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Two Colorado college students die after climbing anchor fails, officials say

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 5 outlets, mostly left-leaning (60%).

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

Side-by-side portrait photos of two young men, one wearing a Parlor Custom Skis cap.
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The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office and coroner said two Colorado Mountain College Leadville students, Jackson Donlon, 20, and Kaden Matsuda, 19, died after an anchor they were using failed during a climb in Chaffee County. Officials said the men fell a substantial distance and died from multiple blunt force injuries. They were reported missing on Oct. 26 after leaving campus for a hike on Ice Mountain. Officials said the cause of the anchor failure is unknown.

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

What happened

Key points

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

  1. Two Colorado Mountain College students, Jackson Donlon, 20, and Kaden Matsuda, 19, died after an anchor failed and they fell a substantial distance, officials said.

    Reported byLeft2Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    NBC News, ABC News
    Right
    New York Post

  2. Officials said both men died from multiple blunt force injuries.

    One outletNBC News· Left

  3. Officials said the cause of the anchor failure is unknown.

    One outletNBC News· Left

  4. The students were reported missing on Oct. 26 after leaving campus for a hike on Ice Mountain, officials said.

    One outletNBC News· Left

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report that two Colorado college students died after an anchor failed and they fell a substantial distance. The left stresses officials’ account and the unknown cause, while the right leads with the cause of death as a horrific revelation.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Left headlines attribute the deaths to officials or AP reporting, with NBC leading on the ‘substantial distance’ fall and ABC on the anchor breaking.

    Colorado college students fell ‘substantial distance’ to their deaths, officials say
    NBC NewsLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    NewsNation’s headline reports that a cause of death was revealed, in neutral wording that uses no adjectives.

    Cause of death revealed for students found dead in Colorado mountains
    NewsNationCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    1 outlet

    The New York Post headline leads with the cause of death and a ‘Horrific’ label, framing the students’ fate as a shocking revelation.

    Sensational language“Horrific”The adjective adds an emotional judgement about the event before the reader reads the facts, where a plain description would serve.More neutral: fatalDisagree with this highlight? cause of death revealed for college students who went missing on Ice Mountain climb
    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.

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right1

    Horrific

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    HorrificMore neutral: fatal

    The adjective adds an emotional judgement about the event before the reader reads the facts, where a plain description would serve.

    Horrific cause of death revealed for college students who went missing on Ice Mountain climb

    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

3 outlets

Leads with

  • fell a substantial distance
  • catastrophic failure
  • missing hike on Ice Mountain
See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • The Daily BeastFar Left

    Disturbing Cause of Missing College Hikers’ Deaths Revealed

    Two college students found dead after disappearing during a Colorado mountain hike died from multiple blunt force injuries after falling a significant distance while rappelling, authorities have confirmed. …

    Read at The Daily Beast (opens in a new tab)
  • NBC NewsLeft

    Colorado college students fell ‘substantial distance’ to their deaths, officials say

    Two college students who went missing on a hike in central Colorado last month fell to their deaths after a “catastrophic failure” while rappelling, authorities said Tuesday.

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

    College students found dead in mountains fell to deaths when climbing anchor broke

    Authorities say the two Colorado college students whose bodies were recovered last week died when an anchor they were using to climb failed and they fell a “substantial distance."

    Read at ABC News (opens in a new tab)

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • cause of death revealed
  • students found dead in mountains
See the headline from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

1 outlet

Leads with

  • Horrific cause of death
  • catastrophic failure while rappelling
  • Upstate New York native

Leaves out

  • the cause of the anchor failure is unknown

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

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

    Sensational language“Horrific”The adjective adds an emotional judgement about the event before the reader reads the facts, where a plain description would serve.More neutral: fatalDisagree with this highlight? cause of death revealed for college students who went missing on Ice Mountain climb

    Two college students who vanished during a Colorado mountain hike fell to their deaths after suffering a “catastrophic failure” while rappelling, police have revealed. …

    Read at New York Post (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

    23 min later

    Its first report, Nov 3, 8:54 PM EST

  • Center

    First to report

    NewsNation, Nov 3, 8:31 PM EST

  • Right

    11 hr later

    Its first report, Nov 4, 7:32 AM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. NewsNationCenterNov 3, 8:31 PM EST
  2. ABC NewsLeftNov 3, 8:54 PM EST
  3. New York PostRightNov 4, 7:32 AM EST
  4. NBC NewsLeftNov 4, 10:07 AM EST
  5. The Daily BeastFar LeftNov 4, 10:31 AM EST

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

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