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Trail Blazers Fire Newly Hired Broadcaster Hours After Old Tweets Resurface

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 5 outlets, mostly right-leaning (80%).

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

The Portland Trail Blazers hired Braiden Bell as their new television play-by-play broadcaster on Thursday, then fired him hours later after old social media posts resurfaced. The posts, from 2012 and 2013 when Bell was about 14 or 15, included derogatory comments about “Asian people” and used terms such as “slut” and “whores” to describe women. Local station KGW in Portland reported that one of its journalists found the posts and asked the team for comment before the firing was announced. The Blazers said in a statement that they have “zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments” and that Bell’s posts violated team and league policies. Bell, 29, later apologized on X, saying the tweets do not reflect who he is today.

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 Trail Blazers hired Braiden Bell as their new play-by-play broadcaster and fired him the same day, within hours.

    Reported byLeftRight

  2. The posts in question were from 2012 and 2013, when Bell was a young teenager (reported as 14 or 15).

    Reported byLeftRight

  3. The posts included comments about “Asian people” and derogatory terms for women such as “slut” and “whores.”

    Reported byLeftRight

  4. KGW-TV in Portland found the posts and contacted the Blazers for comment before the firing was announced.

    Reported byLeftRight

  5. The Blazers issued a statement saying they have “zero tolerance for racist, sexist, or harmful comments” and that the posts violated team and league policies.

    Reported byLeftRight

Show 2 more pointsShow fewer points

  1. Bell would have replaced longtime broadcaster Kevin Calabro and become the NBA’s youngest primary play-by-play announcer.

    Reported byRight

  2. Bell posted an apology on X on Friday, saying the tweets were written when he was 15 and do not reflect who he is today.

    Reported byRight

What is contested

Where accounts differ

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

  • Bell's exact age when he wrote the posts

    Most outlets report he was about 15, based on his current age of 29; one Fox News piece and an OutKick commentary state he was 14 at the time.

  • Whether the firing was a justified response or an overreaction

    News outlets and the Blazers' own statement frame it as enforcement of a zero-tolerance policy against racist and sexist language; several right-leaning opinion pieces argue the firing was excessive given Bell's age at the time and call it an example of cancel culture, with one piece casting the team as “cowardly” and the reporting station as a “villain.”

How each side tells it

Compare views

  • the left

    1 outlet

    The sole left-side outlet presents the firing as a straightforward news event, stating the facts of the hiring and firing without editorializing.

    NBA Broadcaster Fired Just Hours Into New Job
    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

    4 outlets · 4 opinion

    Right-side headlines range from neutral factual accounts on wire-style outlets to opinion pieces that frame the firing as an example of “cancel culture” or “wokeness,” with some outlets shifting blame to the reporter or station that surfaced the posts rather than Bell or the team.

    Trail Blazers announcer breaks silence after firing in wake of problematic posts resurfacing
    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.

  • Left0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right18

    Seriouslytotal meltdownoutrage mobscapegoated

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    SeriouslyMore neutral: (omit)

    Adds editorial incredulity rather than describing the event neutrally.

    Seriously

    Used byThe Daily Wire (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    total meltdownMore neutral: strong reaction

    Exaggerates a player's reaction with dramatic language rather than describing it neutrally.

    …the funniest reaction in the WNBA as Sophie Cunningham laughs off A’ja Wilson’s total meltdown over a fan simply pointing a finger.

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    outrage mobMore neutral: online critics

    Dismisses critics collectively as an irrational mob rather than describing their actions.

    …broadcast panel completely missed the mark by rushing to defend Wilson, and the outrage mob on Bluesky immediately scapegoated Indiana fans with wild accusations before anyone…

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    scapegoatedMore neutral: blamed

    Implies unfair blame-shifting as settled fact.

    …the mark by rushing to defend Wilson, and the outrage mob on Bluesky immediately scapegoated Indiana fans with wild accusations before anyone even knew what was said.

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

Show 14 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Sensational language

    Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution appears to be alive and wellMore neutral: (omit comparison)

    Compares the firing to a violent historical political purge, a hyperbolic framing rather than a factual description.

    …Oregon, where 20th-century Chinese Communist dictator Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution appears to be alive and well.

    Used byThe Western Journal (Far Right)

  • Partisan shorthand

    Wokeness LivesMore neutral: Team Reverses Hiring Decision

    Uses a politically loaded term to characterize the event rather than describing it neutrally.

