDT
  5. New York PostRightOct 7, 1:53 PM EDT
  6. TownhallFar RightOct 7, 4:30 PM EDT
  7. HuffPostFar LeftOct 7, 5:43 PM EDT
  8. CBS NewsLeftOct 7, 6:39 PM EDT
  9. The Free PressRightOct 7, 7:48 PM EDT
  10. Washington ExaminerRightOct 7, 8:19 PM EDT
  11. BBC NewsCenterOct 7, 8:46 PM EDT
  12. The NationFar LeftOct 9, 5:00 AM EDT

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

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