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TSA officers find bladed, claw-like object in carry-on bag at Seattle airport

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Coverage spectrum

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

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

TSA officers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport found a bladed, claw-like object on X-ray images of a carry-on bag and searched the bag, the agency said. TSA said the item resembled Wolverine-style claws and Freddy Krueger blades, and that officers Douglas Linn and Dennis Oishi found it. The agency posted photos of the item on social media and urged travelers to pack such items in checked bags.

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. TSA officers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport found a bladed, claw-like object on X-ray images of a carry-on bag and searched the bag.

    Reported byLeft1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Right
    The Washington Times
    Far Right
    Fox News

  2. TSA said the item resembled Wolverine-style claws and Freddy Krueger blades.

    Reported byLeft1Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Right
    The Washington Times
    Far Right
    Fox News

  3. Officers Douglas Linn and Dennis Oishi were involved in the find, according to TSA.

    Reported byLeft1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Far Right
    Fox News

  4. TSA posted photos of the item on social media.

    Reported byLeft1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Far Right
    Fox News

  5. TSA urged travelers to pack such items in checked bags.

    One outletCBS News· Left

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side present reports that TSA officers at Seattle-Tacoma found a bladed, claw-like object on an X-ray and searched a carry-on bag. The right-side outlets lean on horror and Halloween imagery, while the left-side outlet quotes TSA’s “mutant blades” and comic-book comparison; the main difference is tone rather than facts.

  • the left

    1 outlet

    The one left-side headline, from CBS News, repeats the agency’s term “mutant blades” and presents the find through a comic-book and horror comparison, closer to TSA’s own wording.

    TSA finds sharp "Sensational language“mutant blades”The headline repeats the agency’s dramatic term without attribution, and the term adds a fantasy tone to a security find.More neutral: bladesThese are TSA’s words. The outlet is reporting them.Disagree with this highlight?" in carry-on bag at Seattle airport
    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-side headlines lean into horror and Halloween imagery, such as “straight out of horror movie” and “Nightmare at Sea-Tac”, framing the find as a spooky curiosity.

    TSA finds sharp object straight out of horror movie at airport security checkpoint
    Fox 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.

  • Right2

    chillingNightmare

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    chillingMore neutral: unusual

    The adjective adds a sense of dread that the reported facts do not establish.

    …routine security screening at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) uncovered a chilling object that seemed straight out of a horror movie.

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    NightmareMore neutral: Unusual item

    The word adds drama to a routine security find.

    Nightmare at Sea-Tac: TSA finds Freddy Krueger-like claws at Seattle airport

    Used byThe Washington Times (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.

  • Sensational language

    Quoted

    mutant bladesMore neutral: blades

    The headline repeats the agency’s dramatic term without attribution, and the term adds a fantasy tone to a security find.

    TSA finds sharp "mutant blades" in carry-on bag at Seattle airport

    Quoted byCBS News (Left)

    These are TSA’s words. The outlets are reporting them.

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

  • TSA’s own wording, “mutant blades”
  • comic-book and horror-film comparison
  • the two officers named
See the headline from the leftHide the headlines
  • CBS NewsLeft

    TSA finds sharp "Sensational language“mutant blades”The headline repeats the agency’s dramatic term without attribution, and the term adds a fantasy tone to a security find.More neutral: bladesThese are TSA’s words. The outlet is reporting them.Disagree with this highlight?" in carry-on bag at Seattle airport

    TSA officers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport found sharp "mutant blades" in a carry-on bag that resembled something out of a comic book or horror film.

    Read at CBS 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

  • horror-movie and Halloween comparisons
  • the officer’s amazement at the find
  • Wolverine and Freddy Krueger references
See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • The Washington TimesRight

    Sensational language“Nightmare”The word adds drama to a routine security find.More neutral: Unusual itemDisagree with this highlight? at Sea-Tac: TSA finds Freddy Krueger-like claws at Seattle airport

    Security officers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport got an early Halloween surprise when a man tried to get a pair of pointed claws straight out of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" through a checkpoint.

    Read at The Washington Times (opens in a new tab)
  • Fox NewsFar Right

    TSA finds sharp object straight out of horror movie at airport security checkpoint

    TSA officers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spotted Wolverine-style claws on an X-ray, calling it the most unusual find they've made in two years.

    Read at Fox News (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

    3 hr 54 min later

    Its first report, Oct 28, 12:47 PM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    Fox News, Oct 28, 8:53 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Fox NewsFar RightOct 28, 8:53 AM EDT
  2. The Washington TimesRightOct 28, 11:22 AM EDT
  3. CBS NewsLeftOct 28, 12:47 PM EDT

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

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