News in Review: Friday, February 17, 2023

What does the news landscape look like?

Nikki Haley's announcement that she is running for president has created enough buzz around the 2024 election to make it the top story over the past few days. The Ohio train derailment has continued to rise in the rankings. John Fetterman’s hospitalization and Georgia’s Trump election probe entered the new cycle yesterday.

This is how the top stories were covered on each side of the media yesterday:

• Trump / Haley / 2024 (3% more on the left)

• Ohio train derailment (69% more on the right)

• UFOs / spy balloons (25% more on the right)

Media bias ratings are from AllSides.

This is how articles from liberal and conservative outlets were distributed over the past five days amongst the top stories.

Liberal outlets used these words more than conservative outlets:

• court (2.5x)

• special (1.8x)

• pence (1.8x)

Conservative outlets used these words more than liberal outlets:

• buttigieg (3.8x)

• prime (1.9x)

• lemon (1.5x)

What is happening in the top stories?

Now for a deep dive into our top three stories, starting with…

Trump / Haley / 2024

• Nikki Haley brought her presidential campaign to New Hampshire, warning Republicans to stop rehashing “old issues” and start looking forward.

• Former Vice President Mike Pence hinted that he may join the 2024 race for the White House.

Ohio train derailment

• On Feb 3, a 150-car Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, carrying hazardous chemicals and other material.

• The Biden administration has said it will hold the rail operator accountable for the incident.

• The EPA has not detected any “levels of concern” of hazardous substances released during or after the crash.

• The Biden administration is taking flak from both sides of the political spectrum over the reaction to the derailment.

UFOs / spy balloons

• Former Vice President Pence criticized President Biden’s briefing on the objects shot down over the past couple of weeks, saying it was “too little, too late”.

• President Biden said the U.S. is developing “sharper rules” to track, monitor and potentially shoot down unknown aerial objects.

• Biden dismissed reporters for not being “polite” following his speech on the recent string of UFO sightings.

• Frustration on Capitol Hill is mounting after a string of aerial objects were shot down over U.S. and Canadian airspace in the last few days.