Front page news from today, August 14, 2014.

These are front page screen shots taken between 10:30 and 11:00 am ET. While people to continue to question whether major news outlets are finally covering the ongoing protest and police response in Ferguson, Missouri, the overwhelming answer is “Yes, yes they are.” The follow up question is okay sure, but how are they covering it.

For a quick sense of today’s national and international take on this story, see below for a snapshot of over 20 major news outlets shown in alphabetical order and coded for tone and keywords. Front page coverage is largely sympathetic to protesters, focusing attention on the use of tear gas and rubber bullets by a militarized police force and the arrest of journalists attempting to cover the mayhem.The scene in Missouri was compared to a war zone, Gaza, and Baghdad.

Only two outlets lacked front page coverage of any kind during my collection period: Bloomberg News and Yahoo News.

 

ABC
Tone: Neutral
Keywords: Violence

 

Al Jazeera
Tone: Sympathetic to protesters
Keywords: Police, protest, tear gas, stun grenades

 

Anonymous
Tone: Condemning of police
Keywords: Respect, inflame, humanity

 

BBC
Tone: Sympathetic to protesters
Keywords: Heavily armed police, anger, unarmed black teenager

 

Bloomberg
Tone: Omission
Keywords: N/A

 

CBS
Tone: Sympathetic to police
Keywords: Protests, tear gas, smoke bombs, Molotov cocktails, violent

 

CNN
Tone: Sympathetic to Michael Brown
Keywords: Teen, slaying, shooting

 

Fox News
Tone: Sympathetic to protesters
Keywords: Riot police, angry mobs, racially-charged, unarmed teen, militarization of police

 

Gawker
Tone: Blog roll update
Keywords: Aftermath, what’s happening

 

The Guardian
Tone: Sympathetic to protesters
Keywords: Tear gas, protesters, arrest, war, soldiers

 

Google News
Tone: Sympathetic to protesters
Keywords: Demonstrator, tear gas, shooting, chaos

 

Huffington Post
Tone: Alarmist, Sympathetic to protesters
Keywords: Baghdad, arrested, assaulted, outrage, tear gas, rubber bullets

 

LA Times
Tone: Confusing
Keywords: Violent, armored, assault rifles, tear gas, rubber bullets

 

MSNBC
Tone: Condemning of police
Keywords: Cops, tear gas, arrested

 

NBC
Tone: Neutral
Keywords: Governor, unrest

 

New York Times
Tone: Confusing, Meta
Keywords: Anger, simmers, hackers, social media

 

NPR
Tone: Blog roll update
Keywords: N/A

 

The Onion
Tone: Satirical
Keywords: Black, serving and protecting

 

Reddit
Tone: Condemning of police
Keywords: Tear gas, SWAT

 

Red State
Tone: Sympathetic to protesters (admittedly this is in the article itself)
Keywords: Riot, violence, looting

 

USA Today
Tone: Neutral
Keywords: Governor, clashes

 

Wall Street Journal
Tone: Analytical
Keywords: Divide, tensions, shooting

 

Washington Post
Tone: Condemning of police
Keywords: Gaza, arrested, racial tension, teen’s killing, tear gas, rubber bullets

 

Yahoo News
Tone: Omission
Keywords: N/A