VantageFeed rates every article it aggregates on a 0–100 credibility scale. This page explains exactly how that score works, in plain language — the same methodology is documented in full technical detail in our public engineering docs.
No. VantageFeed aggregates reporting from outlets across Africa. We generate a summary and a credibility score for each article, but every article links back to the original publisher — we don't republish or rewrite the underlying reporting.
Every article gets a 0–100 score from a five-factor weighted formula: source reputation (30%), cross-source corroboration (25%), AI headline analysis (25%), recency (15%), and content completeness (5%). The score is calculated once, right after an article is ingested, and stored permanently alongside the full breakdown.
Each news source has a 1–5 star factuality rating, set manually by VantageFeed's editors — not by an algorithm. This is the heaviest-weighted factor (30%) because a consistently unreliable source affects everything it publishes. Sources without a rating yet default to a neutral middle score.
VantageFeed checks how many other outlets are reporting a similar story within a few hours of publication. A story only one outlet is running scores lower on this factor; a story multiple independent outlets are covering scores higher — broad, independent coverage is a real signal of accuracy.
An AI model (Groq's Llama 3.3) reads the headline and summary and scores it for clickbait phrasing, sensationalism, and factual language. A headline making unsupported claims or using inflammatory language scores lower on this factor, independent of the outlet's overall reputation.
Verified (80–100): high confidence. Likely (60–79): probably accurate. Unverified (40–59): uncertain, treat with caution. Flagged (0–39): low confidence, verify independently before trusting.
Yes — factuality star ratings are reviewed and updated by VantageFeed's editors as a source's track record evolves. Article scores themselves are calculated once and not retroactively changed, so a source's later rating change affects new articles going forward.
Bet Corner (VantageFeed's football predictions and pundit analysis) is original content, not aggregated news — it isn't scored by the same credibility algorithm, which is built for evaluating third-party news reporting.
Questions about a specific rating, or think we got something wrong? Contact us. See also About VantageFeed and our sources directory.