AllSides analyzed under-reported and omitted stories across the political spectrum this week. Here’s what you may have missed:
What The Right Missed
July Heat Kills at Least 69 Americans, Data Suggests More
What’s The Story? July’s heat claimed at least 69 American lives this year, according to a Washington Post (Lean Left) analysis. “That figure puts the heat wave on par with some of the deadliest weather events of the 21st century,” the outlet reported, “exacting a direct toll more than twice that of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which killed 31, and more than Hurricane Harvey’s 68 deaths in 2017.”
Both the Post’s analysis and a joint investigation by NPR (Lean Left) and Boston University suggested that heat-related deaths are being undercounted, and the Post said such underestimations “expos[e] the shortcomings of the United States’ slow and sometimes haphazard approach to assessing deaths from extreme temperatures.”
Why The Miss? The Post attributed the fatalities to some of the most extreme temperatures on record that “put immense strain on the human body.” It cited conditions from kidney strain to organ failure and pointed to greenhouse gas-induced global warming as the driving factor.
Media on the right are generally less concerned with humans’ potential effects on climate change and likely dodged this story to both avoid spotlighting negativity on the current administration and maintain focus on issues of more interest to conservatives.
Court Denounces Constitutional Rights to Clean Water
What’s The Story? Americans have no constitutional rights to clean water and related information, according to a US appeals court ruling last week. The 10-5 vote ended a 2022 lawsuit that claimed Mississippi state officials lied about the cleanliness of drinking water, which contained contaminants such as high lead levels. The plaintiffs said the lack of transparency violated their bodily integrity under the 14th Amendment's due process clause.
Why The Miss? AllSides did not find any coverage on this story from the right. This may be due to the sizable conservative majority among Mississippi officials ahead of the 2026 Midterm Elections. Mother Jones (Left) further criticized that the ruling came as “the Trump administration moves to weaken clean-water-related protections.”
What The Left Missed
Police Chief Labels Shooters as ‘Trigger Pullers’
What’s The Story? Interim Seattle Police Chief Andre Sayles referred to shooters as “trigger pullers” on Monday, when discussing efforts to reduce and prosecute gun violence in the city. This followed three shootings in the city that left three dead and three others wounded during the weekend.
Why The Miss? Politicians and media outlets use biased terminology to support their ideological agendas. Associated Press (Lean Left), for example, choicely uses the term “anti-abortion” instead of “pro-life,” tying a negative connotation to abortion opponents with the prefix “anti.” Similarly, Fox News (Right) uses the term “anti-Israel” instead of pro-Palestine.
In this case, Libs of TikTok (Right) criticized this hypocrisy among Democrats’ terminology and stated, “The same people who melted down for a week about Trump renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America are now calling shooters ‘trigger pullers.’” Townhall (Right) made similar comparisons, such as noting some liberals calling women “birthing persons,” and further asserted, “Blaming the guns gives them the grounds to try to confiscate guns from law-abiding citizens, which is their ultimate goal.”
The Daily Wire (Right) compared Sayles’ “sanitized choice of words” to the rhetoric of “Woke One,” from which many Democrats have distanced themselves ahead of the 2026 Midterm Elections.
What Everyone Missed
‘Operation Statewide Shield’ Recovers 163 Missing Children in Florida
What’s The Story? Florida’s “Operation Statewide Shield” located 163 missing children across the state last month. The children, 2 months to 17 years old, reportedly endured “various levels of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or exposure to other criminal activity.” The operation prompted additional rescues in six states, one US territory, and 12 countries, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
Why The Miss? Local outlets, along with Fox News (Right), People Magazine (Lean Left) and Patch (Center) covered this story, but otherwise, reporting was sparse for “one of the largest child-recovery operations in American history.” Because missing children and human trafficking are generally nonpartisan issues, such coverage is not likely to prompt cacophonous social responses. Instead, outlets tend to opt for inflammatory and polarized stories that fit the “if it bleeds, it ledes” narrative and increase audience engagement.
Malayna J. Bizier is a News Analyst and Social Media Editor for AllSides. She has a Right bias.
This piece was reviewed and edited by Education Experience Manager and News Editor Emily Allen (Left), Social Media and News Editor Jessica Carpenter (Center) and Editor-in-chief Henry A. Brechter (Center).
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