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Ambulance trust investigates staff over access to records of man killed by tiger

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 5 outlets across the spectrum.

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

William Chapman, 24, died after a tiger attacked him at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster, after he climbed into its enclosure on Saturday 10 October. An inquest into his death opened in October. His family told the inquest that he had suffered bouts of psychosis and raised concerns about his contact with mental health services before he died. The Yorkshire Ambulance Trust says two staff may have accessed his medical records without a legitimate reason, and it is investigating. Health Secretary Yvette Cooper called this “total disgrace” and said staff found to have done so should be sacked.

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. William Chapman, 24, died after a tiger attacked him at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, having climbed into its enclosure on Saturday 10 October.

    Reported byLeft1Center1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Center
    BBC News
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Breitbart News

  2. Coroners gave the cause of death as multiple traumatic injuries.

    One outletNew York Post· Right

  3. The family told the inquest that he had suffered bouts of psychosis and raised concerns about his contact with mental health services before his death.

    Reported byLeft1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Center
    Sky News

  4. The Yorkshire Ambulance Trust says two staff may have accessed Chapman’s medical records without a legitimate reason and is investigating.

    Reported byLeft1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Guardian
    Right
    New York Post

  5. Health Secretary Yvette Cooper called the reported access a total disgrace and said staff who inappropriately accessed the records should be sacked.

    One outletThe Guardian· Left

What is contested

Where accounts differ

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

  • NHS staff inappropriately accessed Chapman’s medical records.

    The Yorkshire Ambulance Trust says two staff may have accessed the records without a legitimate reason and is investigating. Health Secretary Yvette Cooper calls it a total disgrace. NY Post reports the staff viewed the records.

  • Chapman was on strong medication for mental illness.

    Breitbart reports this claim. The other supplied coverage does not mention medication; the family’s account to the inquest describes psychosis and concerns about mental health services.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report that William Chapman died after a tiger attack at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. The right leads with his child-actor career and medication claims, the center with the inquest, and the left with family mental-health concerns and the records breach.

  • the left

    1 outlet

    Left-side headlines, all from one newsroom, lead with the inquest’s mental-health evidence and then with the health secretary’s call for staff to be sacked over the records access.

    NHS staff who Absolutist framing“wrongly accessed”The headline states as settled that access was wrong, while the trust is still investigating whether it occurred without a legitimate reason.More neutral: accessedDisagree with this highlight? tiger victim’s records should be sacked, says Yvette Cooper
    The GuardianLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    2 outlets

    Sky News and BBC headlines report the inquest proceedings, the family’s mental-health concerns and how he climbed into the enclosure, without the records story.

    Man killed by tiger climbed two fences before suffering multiple injuries, inquest hears
    BBC NewsCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    2 outlets

    Right-side headlines lead with the victim’s former child-actor career, harrowing new details and the records breach; the far-right outlet Breitbart leads with claims that he was on strong medication for mental illness.

    Former child actor killed by tiger after entering cage once starred alongside Harry Potter actress
    New York PostRightAll 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

    wrongly accessed

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right8

    tauntedgrislytroubledHarrowing

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    tauntedMore neutral: approached

    Describes his behaviour as provocation in the outlet’s own voice, while the report says only that he reportedly did it.

    …by a Siberian tiger on Saturday at Yorkshire Wildlife Park after he reportedly taunted the beast and recorded footage from inside its cage.

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    grislyMore neutral: his death

    Adds a graphic judgement to a death that the sentence already states.

    Years before his grisly death, Chapman — who was in his 20s — starred opposite actress Shirley Henderson in…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    troubledMore neutral: former child actor

    The label pre-judges the man’s character before the inquest has established the facts of his life.

    The troubled former child actor mauled to death by a tiger at a UK wildlife park had climbed two…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    HarrowingMore neutral: New details emerge

    The word signals the reader’s emotional reaction before the details are presented as neutral reporting.

    Harrowing new details emerge as cause of death given for former child actor mauled by tiger

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

Show 5 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Loaded verb

    savagedMore neutral: attacked

    The verb of violence goes beyond the plain word attacked used by the other outlets.

    William Chapman, who reportedly suffered from schizophrenia, was savaged by a tiger in front of parkgoers at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday.

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    shocking deathMore neutral: death

    The adjective adds emotional weight that the account of the inquest does not require.

    …injuries,” the coroner said Thursday at a hearing into William Chapman’s shocking death, according to Yorkshire Live.

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    viciously mauledMore neutral: mauled

    The adverb adds a judgement about the attack that the other outlets do not state.

    …former child actor killed by tiger managed to get into enclosure where he was viciously mauled

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    snoopedMore neutral: looked at

    The word implies deliberate prying, while the trust says only that staff may have accessed the records.

    …rushed to the UK zoo where an ex-child actor was mauled to death by a tiger may have snooped on his medical records, officials revealed Friday.

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Absolutist framing

    wrongly accessedMore neutral: accessed

    The headline states as settled that access was wrong, while the trust is still investigating whether it occurred without a legitimate reason.

    NHS staff who wrongly accessed tiger victim’s records should be sacked, says Yvette Cooper

    Used byThe Guardian (Left)

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.

  • Sensational language

    Quoted

    total disgraceMore neutral: a serious breach

    A strong moral condemnation by a politician that adds drama to the report.

    Health secretary says it is ‘total disgrace’ if staff looked up William Chapman, who died at Yorkshire Wildlife Park NHS staff…

    Quoted byThe Guardian (Left)

    These are Yvette Cooper’s words. The outlets are reporting them.

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

  • family’s mental-health concerns
  • health secretary’s call for sackings
  • records access by ambulance staff
See the headline from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

2 outlets

Leads with

  • inquest proceedings
  • how he entered the enclosure
  • family’s mental-health concerns

Leaves out

  • Donald Trump sharing footage of the attack on social media
  • the ambulance trust’s investigation of staff access to records

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

See the 2 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • former child-actor career
  • records breach by ambulance staff
  • medication and mental illness claims
  • cause of death details
See the 2 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

    1 day 12 hr later

    Its first report, Oct 15, 6:42 AM EDT

  • Center

    1 day 5 hr later

    Its first report, Oct 14, 11:28 PM EDT

  • Right

    First to report

    New York Post, Oct 13, 6:18 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. New York PostRightOct 13, 6:18 PM EDT
  2. Breitbart NewsFar RightOct 14, 1:32 PM EDT
  3. Sky NewsCenterOct 14, 11:28 PM EDT
  4. BBC NewsCenterOct 15, 6:03 AM EDT
  5. The GuardianLeftOct 15, 6:42 AM EDT

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

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