METHODOLOGY

How we select, analyse and compare the news from dozens of countries. Every step is detailed here, plainly.

THE ANALYSIS PIPELINE

Every published topic follows an automated process, governed by checks and editorial supervision, in 4 main steps:

THE 4-STEP PROCESS

COLLECTION

We continuously gather articles from a broad network of outlets — public broadcasters, independent and mainstream press — across dozens of countries.

SEMANTIC SELECTION

Semantic selection groups articles about the same event across languages — and keeps, for each country, the articles genuinely on-topic, with at least two distinct outlets per perspective.

PERSPECTIVE WRITING

AI writes each country's viewpoint — not a single outlet's voice but the national gaze — from its real articles: dominant angle, framing, detected biases, cited sources. This is synthesis of existing content, not invention.

COMPARISON & PUBLICATION

A meta-analysis computes divergences and blind spots; automated checks and an editorial review precede publication — always with every source, so you can verify.

AI TRANSPARENCY

AI is at the heart of our process: we combine several models, including Claude (Anthropic), for analysis and translation. We treat it as a tool for consistency, not impartiality. The Refract's editorial voice aims to be neutral; national perspectives reflect, by design, each country's point of view.

WHAT AI DOES NOT DO

■It does not invent facts — it synthesises existing articles, whose links are verified.
■It does not choose the angles — it restitutes those that dominate each country's press.
■It does not arbitrate who is right — it shows how each country frames the information.

WHY AI?

A French journalist naturally analyzes news through a French lens. An American journalist, through an American lens. It's human nature.

AI lets us analyse each national coverage with the same reading grid, without allegiance to any country or editorial line. It is not perfect — no tool is — but it guarantees analytical consistency across all covered countries.

Each analysis is accompanied by its sources so you can verify for yourself.

THE AI PIPELINE IN DETAIL

Our pipeline turns raw news into structured multi-perspective analysis, under automated checks and editorial supervision, in 6 steps.

THE 6-STEP PIPELINE

SOURCES

A broad network of outlets — public broadcasters, independent and mainstream press — weighted by editorial diversity, across dozens of countries.

SEMANTIC VECTORISATION

Semantic selection groups articles about the same event across languages, without relying on keywords.

SIMILARITY SELECTION

For each country we keep the articles genuinely on-topic, with at least two distinct outlets per perspective — otherwise the country is dropped, to avoid off-topic or single-source perspectives.

PERSPECTIVE WRITING

An AI model writes each country's viewpoint from its real articles — not an outlet's voice but the national gaze. It detects angle, framing and biases. Synthesis of existing content, never invention; every link is checked automatically.

META-ANALYSIS & NEUTRALITY

THE 8 FRAMING LABELS

Each national perspective receives one of 8 framing labels that describe how the country's media frames the story:

ACCUSATORY

Coverage that assigns blame or responsibility to a specific actor, government, or group.

DEFENSIVE

Coverage that justifies, minimizes, or deflects criticism of a specific actor or policy.

FACTUAL

Coverage that focuses on reporting verifiable facts with minimal editorial framing.

NUANCED

Coverage that presents multiple viewpoints, acknowledges complexity, and avoids binary framing.

ALARMIST

Coverage that emphasizes danger, urgency, or worst-case scenarios to provoke concern.

VICTIMIZING

THE BIASES WE DETECT

Each national perspective is screened against 10 types of media bias. Here is our analysis framework:

FRAMING

The way a topic is presented influences the reader's perception. The same event can be framed as an economic crisis or a reform opportunity.

OMISSION

What is left unsaid is sometimes more revealing than what is written. Selective omission of facts shapes the reader's understanding.

SENSATIONALISM

Exaggeration of facts or use of dramatic language to capture attention, at the expense of nuance and accuracy.

APPEAL TO FEAR

Use of catastrophic scenarios or threats to influence opinion, often disproportionate to the actual risks.

APPEAL TO EMOTION

Use of emotionally charged testimonies or images to shape opinion without relying on factual arguments.

THE FRAMING GAP

Every story shows a framing gap: it places the story among all the others by how varied the national readings are. It measures spread — it is not a judgement on the media.

HOW IS IT CALCULATED?

0 — below measurement threshold50100 — very distant accounts

Before anything is written, we fix four possible frames for the story — say security, diplomatic, economic, sovereignty — each with a definition specific to that story. Those four are derived from the headline and summary alone, so before any national perspective exists. Each country is then assigned ONE of the four: the one describing what its press TAKES AWAY from the event, not the category of the event itself. A court verdict is a legal fact, but if the British press draws a lesson about Chinese debt from it, the British frame is economic. Only national perspectives count: exile media are excluded.

The score is the probability that two countries picked at random frame the event differently. All countries on one frame gives 0; all on distinct frames gives 100. One important caveat: frames assigned at random would give 85, not 100 — beyond that level there is no structure left to read. That is why the page shows a rank within the catalogue rather than a number out of 100. Below six countries no rank is shown: we measured that at five countries the score swings by thirteen points depending on which countries the collection happened to reach, and by twenty-seven at three.

