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Foreign national beaten to death by a crowd in Durban, South Africa

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 4 outlets across the spectrum.

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

Masked man with wooden stick leads crowd of men marching down a city road
Image via Breitbart NewsHow images are chosenReport this image

A foreign national was beaten to death by a crowd in Durban, South Africa. Police say the crowd numbered about 50 people. The killing came amid a wave of anti-migrant protests in South Africa this year, and police said on Thursday they were investigating the death. The victim has not been publicly identified in the reports so far.

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 foreign national was beaten to death by a crowd in Durban, South Africa.

    Reported byLeft1Center2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English
    Center
    BBC News, France 24
    Far Right
    Breitbart News

  2. Police say the crowd numbered about 50 people.

    Reported byLeft1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English
    Center
    BBC News

  3. The killing came amid a wave of anti-migrant protests in South Africa this year.

    Reported byLeft1Center2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Al Jazeera English
    Center
    BBC News, France 24

  4. Police said on Thursday they were investigating the killing.

    One outletBreitbart News· Far Right

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report that a foreign national was killed by a mob in Durban. The left and center headlines focus on the killing and the protest wave, while the right headline focuses on the police investigation and calls the death a lynching.

  • the left

    1 outlet

    The Al Jazeera headline leads with the victim's nationality and mob violence, and its description places the killing amid anti-migrant marches.

    Foreign national beaten to death by a mob in South Africa
    Al Jazeera EnglishLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    2 outlets

    Center headlines state the death plainly and either give the crowd size or place it within the wider anti-migrant protests.

    South Africa gripped by anti-migrant protests as foreign national is killed
    France 24CenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    1 outlet

    The only right-side article, from a Far Right outlet, centers the police investigation and calls the death a mob lynching, identifying the victim only as a foreigner.

    South African Police Investigate Sensational language“Mob Lynching”Lynching carries connotations of racial terror and deliberate communal killing, while police say the motive is unknown and the coverage describes a beating by a crowd.More neutral: killing by a crowdDisagree with this highlight? of Foreigner
    Breitbart NewsFar 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.

  • Right1

    Mob Lynching

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    Mob LynchingMore neutral: killing by a crowd

    Lynching carries connotations of racial terror and deliberate communal killing, while police say the motive is unknown and the coverage describes a beating by a crowd.

    South African Police Investigate Mob Lynching of Foreigner

    Used byBreitbart News (Far 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

1 outlet

Leads with

  • the killing itself
  • mob violence
  • the wave of anti-migrant marches

Leaves out

  • the police investigation into the killing

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

See the headline from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the crowd size of 50
  • the wider anti-migrant protests
  • xenophobic unrest
See the 2 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

1 outlet

Leads with

  • the police investigation
  • mob lynching
  • the victim as a foreigner

Leaves out

  • the crowd size of 50 given by police
  • the anti-migrant protest context

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

See the headline from the rightHide the headlines
  • Breitbart NewsFar Right

    South African Police Investigate Sensational language“Mob Lynching”Lynching carries connotations of racial terror and deliberate communal killing, while police say the motive is unknown and the coverage describes a beating by a crowd.More neutral: killing by a crowdDisagree with this highlight? of Foreigner

    South African police on Thursday said they were investigating the killing of a foreign national at the hands of a mob in the coastal city of Durban.

    Read at Breitbart News (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

    1 hr 20 min later

    Its first report, Oct 22, 1:35 PM EDT

  • Center

    First to report

    BBC News, Oct 22, 12:15 PM EDT

  • Right

    4 hr 32 min later

    Its first report, Oct 22, 4:47 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. BBC NewsCenterOct 22, 12:15 PM EDT
  2. Al Jazeera EnglishLeftOct 22, 1:35 PM EDT
  3. Breitbart NewsFar RightOct 22, 4:47 PM EDT
  4. France 24CenterOct 23, 4:24 AM EDT

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

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