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Dogfish shark spotted swimming through flooded Surf City, NJ streets during nor’easter

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, all right-leaning.

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

A resident of Surf City, New Jersey filmed a small shark swimming through floodwaters near his driveway on Saturday as a nor’easter pushed Barnegat Bay water into the town, flooding streets by as much as four feet. In the video, a woman is heard saying, “Is that a little shark? Oh my God, he’s coming this way.” Dr. Greg Skomal, a white shark expert with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, identified the animal as a dogfish, a small shark species common to the region that lacks sharp teeth and poses little danger to people. The storm also brought winds up to 70 mph and knocked out power for thousands along the East Coast.

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 shark was filmed swimming through flooded streets in Surf City, New Jersey on Saturday.

    Reported byRight

  2. The shark was identified as a dogfish by Dr. Greg Skomal, a white shark expert with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

    Reported byRight

  3. Surf City flooded with as much as four feet of water as Barnegat Bay overflowed during the nor’easter.

    Reported byRight

  4. A woman in the video is heard saying, “Is that a little shark? Oh my God, he’s coming this way.”

    Reported byRight

  5. The nor’easter brought winds up to 70 mph and widespread power outages along the East Coast.

    Reported byRight

  6. The resident who filmed the shark was identified as Drew Procaccino.

    Reported byRight

How each side tells it

Compare views

  • the left

    No coverage yet

    No left-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • 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

    3 outlets · 1 opinion

    Headlines across right-leaning outlets describe the shark sighting with varying degrees of novelty framing, from straightforward description to meme-referencing and storm-emphasizing language, but all treat it as a light human-interest story tied to the nor’easter’s flooding.

    Moment shark swims through streets of flooded New Jersey suburb after monster nor'easter
    Daily MailRightAll 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.

  • Left

    Has not covered this story.

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right3

    violent nor’easter batters coastBrings Chaoshorrific nor'easter floods

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    violent nor’easter batters coastMore neutral: strong nor’easter hits coast

    Adds dramatic intensity beyond a neutral description of a storm hitting the coast

    Shark seen swimming through flooded NJ streets as violent nor’easter batters coast

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    Brings ChaosMore neutral: causes flooding

    Uses an exaggerated term for the storm’s effects rather than a neutral description

    Watch: Shark Seen Swimming Through the Streets of New Jersey as Nor'Easter Brings Chaos

    Used byThe Western Journal (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    horrific nor'easter floodsMore neutral: severe nor’easter floods

    Adds emotionally charged intensity to the description of the storm beyond neutral reporting

    …resident spotted an unusual guest outside his house during the weekend’s horrific nor’easter floods on the East Coast.

    Used byDaily Mail (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

0 outlets

No left-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

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

3 outlets · 1 opinion

Leads with

  • the viral video and resident reaction
  • identification of the shark as a harmless dogfish
  • extent of flooding in Surf City
  • the broader impact of the nor’easter
See the 4 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

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    New York Post, Sep 28, 7:41 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. New York PostRightSep 28, 7:41 AM EDT
  2. The Western JournalFar RightSep 28, 12:33 PM EDT
  3. Daily MailRightSep 28, 2:42 PM EDT

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

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