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Republican Brent Taylor projected to win Tennessee’s redrawn 9th District House seat

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly left-leaning (67%).

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

Person in a polling place studying large district maps on wall beside a no-weapons sign.
Image via Mother JonesHow images are chosenReport this image

Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor was projected to win Tennessee’s redrawn 9th Congressional District seat, according to Decision Desk HQ, defeating Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson. Incumbent Democrat Steve Cohen is retiring. Republicans redrew the district in May after an April Supreme Court ruling that Mother Jones says gutted the federal Voting Rights Act, and Mother Jones says the new lines were designed to lean Republican. Mother Jones reports Taylor led by about 2,500 votes with 99 percent counted, while TheGrio, citing AP, gives Taylor 65.68 percent to Pearson’s 32.21 percent. The Hill also reports that independents Dennis Jeffrey Clark and Michelle Head ran.

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. Republican Brent Taylor was projected to win the 9th District seat, according to Decision Desk HQ.

    One outletThe Hill· Center

  2. Taylor defeated Democrat Justin Pearson in the race.

    Reported byFar Left1Left1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Mother Jones
    Left
    TheGrio
    Center
    The Hill

  3. Incumbent Democrat Steve Cohen is retiring.

    Reported byFar Left1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Mother Jones
    Center
    The Hill

  4. Republicans redrew the district in May; Mother Jones says the new lines were designed to lean Republican.

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Mother Jones
    Left
    TheGrio

  5. With 99 percent of votes counted, Taylor led Pearson by about 2,500 votes, according to Mother Jones.

    One outletMother Jones· Far Left

  6. AP figures cited by TheGrio give Taylor 65.68 percent and Pearson 32.21 percent.

    One outletTheGrio· Left

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Questions the coverage answers differently, and who says what.

  • Was Taylor’s margin over Pearson about 2,500 votes?

    Mother Jones reports Taylor led by about 2,500 votes with 99 percent counted. TheGrio, citing AP, gives Taylor 65.68 percent to Pearson’s 32.21 percent, a far wider gap.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets report that Republican Brent Taylor beat Democrat Justin Pearson for the 9th District seat, which Steve Cohen is leaving. Left outlets stress the May redrawing and a narrow margin, while the center headline states the win and names the redistricted seat.

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Left headlines differ: Mother Jones, rated Far Left, frames the result as GOP gerrymandering that just barely worked, while TheGrio reports Pearson’s loss plainly.

    GOP Gerrymandering Worked in Tennessee—But Just Barely
    Mother JonesFar LeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    The Hill states the win as fact in its headline, naming the redistricted seat and Cohen’s retirement, and leaves the projection to the description.

    GOP’s Taylor wins Cohen’s redistricted Tennessee House seat
    The HillCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    No coverage yet

    No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

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.

  • Left2

    fiery speechesgutted

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right

    Has not covered this story.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    fiery speechesMore neutral: speeches

    Describes the speeches in the outlet’s own voice with dramatic language rather than neutral description.

    The race for the Memphis-born activist and state representative, whose fiery speeches and viral moments have made him a nationally recognized political figure, marks a…

    Used byTheGrio (Left)

  • Loaded verb

    guttedMore neutral: weakened

    Gutted asserts a strong effect of the ruling in the outlet’s own voice.

    …new ones designed to lean Republican, following an April Supreme Court ruling that gutted the federal Voting Rights Act.

    Used byMother Jones (Far 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

2 outlets

Leads with

  • redistricting as cause of the outcome
  • narrow margin
  • Pearson’s progressive platform

Leaves out

  • Decision Desk HQ projection
  • independent candidates Clark and Head

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

See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • Mother JonesFar Left

    GOP Gerrymandering Worked in Tennessee—But Just Barely

    In some ways, the outcome of Tennessee’s ninth district congressional election was determined in May, when Republican Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee legislature redrew the state’s legislative maps—carving Tennessee’s sole district in which white voters were not a majority into …

    Read at Mother Jones (opens in a new tab)
  • TheGrioLeft

    Justin J. Pearson is defeated by Brent Taylor in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District race

    Justin J. Pearson lost after leading a progressive campaign advocating for Medicare for All, living wages, and gun safety laws.

    Read at TheGrio (opens in a new tab)

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • Taylor’s win
  • Cohen’s retirement
  • the redistricted seat

Leaves out

  • April Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act
  • Pearson’s vote share

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

See the headline from the centerHide the headlines
  • The HillCenter

    GOP’s Taylor wins Cohen’s redistricted Tennessee House seat

    Tennessee state Sen. Brent Taylor (R) is projected to win the state’s redistricted 9th Congressional District seat, replacing Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who is retiring, according to Decision Desk HQ, The Hill’s partner. Taylor defeated Democratic state Rep. …

    Read at The Hill (opens in a new tab)

From the right

0 outlets

No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

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

    First to report

    TheGrio, Nov 3, 8:54 PM EST

  • Center

    4 hr 26 min later

    Its first report, Nov 4, 1:20 AM EST

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. TheGrioLeftNov 3, 8:54 PM EST
  2. The HillCenterNov 4, 1:20 AM EST
  3. Mother JonesFar LeftNov 4, 6:28 PM EST

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

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