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Wounded Oregon teacher says she was shot before she could act in school shooting

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 6 outlets, mostly left-leaning (67%).

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

Person sits against a tree behind police tape on a school-area lawn, face hidden.
Image via The New York TimesHow images are chosenReport this image

A shooting at an Oregon elementary school last week wounded teacher Becky Drury, 54. Drury says she was shot before she had any chance to act and could not shelter the children in the special education classroom that was attacked. She has described playing dead to survive, according to reports. The New York Times reports that Drury disputes an account that she shielded a student during the shooting in Bend. The New York Post reports the gunman was 16-year-old Griffin John.

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 shooting at an Oregon elementary school last week wounded teacher Becky Drury.

    Across the spectrumReported byLeft2Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News, The New York Times
    Right
    The Washington Times, New York Post

  2. Drury, 54, says she was shot before she had any chance to act.

    Reported byLeft2Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News, The New York Times
    Right
    The Washington Times

  3. Drury disputes an account that she shielded a student during the shooting.

    One outletThe New York Times· Left

  4. The gunman was 16-year-old Griffin John, according to the New York Post.

    One outletNew York Post· Right

  5. Drury says she pretended to be dead to avoid being killed.

    Reported byLeft1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Right
    New York Post

What is contested

Where accounts differ

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

  • Drury shielded a student during the shooting.

    The New York Times reports that this account is one Drury refutes, saying she was shot before she had any chance to act. CBS and The Washington Times report her saying she had no chance to act or to shelter the children.

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that a teacher was wounded in an Oregon elementary school shooting and says she was shot before she could act. Left coverage frames the story as her own account and a dispute over heroism; right coverage stresses that she could not protect children and names the 16-year-old gunman.

  • the left

    4 outlets

    Left headlines center the teacher's own account, with CBS focusing on her recounting playing dead and The New York Times on her dispute of a heroism account.

    Teacher who survived Oregon school shooting recounts playing dead
    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 that the teacher had no chance to protect children, and the New York Post headline names the shooter and centers on her pretending to be dead.

    Teacher who survived Oregon school attack says she had no chance to protect children
    The Washington TimesRightAll 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.

  • Left1

    refuted

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right2

    executedblasted

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    refutedMore neutral: disputed

    Refuted presents the earlier account as shown to be false, while the excerpt gives only Drury’s own statement.

    …Drury, who was said to have shielded a student during a deadly shooting in Bend, refuted the account.

    Used byThe New York Times (Left)

  • Loaded verb

    executedMore neutral: killed

    Executed is a legal term for a state killing and is used here as a loaded substitute for shot.

    …Elementary School in Oregon last week said she pretended “to be dead” to avoid being executed by the killer – in her first public comments since the deadly shooting.

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    blastedMore neutral: shot

    Blasted is a dramatic verb for a shooting and adds an impression of force beyond the reported facts.

    Critically injured teacher blasted by Oregon school shooter Griffin John reveals she pretended ‘to be dead’ to avoid…

    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

4 outlets

Leads with

  • her own account of being shot first
  • dispute over the heroism account

Leaves out

  • the gunman's name and age

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

See the 4 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • NBC NewsLeft

    Teacher who survived Bend shooting tried to close door, ‘but the shooter was already there’

    Becky Drury was shot and seriously wounded by the gunman, who killed three children and another teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Oregon.

    Read at NBC News (opens in a new tab)
  • The New York TimesLeft

    Oregon Teacher Disputes Account of Her Heroism During School Shooting

    Becky Drury, who was said to have shielded a student during a deadly shooting in Bend, Loaded verb“refuted”Refuted presents the earlier account as shown to be false, while the excerpt gives only Drury’s own statement.More neutral: disputedDisagree with this highlight? the account. “The truth is I was shot before I had any chance to act.”

    Read at The New York Times (opens in a new tab)
  • CBS NewsLeft

    Teacher who survived Oregon school shooting recounts playing dead

    Becky Drury, the 54-year-old teacher wounded in the shooting at an Oregon elementary school last week, says she was shot before she had "any chance to act."

    Read at CBS News (opens in a new tab)
  • ABC NewsLeftAssociated Press report

    Teacher who survived Oregon school attack says she had no chance to protect children

    ABC News published a report that is shown in full at The Washington Times.

    Read at ABC News (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

  • no chance to protect or shelter children
  • shooter's name and her pretending to be dead

Leaves out

  • the dispute over whether she shielded a student

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

See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • New York PostRight

    Critically injured teacher Loaded verb“blasted”Blasted is a dramatic verb for a shooting and adds an impression of force beyond the reported facts.More neutral: shotDisagree with this highlight? by Oregon school shooter Griffin John reveals she pretended ‘to be dead’ to avoid being killed

    Severely injured Oregon teacher Becky Drury revealed she pretended to be dead to survive being shot by 16-year-old gunman Griffin John.

    Read at New York Post (opens in a new tab)
  • The Washington TimesRightAssociated Press report

    Teacher who survived Oregon school attack says she had no chance to protect children

    A teacher wounded in last week's attack on a special education classroom at an Oregon elementary school says she never had a chance to try to shelter any of the children inside.

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

    Also published by ABC News. It counts once.

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

    First to report

    CBS News, Oct 21, 5:45 PM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    1 hr 12 min later

    Its first report, Oct 21, 6:57 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. CBS NewsLeftOct 21, 5:45 PM EDT
  2. The New York TimesLeftOct 21, 5:57 PM EDT
  3. The Washington TimesRightOct 21, 6:57 PM EDT
  4. New York PostRightOct 21, 7:02 PM EDT
  5. NBC NewsLeftOct 21, 7:49 PM EDT
  6. ABC NewsLeftOct 21, 8:46 PM EDT

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

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