The violence in San Bernardino, California on Thursday is the kind of story that tends to lay bare the psyche of news organizations.
Thursday morning's digital covers of the New York Daily News and New York Post provided a sharp contrast in how the media is covering the shootings that have left 14 dead and 17 wounded.
The Daily News took what might be considered the liberal side of the topic, going after Republican candidates for president for their willingness to send thoughts and prayers out on Twitter but not take any legislative action on gun control.
This has been on the cover far too often. https://t.co/kpSUXcAiOA pic.twitter.com/BrHzTr5zsU— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) December 3, 2015
The cover is accompanied by a story on this issue, which leads in plainly: "Prayers aren't working."
The Post went the other way, splashing a graphic picture from the scene of the shooting along with the headline, "Muslim Killers." One of the shooter has been confirmed as a Muslim.
The prospect of violence from Muslims -- and the ensuing debate about xenophobia -- has been widely discussed following the Paris terror attacks, although the motive in the San Bernardino shootings remains unknown.
Today's cover: Muslim newlyweds slaughter coworkers in San Bernardino shooting https://t.co/rNOgk6HXcP pic.twitter.com/5rT98pMgSp— New York Post (@nypost) December 3, 2015
It's worth noting that this is the digital cover, and that some hard copies of the Post appeared with the far less controversial headline of "Murder Mission."
The @nypost print edition I bought says "Murder Mission." The new, digital cover: "Muslim Killers" (see GIF). pic.twitter.com/8GFSV78nlm— sree sreenivasan (@sree) December 3, 2015
The Daily News and the Post regularly publish front pages that generate controversy. Following the murder of two journalist in Virginia that received widespread attention after video of the act was posted online, the papers each published stills from video on their front pages.
The Post's cover was broadly criticized as being almost purposefully outlandish.
Is the @nypost going to start labeling "Christian Killers" to identify mass shooters in nearly all the other cases? https://t.co/lfwCQXKjTJ— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) December 3, 2015
The Daily News also received backlash, most notably from Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, who posted on his website about the cover.
"This attack represents a fundamental problem with the media and politics in general. Attacking religious sentiments to promote an agenda as tragedy strikes is despicable," he wrote.
Many pointed to the covers and the reactions as indicative of current state of the national debate over gun violence.
NY Daily News: "God Isn't Fixing This." NY Post: "Muslim Killers." NY tabloids pretty well sum up the divide in the country.— Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) December 3, 2015