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UpdateCrime & Justice

Indonesia’s president fires chief of staff arrested over alleged wiretapping

What’s new: President Prabowo Subianto dismissed his chief of staff, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, on Wednesday, a day after police announced his arrest.

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 5 outlets, mostly left-leaning (60%).

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

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Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto dismissed his chief of staff, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, on Wednesday, a day after police announced his arrest, Al Jazeera reports. Police said on Tuesday they had detained three senior police generals suspected of illegally wiretapping Prabowo and dozens of other prominent figures, according to the Associated Press. Bloomberg identifies Listyo as a former national police chief. Al Jazeera reports that the government said the conduct may amount to treason. The Financial Times reports that Indonesia is deploying 20,000 soldiers to Jakarta, while AP describes thousands of troops being sent to boost security.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Police said three senior police generals were detained over alleged illegal wiretapping of President Prabowo Subianto and other prominent figures.

    Reported byLeft2Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Bloomberg, Al Jazeera English
    Right
    The Washington Times

  2. Former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, now the president’s chief of staff, was among those arrested.

    Reported byLeft2Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg
    Center
    Financial Times

  3. President Prabowo dismissed Listyo Sigit Prabowo on Wednesday.

    One outletAl Jazeera English· Left

  4. The government said the alleged conduct may fall into a category that can be considered treason.

    One outletAl Jazeera English· Left

  5. Indonesia is deploying troops to Jakarta after the arrests, with the Financial Times reporting 20,000 soldiers and AP reporting thousands.

    Reported byFar Left1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Boston Globe
    Center
    Financial Times

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that senior police were detained over alleged wiretapping of President Prabowo Subianto. Left headlines stress the dismissal of his chief of staff and Listyo’s former police post, the center stresses the troop deployment, and the right stresses the three generals detained.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Left headlines center on Listyo’s dismissal and former police post, with Al Jazeera on the dismissal and Bloomberg on the ex-chief; the Boston Globe runs an AP report on troops.

    Indonesian president’s chief of staff dismissed over alleged wiretapping
    Al Jazeera EnglishLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    The Financial Times, the only center outlet, leads on a 20,000-soldier deployment and frames the probe as a scandal that erupts, putting the military response first.

    Indonesia deploys 20,000 soldiers as wiretapping scandal Sensational language“erupts”The word erupts dramatizes how the news emerged, where a neutral verb would only report that the scandal became public.More neutral: emergesDisagree with this highlight?
    Financial TimesCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    1 outlet

    The Washington Times runs an AP report, so the right side’s only coverage is that wire text, headlined plainly on three generals detained and the president as the target.

    Indonesia detains 3 police generals suspected of wiretapping president
    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.

  • Left0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Center1

    erupts

  • Right0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    eruptsMore neutral: emerges

    The word erupts dramatizes how the news emerged, where a neutral verb would only report that the scandal became public.

    Indonesia deploys 20,000 soldiers as wiretapping scandal erupts

    Used byFinancial Times (Center)

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

  • dismissal of Listyo Sigit Prabowo
  • former police chief named as arrested
  • government treason statement
  • troop deployment

Leaves out

  • dozens of prominent figures named as surveillance targets
  • the 20,000 troop figure

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

See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • Al Jazeera EnglishLeft

    Indonesian president’s chief of staff dismissed over alleged wiretapping

    Gov't says Listyo may have committed 'treason' after he is arrested and accused of wiretapping top officials' phones.

    Read at Al Jazeera English (opens in a new tab)
  • The Boston GlobeFar LeftAssociated Press report

    Indonesia’s military deploys thousands of troops to boost Jakarta’s security after generals’ arrest

    JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s military is deploying more than 20,000 troops and personnel to the capital, Jakarta, officials said Wednesday as authorities investigate an alleged illegal wiretapping operation targeting the country’s president that has led to the detention …

    Read at The Boston Globe (opens in a new tab)
  • BloombergLeft

    Indonesia Arrests Ex-Police Chief for Allegedly Wiretapping Prabowo, Others

    Indonesia’s former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo and two other top police officials were arrested Tuesday for allegedly illegally wiretapping President Prabowo Subianto and other government officials.

    Read at Bloomberg (opens in a new tab)

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • 20,000 soldiers deployed
  • troop deployment as scandal erupts
  • arrests of police and the chief of staff

Leaves out

  • the president’s dismissal of the chief of staff
  • the government’s treason statement

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

See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • Financial TimesCenter

    Indonesia deploys 20,000 soldiers as wiretapping scandal Sensational language“erupts”The word erupts dramatizes how the news emerged, where a neutral verb would only report that the scandal became public.More neutral: emergesDisagree with this highlight?

    Senior police and presidential chief of staff arrested over accusations of illegally wiretapping President Prabowo Subianto

    Read at Financial Times (opens in a new tab)

From the right

1 outlet

Leads with

  • three police generals detained
  • wiretapping of the president

Leaves out

  • the arrest and dismissal of the chief of staff

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

See the headline from the rightHide the headlines

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, 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

    31 min later

    Its first report, Nov 3, 7:49 PM EST

  • Center

    8 hr 29 min later

    Its first report, Nov 4, 3:46 AM EST

  • Right

    First to report

    The Washington Times, Nov 3, 7:17 PM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The Washington TimesRightNov 3, 7:17 PM EST
  2. BloombergLeftNov 3, 7:49 PM EST
  3. The Boston GlobeFar LeftNov 4, 1:41 AM EST
  4. Financial TimesCenterNov 4, 3:46 AM EST
  5. Al Jazeera EnglishLeftNov 4, 5:07 AM EST

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

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