U.S. NewsBreaking19 hr ago

Six-year-old autistic boy found alive in Kentucky woods after search

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

Image via CBS NewsHow images are chosen Report this image

Roman Heilman, a six-year-old autistic boy, was found alive on Tuesday in rugged, mountainous woodland in Kentucky after a search by volunteers and rescuers. CBS News and The Daily Beast say he was last seen around 4 p.m. on Sunday near his family home. Breitbart, the Daily Mail and The Daily Beast say horseback volunteers found him. Outlets differ on how long he was missing: CBS News and the Daily Mail say about two days, while Breitbart and The Daily Beast say three.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

New to Mantle? It shows who is covering each story across the political spectrum, and highlights loaded words. How to read a storyHide the guide

The coverage spectrum counts the outlets covering a story at each of five points. A short or missing segment means that part of the spectrum is mostly quiet.

Governor Loaded verb“slams”It adds drama to what was said. The governor criticized the lawmakers; “slams” makes it sound like a fight.More neutral: criticizes lawmakers over budget delay

Highlights mark words that carry a judgement. Tap one to see why, and what a neutral writer would say. Here it is “criticizes”.

The 5-point spectrum

Far Left
Voices that strongly advocate for progressive policies and systemic change.
Left
Mainstream liberal perspectives focusing on social equality and regulation.
Center
Sources that prioritize neutral reporting and balanced viewpoints.
Right
Mainstream conservative perspectives focusing on market freedom and tradition.
Far Right
Voices that strongly advocate for conservative values and limited government.

How we measure bias

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

Roman Heilman, a six-year-old autistic boy, was found alive on Tuesday.
Across the spectrumReported byFar Left1Left1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
Far Left
The Daily Beast
Left
CBS News
Right
Daily Mail
Far Right
Breitbart News
Volunteers on horseback found the boy.
Reported byFar Left1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
Far Left
The Daily Beast
Right
Daily Mail
Far Right
Breitbart News
The boy was last seen around 4 p.m. on Sunday near his family home in Louisa, Kentucky.
One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left1See the outletsHide the outlets
Far Left
The Daily Beast
Left
CBS News
More than 300 volunteers on foot and horseback joined the search, alongside police and National Guard units.
One outletCBS News· Left

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Questions the coverage answers differently, and who says what.

Was the boy missing for three days?
CBS News and the Daily Mail say he had been missing about two days, while Breitbart and The Daily Beast say three days.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All sides report that Roman Heilman, a six-year-old autistic boy, was found alive in Kentucky woods after a search by volunteers. Left coverage puts the search effort and a muddy footprint first, while right coverage puts the horseback trail riders and the boy’s survival first.

the left
2 outlets
Left headlines differ: CBS leads with the muddy footprint that led searchers to the boy, while the far-left Daily Beast leads with “Miracle” and “Three Days Lost in Mountains.”
Muddy footprint leads searchers to find missing 6-year-old
CBS NewsLeftAll 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 headlines stress the horseback trail riders and the boy’s survival; Breitbart, the far-right outlet, leads with a video of rescuers and “Who Survived Three Days,” while the Daily Mail leads with “Miracle.”
VIDEO: Trail Riders Rescue Autistic Boy, 6, Who Survived Three Days in Rugged Kentucky Wilderness
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.
Center
Has not covered this story.
Right1
desperate

In the outlets’ own words

Sensational language
desperateMore neutral: three-day search
The adjective adds emotional drama that the reported facts do not establish.
Miracle as missing six-year-old boy is found alive in wooded mountains amid desperate three-day search by team of volunteers on horseback
Used byDaily Mail (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 footprint clue that led searchers to the boy
the scale of the volunteer search
the rescue as a miracle

Leaves out

the small dog found with the boy

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

See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

CBS NewsLeft
Muddy footprint leads searchers to find missing 6-year-old
More than 300 volunteers on foot and horseback, as well as several law enforcement agencies, took part in an around-the-clock search for the child.
36 min agoRead at CBS News (opens in a new tab)
1 more from CBS News
- 6-year-old with autism Roman Heilman found after going missing for days in Kentucky
The Daily BeastFar Left
Miracle as Boy, 6, Found After Three Days Lost in Mountains
A six-year-old autistic boy who went missing from his Kentucky home was found alive Tuesday after a massive three-day search involving hundreds of rescuers and volunteers. Roman Heilman, who is non-verbal, disappeared near his family’s home in Louisa around 4 p.m. Sunday. …
9 hr agoRead at The Daily Beast (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

horseback trail riders as rescuers
the boy surviving three days
the rescue as a miracle

Leaves out

the muddy footprint that led searchers to the boy

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

See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines

Breitbart NewsFar Right
VIDEO: Trail Riders Rescue Autistic Boy, 6, Who Survived Three Days in Rugged Kentucky Wilderness
A six-year-old autistic boy who wandered from his family home in Kentucky was found alive Tuesday with his small dog by volunteers on horseback, the child surviving three days and two nights in the wild mountainous terrain.
5 hr agoRead at Breitbart News (opens in a new tab)
Daily MailRight
Miracle as missing six-year-old boy is found alive in wooded mountains amid Sensational language“desperate”The adjective adds emotional drama that the reported facts do not establish.More neutral: three-day searchDisagree with this highlight? three-day search by team of volunteers on horseback
A young Kentucky boy was found alive by a team of volunteers led by horses after disappearing for two days. Roman Heilman, 6, a non-verbal autistic boy, went missing.
19 hr agoRead at Daily Mail (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
10 hr 32 min later
Its first report, Nov 4, 12:21 PM EST
Center
No report yet
From the outlets Mantle follows
Right
First to report
Daily Mail, Nov 4, 1:49 AM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order

Daily MailRightNov 4, 1:49 AM EST
The Daily BeastFar LeftNov 4, 12:21 PM EST
Breitbart NewsFar RightNov 4, 4:24 PM EST
CBS NewsLeftNov 4, 8:54 PM EST

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

Six-year-old autistic boy found alive in Kentucky woods after search

Coverage spectrum

Key points

Where accounts differ

Compare views

the left

the center

the right

Language to notice

In the outlets’ own words

Side by side

From the left

Muddy footprint leads searchers to find missing 6-year-old

Miracle as Boy, 6, Found After Three Days Lost in Mountains

From the center

From the right

VIDEO: Trail Riders Rescue Autistic Boy, 6, Who Survived Three Days in Rugged Kentucky Wilderness

Miracle as missing six-year-old boy is found alive in wooded mountains amid Sensational language“desperate”The adjective adds emotional drama that the reported facts do not establish.More neutral: three-day searchDisagree with this highlight? three-day search by team of volunteers on horseback

How the coverage built up

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