How We Build Intelligence

This site demonstrates systematic analysis at scale. Here's how we identify persuasion techniques, calculate influence scores, and turn overwhelming information into clear insights.

What We Analyze

Every news article uses techniques to influence readers. We identify and measure these techniques to help you make informed decisions about what to believe and how much additional verification you want to do.

What We Provide for Each Article

Credibility Score (0-100%)

How straightforward the article's presentation is. 100% means minimal influence techniques, 0% means intensive use of persuasion methods.

Agenda Title

What the article wants you to believe - the conclusion it's pushing you toward, displayed alongside the original headline.

Neutral Facts

Verifiable information from the article stripped of influence techniques - what actually happened without the spin.

Strategy Breakdown

Visual chart showing which of the 9 influence strategies the article uses and how intensively it uses each one.

Technique Analysis

Detailed explanations of specific influence techniques found, with examples from the article showing exactly how they're used.

Stance & Beneficiaries

Who the article supports, who it opposes, and who benefits if you believe its message.

We don't tell you which conclusions to reach. We help you recognize when articles use techniques that make critical thinking harder.

Using the News Feed

The news feed gives you control over how you consume news. You can switch between seeing what articles want you to think versus what they're actually reporting.

Feed Controls

Newspeak/Credible Toggle

Switch between two reading modes:

  • Newspeak (Default): Shows agenda titles - what the article wants you to believe. Articles using intensive influence techniques appear prominently.
  • Credible Mode: Shows original headlines and promotes straightforward reporting. Articles with fewer influence techniques get visual priority.

Credibility Filter

Filter articles by minimum credibility score:

  • All: Shows everything regardless of credibility
  • 20%+: Hides articles below 20% credibility (80+ influence score)
  • 40%+: Shows moderately credible content and above
  • 60%+: Only fairly credible articles
  • 80%+: Just the most trustworthy reporting

Why Two Modes?

Sometimes you need to see what narratives are being pushed. Other times you just want the facts.

Default mode helps you understand the media landscape - what stories are using heavy influence techniques? Credible mode helps you find reliable information quickly when you need trustworthy sources.

How We Calculate Scores

Our scoring system identifies 36 specific influence techniques organized into 9 categories. Each technique gets scored 0-3 based on intensity.

Techniques

Specific methods like fear appeals, cherry-picking data, or character attacks. Each corresponds to established research.

9 Strategies

Broader categories like "Appeal to Emotion" that group related techniques together.

1 Final Score

Combines the highest strategy score with bonuses for using multiple strategies simultaneously.

The detailed tabs explain exactly how we score individual techniques, calculate strategy percentages, and combine them into final scores.

Understanding Your Results

Low Scores (0-40)

Articles present information relatively straightforwardly. Normal persuasive language is expected in opinion pieces.

Still verify important claims, but influence techniques aren't overwhelming critical thinking.

Medium Scores (41-70)

Articles use multiple influence techniques that may affect your judgment. Approach with extra skepticism.

Cross-reference with other sources and verify key claims independently.

High Scores (71-100)

Articles use intensive psychological techniques designed to bypass critical thinking.

Consider the source fundamentally unreliable for factual information.

Remember: High scores don't mean the article's conclusions are wrong. They mean the article is working hard to convince you without giving you the tools to evaluate the claims independently.

Using This Page

Each tab provides specific details about different aspects of our analysis:

See all techniques we identify, with examples and Wikipedia links for verification.

Understand how we calculate scores, with concrete examples and mathematical explanations.

Learn our step-by-step analysis method and how scores affect what we trust.

Understand what our analysis can and cannot tell you, plus practical usage guidelines.