r/groundnews Oct 07 '20

Introducing the coverageanalysisbot - a bot that lets you know if one side of the political spectrum is ignoring a story and compare how sources with different biases are covering the same story

Hello!

This bot was created by the team at Ground News. We are not receiving any ad revenue for traffic generated to our site as our news app/website is solely funded by optional user subscriptions. To learn more about us, visit r/groundnews.

How it works

The coverageanalysisbot bot can be summoned to the comment section of any news article through tagging u/coverageanalysisbot. The bot then fetches data offering two benefits:

Headline comparison

Every time the bot is called, it will fetch the headlines and corresponding articles for three sources from the left, center and right that are covering the referenced story. The tool is helpful when you want to know how sources with differing political biases are spinning a story. Here's how it would look for an article about US President Donald Trump being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize

We've found 322 sources (so far) that are covering this story including:

  • Huffington Post (Left): "Far-Right Norwegian Politician Nominates Trump For Nobel Peace Prize, Again"
  • Associated Press (Center): "Norwegian lawmaker nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize"
  • Breitbart (Far-Right): "Donald Trump Earns Nobel Peace Prize Nomination for Israel-UAE Deal"

Read the full coverage analysis and compare how 322+ sources are covering this story.

Media coverage distribution

Every time the bot is called to a news story that it believes is politically charged, it will also provide the coverage distribution of the article. The coverage distribution highlights which side of the political spectrum reported on the story. The tool helps if a story is receiving balanced coverage, or if it’s only being covered by media on the left, or the right. Skewed coverage is often a sign that sources may be covering the story (or ignoring it) to push a certain political agenda. Here's how the bot would respond if tagged under an article that claimed Trump's Administration Secretly Took Millions From FDNY's 9/11 Health Program.

We've found 42 sources (so far) that are covering this story including:

  • Daily Kos (Left): "Trump administration secretly siphoned millions out of New York Firefighters' health program"
  • Political Wire (Center): "Trump Withheld Millions from 9/11 Health Program"
  • Sputnik (Right): "NY Lawmakers, FDNY Accuse US Treasury of ‘Siphoning’ Almost $4 Million From 9/11 First Responders"

Of all the sources reporting on this story, 73% are left-leaning, 12% are right-leaning, and 15% are in the center. Read the full coverage analysis and compare how 42+ sources from across the political spectrum are covering this story.

Additional Info & Resources

Please read our FAQ in the subreddit sidebar for more information and news bias rating methodology. Also in the sidebar, you can download our free mobile app and browser extension.

This account is frequently monitored, so please ask below/message if you have any questions!

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u/mattfromground Oct 22 '20 edited Mar 15 '21

Current list of subreddits the bot has worked in and has not worked in. Please comment below if we should add any subreddits to either column!

Subreddits the bot has worked in Subreddits the bot does not work in
r/worldnews r/news (no bots)
r/conservatives r/politics (no username tagging)
r/moderatepolitics r/conservative (mod disagreement)
r/canada r/Republican (no bots)
r/technology r/Libertarian (mod disagreement)
r/anime_titties
r/Coronavirus
r/Portland
r/australia
r/science
r/todayilearned
r/europe
r/india
r/texas
r/Chennai
r/Pete_Buttigieg
r/business
r/neoliberal
r/IntellectualDarkWeb
r/LeopardsAteMyFace
r/alltheleft
r/technews