    Wokeness Lives: NBA Team Fires New Play-by-Play Man Over 'Racist' Social Media Posts from His…

    Used byThe Western Journal (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    ripe old age of 15More neutral: age 15

    Sarcastic phrasing undercuts the seriousness of the posts rather than describing the fact neutrally.

    Because over a decade ago, beginning at the ripe old age of 15, Bell posted some pretty offensive things on social media.

    Used byRedState (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    That’s totally not a creepy thing to sayMore neutral: (omit)

    Sarcastic editorializing rather than neutral description.

    That’s totally not a creepy thing to say

    Used byThe Daily Caller (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    super brave investigative reporterMore neutral: a reporter

    Sarcastically mocks the reporter's work rather than describing it neutrally.

    The same day the team hired Braiden Bell, a super brave investigative reporter from a local Portland outlet, KGW, obtained dirt on him: the reporter…

    Used byThe Daily Caller (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    The horror!More neutral: (omit)

    Sarcastic exaggeration mocking the seriousness of the posts.

    The horror!

    Used byThe Daily Caller (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    RailroadedMore neutral: Fired

    Presents the firing as an unjust process as settled fact rather than a contested characterization.

    NBA Announcer Gets Railroaded Over Tweets Posted When He Was 15

    Used byThe Daily Caller (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    a little sillyMore neutral: (omit characterization)

    Editorializes about the team's decision rather than describing it neutrally.

    …has a zero-tolerance policy toward this behavior, but aren’t we getting a little silly here?

    Used byTownhall (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    rippedMore neutral: criticized

    Adds drama to a disagreement rather than describing it neutrally.

    Craig Carton ripped the Portland Trail Blazers for firing Braiden Bell over old tweets, arguing a…

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Partisan shorthand

    cancel cultureMore neutral: backlash over past posts

    A politically loaded term that frames the event within a contested ideological narrative.

    Craig Carton calls out cancel culture after Portland Trail Blazers cut ties with newly hired announcer

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Vague attribution

    raising questionsMore neutral: state the question and who is asking

    The writer is raising the question while pretending someone else did.

    …Portland Trail Blazers play-by-play announcer over tweets he posted at age 15, raising questions about accountability.

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    ever-ravenous outrage mobMore neutral: online criticism

    Dismisses critics collectively as an irrational mob rather than describing their actions.

    …of said tweets and ousted Bell immediately, presumably out of fear of the ever-ravenous outrage mob.

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    sinks to new lowMore neutral: criticized for

    Exaggerated condemnation presented as fact rather than a factual description of the event.

    Media sinks to new low by digging up tweets that got announcer fired by cowardly Blazers

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    cowardly BlazersMore neutral: Trail Blazers

    Attaches a pejorative character judgment to the team rather than describing its action.

    Media sinks to new low by digging up tweets that got announcer fired by cowardly Blazers

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

Words quoted from someone else (1)Hide the quoted words

Loaded words that outlets reported someone else saying. They show what was said, not how the outlet chose to say it.

  • Partisan shorthand

    Quoted

    cancel cultureMore neutral: was fired or lost a contract

    Frames consequences as persecution; state what happened.

    Many sane people thought we had made it to the other side of "cancel culture," but apparently that isn't the case.

    Quoted byFox News (Far Right)

    Inside a quotation: the outlets are reporting someone else’s words.

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

1 outlet

Leads with

  • timeline of hiring and firing
  • content of the old posts
  • team's statement

Leaves out

  • Bell's later apology

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

See the headline from the leftHide the headlines
  • The Daily BeastFar Left

    NBA Broadcaster Fired Just Hours Into New Job

    The Portland Trail Blazers fired a new play-by-play broadcaster within hours of hiring him after past racist and misogynistic posts surfaced on X. The team dumped Braiden Bell, 29, after posts from 2012 and 2013 surfaced, when he was about 15. …

    Read 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

4 outlets · 4 opinion

Leads with

  • Bell's young age (14 or 15) when posts were written
  • characterization of the firing as an overreaction
  • criticism of the reporter/station that found the posts
  • framing of the team as capitulating to outrage

Leaves out

  • Bell's apology statement (in most opinion pieces)

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

See the 8 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

    4 hr 55 min later

    Its first report, Oct 2, 5:31 AM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    New York Post, Oct 2, 12:36 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. New York PostRightOct 2, 12:36 AM EDT
  2. The Daily BeastFar LeftOct 2, 5:31 AM EDT
  3. Fox NewsFar RightOct 2, 10:26 AM EDT
  4. TheBlazeFar RightOct 2, 11:15 AM EDT
  5. TownhallFar RightOct 2, 3:30 PM EDT

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

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