Blindspot Report
Week of Feb 24 - Mar 2
The weekly Blindspot Report from Ground News puts a spotlight on news that publications from one side of the political spectrum or the other had little to no reporting on.
If your politics lean left, you probably didn’t hear that new US airstrikes in Syria aimed at Iran-backed militias have killed 17. And if your politics bend to the right, you likely didn't hear that a new report by the UN shows that emission-cutting pledges from 75 nations would deliver a combined reduction of only 0.5% from 2010 levels.
This Week's Blindspots
Blindspot for the Left: U.S. air strikes on eastern Syria kill at least 17: sources U.S. military air strikes in eastern Syria killed at least 17, local sources and one medical source said on Friday.The Pentagon has said the strikes were against facilities belonging to Iran-backed militia. There has been no official comment yet by Syria on the attack. Coverage Distribution: 14% Left 14% Center 29% Right 57%  
Blindspot for the Right: United Nations: Countries’ pledges to cut emissions are far too meager to halt climate change Pledges made so far by countries around the globe to cut greenhouse gas emissions fall strikingly short of the profound changes necessary to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, the United Nations said Friday. With 40% of the pledges accounted, only a 0.5% emissions reduction is projected from 2010 levels by 2030. Coverage Distribution: 11% Right Left 51% Center 38% 11%  
Blindspot for the Left: Ex-CIA head Brennan confesses to MSNBC: ‘I’m increasingly embarrassed to be a white male’ Former CIA Director John Brennan confessed to MSNBC's audience on Monday that "I’m increasingly embarrassed to be a white male these days, when I see what my other white males [are] saying." The statement came during a segment on the Jan. 6 Capital riot Coverage Distribution: 8% Left 8% Right 92%  
Blindspot for the Right: Cuomo’s attempt at apology blasted by alleged victim One of the women who said she was sexually harassed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is rejecting his attempt to apologize for his behavior and excuse it as an attempt to be “playful.” Coverage Distribution: 6% Right Left 63% Center 31% 6  
Blindspot for the Left: Digital vaccination passports likely available before summer, Merkel says Digital vaccination certificates enabling people to travel in Europe despite the coronavirus pandemic will probably be available before the summer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after a virtual EU summit. Coverage Distribution: 20% Left 20% 20% Right 60%  
Blindspot for the Right: China returns as top India trade partner even as relations sour China regained its position as India’s top trade partner in 2020, as New Delhi’s reliance on imported machines outweighed its efforts to curb commerce with Beijing after a bloody border conflict. Total imports from China stood at $58.7bn, which were more than India's combined purchases from the US and UAE - its second and third largest trade partners. Coverage Distribution: 13% Right Left 63% 24% 13%  
Something we'd like to promote this week:
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Something we'd like to recommend this week :
Non-partisan political news that isn't boring (From Tangle) Tangle is an independent, ad-free, non-partisan newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from across the political spectrum. The newsletter is curated by a professional politics reporter who shares feedback from readers and criticisms of the arguments in every newsletter. 
Split Reporting
Highlighting discrepancies between the reporting on stories across different news outlets. This week's story:
Democratic senator to introduce universal background check law
What do the different news outlets focus on when reporting on this story?
Vice:
Democrats Just Introduced the
First Major Gun Safety Bill of the Biden Era
CNN:
'This is the year to get it done'
: Democrats move on expanding background checks
Business Insider:
Democrats unveil universal background check legislation to
close the 'gun show loophole'
NPR:
House Lawmakers Launch Fresh Efforts To
Overhaul Nation's Gun Laws
Washington Examiner:
Democrats push to limit guns,
but more people want them
The Post Millennial:
NRA:
'Extreme gun control legislation'
coming next week
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Methodology
Ground News processes over 30,000 news articles each day. Articles from different news outlets covering the same news event are merged into a single story so subscribers can get all the perspectives in one view. Each article is labeled one of seven bias ratings (Far Left, Left, Leans Left, Center, Leans Right, Right, Far Right) based on the average bias rating of the publishing news outlet. All news outlet bias ratings are originally sourced from three independent news monitoring agencies (AllSides, Media Bias Fact Check, Ad Fontes Media).
The Blindspot Report is generated by evaluating the mean and standard deviation of the aggregate bias ratings of the week's top 100 (most covered and most read) stories. News stories with the greatest mean score (many more Right outlets than Left or vice versa) or the highest standard deviation of bias ratings (more coverage on fringes than Center) are selected for the Report.
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