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Reflecting pool liner found damaged in 85 places, contractor-commissioned report says

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 4 outlets, mostly left-leaning (75%).

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

The Washington Post obtained a 75-page failure analysis by Atlantic Coating Inspection, a report commissioned by the contractor that installed the blue coating on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. According to the report, as the Post and outlets citing it describe it, the liner was damaged in at least 85 places, including buckling, blistering and peeling. The report attributes the failures to a rushed installation and improper materials and does not mention vandalism, which Donald Trump and administration officials have blamed for the damage. The pool is now filling again after repairs. According to The Independent, costs have climbed past $16 million from an original $2 million budget.

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. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool liner was damaged in at least 85 places, according to a report obtained by The Washington Post.

    One side only: the leftReported byLeft2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Washington Post, The Independent

  2. The 75-page failure analysis was commissioned by the contractor, Atlantic Coating Inspection, and obtained by The Washington Post.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The Independent
    Far Right
    Hot Air

  3. The report attributes the damage to a rushed installation and improper materials and does not mention vandalism.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Left
    The Independent
    Far Right
    Hot Air

  4. The administration has claimed that vandals were responsible for the damage.

    Reported byFar Left1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Far Right
    Hot Air

  5. The restoration was originally budgeted at $2 million, and costs have climbed past $16 million.

    Reported byLeft1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Independent
    Center
    Newsweek

  6. The pool is being refilled after months of construction setbacks.

    Reported byLeft1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Independent
    Center
    Newsweek

What is contested

Where accounts differ

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

  • The liner damage was caused by vandals.

    Donald Trump and the administration have attributed the damage to vandals. The contractor-commissioned report, as described by the Post, The Independent, the Daily Beast and Hot Air, blames a rushed installation and improper materials and does not mention vandalism.

How each side tells it

Compare views

The left and right sides both report widespread liner failure and the contractor-commissioned inspection’s rushed-installation finding, while the center’s Newsweek piece covers only the refill and cost. The left stresses Trump’s vandalism claim and the report’s contradiction of it, and the right calls the pool a mess.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Left headlines name Trump and stress the scale of the failure; the Daily Beast, at the far end, adds “fiasco” and “jaw-dropping”, while the Post’s headline is plainer.

    Trump’s Reflecting Pool liner failed in a Sensational language“whopping”The word adds drama beyond the count of 85 damaged places, which the headline states without it.More neutral: at least 85 placesDisagree with this highlight? 85 places, inspection finds
    The IndependentLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    The one center outlet, Newsweek, frames it as a refill and six-month timeline with the $16 million cost in the headline; its supplied text does not cover the inspection findings.

    Lincoln Reflecting Pool Refilled: Six-Month Timeline of $16M Refurbishment
    NewsweekCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    0 outlets · 1 opinion

    The one right-side article, a Far Right blog post, reacts to the Post’s story and frames the findings as proof the pool was a mess from a rushed job.

    The Reflecting Pool Really Was a Mess
    Hot AirFar 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.

  • Left3

    fiascoJaw-Droppingwhopping

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    fiascoMore neutral: problems

    The word judges the project a failure in the outlet’s own voice rather than describing the defects.

    The full scale of Donald Trump’s $14.7 million Reflecting Pool fiasco has been exposed.

    Used byThe Daily Beast (Far Left)

  • Sensational language

    Jaw-DroppingMore neutral: Scale

    The word manufactures drama and asks the reader to react before the facts are presented.

    Jaw-Dropping Scale of Trump’s Reflecting Pool Fiasco Exposed

    Used byThe Daily Beast (Far Left)

  • Sensational language

    whoppingMore neutral: at least 85 places

    The word adds drama beyond the count of 85 damaged places, which the headline states without it.

    Trump’s Reflecting Pool liner failed in a whopping 85 places, inspection finds

    Used byThe Independent (Left)

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

  • Trump’s personal role
  • scale of the liner damage
  • contradiction of vandalism claims
See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • the pool refilling
  • the $16 million cost
  • the six-month timeline

Leaves out

  • the 85-place liner damage in the inspection report
  • the dispute over vandalism

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

See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • NewsweekCenter

    Lincoln Reflecting Pool Refilled: Six-Month Timeline of $16M Refurbishment

    After months of construction setbacks, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington is filling with water again.

    Read at Newsweek (opens in a new tab)

From the right

0 outlets · 1 opinion

Leads with

  • the rushed installation
  • the scale of the failures
  • the Washington Post’s coverage
See the headline from the rightHide the headlines
  • Hot AirFar RightOpinion

    The Reflecting Pool Really Was a Mess

    Once again, the top story at the Washington Post (as I write this) is about the Reflecting Pool. If you haven't followed this story, it has been a real roller-coaster of claims and counterclaims. …

    Read at Hot Air (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

    First to report

    The Independent, Oct 12, 8:44 PM EDT

  • Center

    19 hr 8 min later

    Its first report, Oct 13, 3:52 PM EDT

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The IndependentLeftOct 12, 8:44 PM EDT
  2. NewsweekCenterOct 13, 3:52 PM EDT
  3. The Washington PostLeftOct 14, 5:00 AM EDT
  4. The Daily BeastFar LeftOct 14, 10:58 AM EDT

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

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