svodka.bg
A news site that writes itself and shows its sources
We built svodka.bg from zero: the website and the automation that reads public sources, writes each story anew, checks it and names its sources.
TWO PILLARS
svodka.bg
Parent company project
Overview
Disclosure: svodka.bg is published by Guardian Holdings JSC, our parent company. We built the site and its automation from zero.
The news site svodka (“сводка”) covers Bulgaria and the world, in Bulgarian. It is made by machine and says so openly on its “How it's made” page. Every story is written anew from the facts in its sources and points to the outlets it is based on.
— Audience: readers who follow the news from Bulgaria and the world
— Scope: website and automation
— Language: Bulgarian
— Site: svodka.bg
It reads its sources the way a reader does
The system reads the public feeds of news agencies, official institutions, newspapers, radio and TV stations and specialist outlets. It introduces itself by name, respects robots.txt and never goes through paid or closed doors. Every source is listed on a public page, with its current status and the number of published stories that rely on it.
Two independent sources, as a rule
As a rule, a story goes out when two independent sources report the same thing. One source is enough only for first-tier outlets and for primary sources: institutions announcing their own decision, data or statement. Such a story names its source in the headline or the subheading and carries a “one source” label. If another independent outlet reports the same within 18 hours, the label comes off and the confirmation is shown above the sources. A story that rests only on unnamed sources does not go out until someone confirms it by name.
Under every story sit its sources and what each one did: reported first or confirmed.
Written anew, checked before it goes out
No source text is shown word for word: eight consecutive words that match someone else's text stop the story automatically. Before it is published, every story is checked for spelling, definite articles, typography, loanwords, length and overlap with its source. Each one sits in one of eight sections, from Bulgaria and the World to Science.
Numbers with their source
Under a story about an earthquake, a fire, a storm or a disaster alert there can be a “Measured on site” block: the magnitude, the alert level or the fires seen by satellite. Every number links to its primary source, and a note says what the data does not tell.
Mistakes are corrected in public
When a story turns out wrong, the text is corrected, the correction stands above it and goes into a public list of corrections, together with every takedown. The publication answers for what it publishes, not the model and not the sources.
The “How it's made” page explains these rules in plain words.
What we did
— Website: built from zero — the home page, eight sections, topics, search, a feed, story pages with their sources, and the pages on sources, corrections and how the site is made
— Automation: the system that reads the sources, groups the reports, writes each story anew, runs the checks and publishes
The site is live at svodka.bg.
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