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Santa Ana police hunt for reported Gaboon viper turns out to be AI-generated hoax

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Coverage spectrum

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

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

Santa Ana police issued a public safety warning after a resident reported seeing what appeared to be a Gaboon viper, a highly venomous snake native to Africa, in a tree in a residential neighborhood near Main Street and Edinger Avenue. The snake was estimated at four to five feet long, though the species can grow past seven feet. Police and reptile experts searched the area for hours but found no snake. Social media users had already questioned whether the photo was AI-generated. Investigators later confirmed the resident admitted the image had been created using AI software and that the report was false, according to the Santa Ana Police Department.

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 resident reported seeing a Gaboon viper in a tree in a Santa Ana neighborhood near Main Street and Edinger Avenue.

    Reported byLeftRight

  2. Santa Ana Police issued a public warning telling residents not to approach the snake, estimating it at 4 to 5 feet long.

    Reported byLeftRight

  3. Social media users raised doubts the photo was AI-generated before police confirmed it.

    Reported byLeftRight

  4. Reptile experts and police searched the area but found no snake or evidence one had been there.

    Reported byLeftRight

  5. The person who reported the sighting later admitted the photo was AI-generated and the report was false.

    Reported byLeftRight

  6. A herpetologist noted the heavy, ground-dwelling species would be unlikely to climb onto the thin branch shown in the photo.

    Reported byLeft

How each side tells it

Compare views

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Left-leaning outlets led with the resolution that the viper report was AI-generated rather than the initial warning.

    Cops’ Hours-Long Hunt for Deadly Viper Takes Sensational language“Wild Twist”Dramatizes the development beyond stating the report was revealed to be false.More neutral: turns out to be falseDisagree with this highlight?
    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

    2 outlets

    Right-leaning outlets initially emphasized the danger of the ‘loose’ venomous snake with alarmed, caps-heavy headlines, with one New York Post follow-up later shifting to a headline framing the episode as a ‘bizarre hoax.’

    Sensational language“Bizarre hoax”Characterizes the event with a subjective, dramatic label rather than neutrally stating a hoax occurred.More neutral: hoaxDisagree with this highlight? uncovered after SoCal cops went hunting for deadly viper
    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.

  • Left2

    wild snake chaseWild Twist

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right4

    on the looseLOOSEurgently warnedBizarre hoax

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    on the looseMore neutral: reported in Orange County

    Frames the snake's presence in dramatic, animal-at-large terms before the report was confirmed accurate.

    Extremely venomous African viper that can grow to 7ft on the loose in Orange County

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    LOOSEMore neutral: loose

    All-caps emphasis dramatizes the snake's presence beyond a neutral description.

    Extremely venomous viper snake is LOOSE in California neighborhood as residents are urgently warned to stay away

    Used byDaily Mail (Right)

  • Sensational language

    urgently warnedMore neutral: warned

    Adds dramatic urgency beyond describing that police issued a warning.

    …venomous viper snake is LOOSE in California neighborhood as residents are urgently warned to stay away

    Used byDaily Mail (Right)

  • Sensational language

    Bizarre hoaxMore neutral: hoax

    Characterizes the event with a subjective, dramatic label rather than neutrally stating a hoax occurred.

    Bizarre hoax uncovered after SoCal cops went hunting for deadly viper

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

Show 2 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Sensational language

    wild snake chaseMore neutral: search

    Adds dramatic flourish to the description of the police search.

    Authorities were led on a wild snake chase by a man who later admitted the dangerous reptile he’d warned them about was…

    Used byThe Daily Beast (Far Left)

  • Sensational language

    Wild TwistMore neutral: turns out to be false

    Dramatizes the development beyond stating the report was revealed to be false.

    Cops’ Hours-Long Hunt for Deadly Viper Takes Wild Twist

    Used byThe Daily Beast (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

  • confirmation the image was fake
  • expert skepticism about the photo
  • the hours-long police search
See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • The Daily BeastFar Left

    Cops’ Hours-Long Hunt for Deadly Viper Takes Sensational language“Wild Twist”Dramatizes the development beyond stating the report was revealed to be false.More neutral: turns out to be falseDisagree with this highlight?

    Authorities were led on a Sensational language“wild snake chase”Adds dramatic flourish to the description of the police search.More neutral: searchDisagree with this highlight? by a man who later admitted the dangerous reptile he’d warned them about was entirely AI-generated. Santa Ana police launched a hunt on Monday after a resident reported what appeared to be a Gaboon viper coiled above a shed. …

    Read at The Daily Beast (opens in a new tab)
  • The New York TimesLeft

    A Viper That Caused Alarm in California Was A.I.-Generated

    A Gaboon viper, a venomous snake native to equatorial regions of Africa, was supposedly photographed in a tree in Santa Ana, Calif. How could that be? Well, it turns out it wasn’t.

    Read at The New York Times (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

  • size and venom of the snake
  • urgency of the police warning
  • the later reveal that it was a hoax

Leaves out

  • herpetologist’s doubts about the snake’s behavior shown in the photo

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

See the 2 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

    23 hr 8 min later

    Its first report, Sep 30, 11:43 AM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    New York Post, Sep 29, 12:35 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. New York PostRightSep 29, 12:35 PM EDT
  2. Daily MailRightSep 29, 5:01 PM EDT
  3. The New York TimesLeftSep 30, 11:43 AM EDT
  4. The Daily BeastFar LeftSep 30, 11:59 AM EDT

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

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