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Renewed Kīlauea volcanic activity prompts trail closures in Hawaiʻi national park

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Coverage spectrum

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

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

The National Park Service announced it would temporarily close the Halemaʻumaʻu Trail and part of the Byron Ledge Trail, about 1.3 miles combined, amid seismic activity at Kīlauea in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. According to the US Geological Survey, the volcano showed renewed spattering at two vents and was at orange, the second-highest of its four aviation color codes. The Park Service, citing the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said more than 200 shallow earthquakes were recorded beneath the summit in the past week. Reports said a magnitude-3.4 earthquake on September 30 caused small rockfalls along the caldera’s north wall. Scientists said they cannot forecast when, or whether, the next episode of lava fountaining will occur.

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 National Park Service said it would temporarily close the Halemaʻumaʻu Trail and part of the Byron Ledge Trail, 1.3 miles combined.

    Reported byFar Left1Right1Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Fox News, Breitbart News

  2. The US Geological Survey issued a volcanic activity notice reporting renewed spattering at two vents beneath the summit.

    Reported byFar Left1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Fox News

  3. The US Geological Survey kept Kīlauea at orange, the second-highest of four aviation color codes.

    Reported byFar Left1Right1Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Fox News, Breitbart News

  4. The National Park Service, citing the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said more than 200 shallow earthquakes were recorded beneath the summit in the past week.

    Reported byFar Left1Right1Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Daily Beast
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Fox News, Breitbart News

  5. A magnitude-3.4 earthquake on September 30 reportedly caused small rockfalls along the caldera’s north wall.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight1Far Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    New York Post
    Far Right
    Fox News, Breitbart News

  6. The National Park Service reported 1.8 million visits to the volcano area in 2025 amid a tourism surge since 2024.

    One outletThe Daily Beast· Far Left

What is contested

Where accounts differ

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

  • Whether Kīlauea is currently erupting or spewing lava.

    The Daily Beast headline describes the volcano as lava-spewing. Fox and Breitbart, citing the USGS notice, describe renewed spattering at two vents and say a lava fountaining episode is possible but not reported as under way.

How each side tells it

Compare views

  • the left

    1 outlet

    The only left-side article here, from Far Left Daily Beast, leads with a dramatic lava-spewing image and a tourist-attraction angle while reporting the same closures.

    Lava-Spewing Volcano Forces Trails to Close in Tourist Hot Spot
    The Daily BeastFar LeftAll 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

    3 outlets

    Fox News and its NY Post syndication lead with a rumbling volcano and immediate trail closures, while Breitbart, also Far Right, adds an aviation warning to its headline and body, which the Fox headline does not emphasize.

    Rumbling of Hawaii's Popular Kilauea Volcano Causes Trail Closures and Aviation Warning
    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.

Mantle found no loaded language in this coverage. Every headline and opening was checked against Mantle’s published word list, and Mantle’s AI read 3 of the 4 articles in context when it wrote the analysis. Straight reporting often has none.

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

  • lava-spewing volcano at a tourist hot spot
  • surge in tourism and 1.8 million visits
  • trail closures

Leaves out

  • magnitude-3.4 earthquake and September 30 rockfalls

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

See the headline from the leftHide the headlines

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

3 outlets

Leads with

  • aviation warning and orange color code
  • rockfall risk from a 3.4 quake
  • possible 55th episode of lava fountaining

Leaves out

  • 1.8 million visits and tourism surge

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

See the 3 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

    12 hr 35 min later

    Its first report, Oct 9, 10:37 AM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    Fox News, Oct 8, 10:02 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Fox NewsFar RightOct 8, 10:02 PM EDT
  2. New York PostRightOct 9, 3:34 AM EDT
  3. The Daily BeastFar LeftOct 9, 10:37 AM EDT
  4. Breitbart NewsFar RightOct 9, 2:06 PM EDT

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

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