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Merchandise inspired by drunk raccoon raises money for Virginia animal shelter

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 4 outlets. No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered it yet.

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

Raccoon lying sprawled on a bathroom floor beside a toilet and trash can.
Image via New York PostHow images are chosenReport this image

Merchandise inspired by a raccoon found drunk in a Virginia liquor store last year has raised money for the Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter, according to CBS News, The Washington Post, the New York Post and Fox News. Reported totals differ: Fox News says around $280,000, while The Washington Post and the New York Post say more than $290,000. The New York Post reports that the shelter’s typical yearly donations are under $20,000 and that the money will pay for body cameras for its eight animal protection officers. Hanover County supervisor Faye Prichard said the county owes a debt of gratitude to the raccoon.

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. Merchandise inspired by a raccoon found drunk in a Virginia liquor store has raised money for the Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter.

    Across the spectrumReported byLeft2Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News, The Washington Post
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Fox News

  2. Reported totals range from about $280,000 to more than $290,000.

    Reported byLeft1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The Washington Post
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Fox News

  3. Shelter donations typically total under $20,000 a year, according to the New York Post.

    One outletNew York Post· Right

  4. The funds will pay for body cameras for the shelter’s eight animal protection officers, the New York Post reports.

    One outletNew York Post· Right

  5. Hanover County supervisor Faye Prichard said the county owes a debt of gratitude to the raccoon.

    One outletThe Washington Post· Left

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Questions the coverage answers differently, and who says what.

  • Did the campaign raise more than $290,000?

    Fox News reports around $280,000, while The Washington Post and the New York Post report more than $290,000.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All four outlets report that merchandise inspired by a drunk raccoon has raised money for a Virginia animal shelter. The sides differ mainly in emphasis: left-side coverage highlights the local animals and the county’s gratitude, while right-side coverage stresses the viral rampage and what the money will buy.

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Both left-side outlets lead with the raccoon’s drunken night; The Washington Post frames it around the $290K total, while CBS emphasizes local animals that need help.

    Drunk raccoon’s boozy night has helped raise $290K for an animal shelter
    The Washington PostLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • 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

    2 outlets

    Right-side headlines lead with the raccoon’s viral rampage and the $290K total; Fox News, the far-right outlet, uses more colloquial wording such as ‘ton of money’ and ‘Trashed Panda’.

    Drunk raccoon who passed out after viral Virginia liquor store Sensational language“rampage”A raccoon getting into a store is described with a word for violent destruction at a scale the reported facts do not show.More neutral: visitDisagree with this highlight? helped raise $290K for animal shelter
    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.

  • Left0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right1

    rampage

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    rampageMore neutral: visit

    A raccoon getting into a store is described with a word for violent destruction at a scale the reported facts do not show.

    Drunk raccoon who passed out after viral Virginia liquor store rampage helped raise $290K for animal shelter

    Used byNew York Post (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

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the raccoon’s drunken night
  • money for local animals
  • the county’s debt of gratitude
See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • CBS NewsLeft

    Drunken raccoon merch raises money for local animals that need help

    Last year, a raccoon broke into a Virginia liquor store and sampled lots of spirits before passing out next to the toilet. The internet was delighted, and a local shelter turned that moment into merch, raising money for other animals in the area.

    Read at CBS News (opens in a new tab)
  • The Washington PostLeft

    Drunk raccoon’s boozy night has helped raise $290K for an animal shelter

    “I don’t know when we’ve owed a debt of gratitude to any animal as much as we do to that raccoon,” said Faye Prichard, Hanover County board supervisor.

    Read at The Washington Post (opens in a new tab)

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

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the viral liquor store rampage
  • the $290K total
  • Trashed Panda merchandise
See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • New York PostRight

    Drunk raccoon who passed out after viral Virginia liquor store Sensational language“rampage”A raccoon getting into a store is described with a word for violent destruction at a scale the reported facts do not show.More neutral: visitDisagree with this highlight? helped raise $290K for animal shelter

    “We never thought a raccoon would do this for us,” said Jeffrey Parker, Hanover County's chief of animal protection.

    Read at New York Post (opens in a new tab)
  • Fox NewsFar Right

    'Trashed Panda' merch after drunk raccoon passed out in liquor store helps animal control raise ton of money

    Hanover County Animal Shelter's "Trashed Panda" merchandise inspired by the drunk raccoon found in a Virginia liquor store has raised around $280,000.

    Read at Fox News (opens in a new tab)

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

    13 hr 48 min later

    Its first report, Nov 12, 5:00 AM EST

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    Fox News, Nov 11, 3:12 PM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Fox NewsFar RightNov 11, 3:12 PM EST
  2. The Washington PostLeftNov 12, 5:00 AM EST
  3. CBS NewsLeftNov 12, 7:51 PM EST
  4. New York PostRightNov 12, 8:44 PM EST

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

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