WHAT THIS GAP CANNOT SEE

The frame is assigned by a model, from the dominant angle the country itself produced. An automated check verifies that the frame is one of the four offered — it does not verify that it is right. It is a judgement, stated as one, and that is why the frame appears next to the country's angle: you can dispute it. Two limits remain. Two countries can share a frame and still contradict each other on the numbers: a toll of 14 dead and a toll of 18 dead both sit in the humanitarian frame. And a frame is a single label, where real coverage often mixes several. The number therefore does not replace reading the facts, the sources and the perspectives, all of which stay available.

SOURCES BY COUNTRY

For each country, we analyze a diverse panel of media covering different editorial spectrums:

🇦🇷

ARGENTINA

Mainstream press (Clarin, La Nacion), digital media (Infobae), left-leaning press (Pagina/12)

🇦🇺

AUSTRALIA

Public media (ABC Australia), national press (The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald), international press (The Guardian Australia)

🇧🇷

BRAZIL

Mainstream press (Folha de S.Paulo, O Globo, Estadao), independent media (The Brazilian Report)

🇨🇦

CANADA

MethodologySources.ca

🇨🇱

CHILE

MethodologySources.cl

🇨🇳

CHINA

State media (Xinhua, CGTN, Global Times), official press (People's Daily)

🇨🇴

COLOMBIA

National press (El Tiempo, El Espectador), opinion media (Semana), investigative journalism (La Silla Vacia)

🇪🇬

EGYPT

ETHICS AND LIMITATIONS

No analysis tool is perfect. Here is what we acknowledge and what we are aware of:

■The AI we use is not impartial. But it applies the same analytical framework to all countries, without national allegiance.
■Our sources are cited and accessible. You can always verify the original analysis.
■We do not cover every country in the world. Our panel of dozens of countries offers significant geographic diversity but not exhaustiveness.
■Syntheses are simplifications. No summary can capture the entirety of a national coverage.

CORRECTIONS POLICY

We promptly correct any factual error reported to us. Here is how it works:

■Any error can be reported via the contact page or at [email protected] — every report is reviewed by the publication director.
■Confirmed factual errors are corrected on the affected page as soon as they are validated, generally within 48 hours.
■Corrected subjects get an updated modification date in our metadata; substantial corrections are noted on the page itself.

A second pass computes the divergence score, consensus points and blind spots. The Refract voice (title, synthesis) is screened by a neutrality check; automated checks and editorial supervision precede publication.

TRANSLATION & THE PRISM

Translation FR↔EN, then publication with all sources. Each week, The Prism distils the news and issues dated predictions, later settled publicly — an owned track record, wins and losses alike.

CRITICAL

Coverage that questions, challenges, or scrutinizes an actor, policy, or claim with a skeptical tone.

FALSE BALANCE

Presenting two positions as equivalent when the scientific or factual consensus clearly leans to one side.

CONFIRMATION BIAS

Tendency to select and present information that confirms a pre-existing thesis while ignoring contrary evidence.

SOURCE BIAS

Excessive dependence on certain sources (official, anonymous) without diversification or cross-verification.

CULTURAL BIAS

Interpretation of events through the cultural lens of the country, projecting local values onto international situations.

DISINFORMATION

Deliberate dissemination of false or misleading information, whether state propaganda or editorial manipulation.

🇪🇹

ETHIOPIA

Independent press (Addis Standard, Ethiopian Reporter), state media (Fana Broadcasting, The Ethiopian Herald)

🇫🇷

FRANCE

Mainstream press (Le Monde, Le Figaro), public media (France 24, RFI), independent press (Mediapart)

🇩🇪

GERMANY

Reference press (Der Spiegel, Die Zeit), public media (Deutsche Welle, ARD), regional press

🇮🇳

INDIA

English-language press (The Hindu, Times of India, NDTV), public media (Doordarshan), independent press (The Wire)

🇮🇷

IRAN

State media (Press TV, Tehran Times), opposition media (Iran International), independent press (IranWire)

🇮🇶

IRAQ

Kurdish media (Rudaw, Kurdistan 24), state agency (Iraqi News Agency), independent press (Iraqi News)

🇮🇱

ISRAEL

Reference press (Haaretz), English-language media (Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post), rolling news (i24NEWS)

🇮🇹

ITALY

National press (Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica), news agency (ANSA), business press (Il Sole 24 Ore)

🇯🇵

JAPAN

National agencies (Kyodo, Jiji), mainstream press (Asahi Shimbun, NHK), business press (Nikkei)

🇰🇪

KENYA

National press (Daily Nation, The Standard), regional coverage (The East African), online media (Capital FM)

🇲🇽

MEXICO

National press (El Universal, Reforma), independent media (Animal Politico), progressive press (La Jornada)

🇳🇬

NIGERIA

Investigative press (Premium Times), national press (The Punch, Vanguard Nigeria), business press (ThisDay)

🇵🇰

PAKISTAN

Reference press (Dawn), mainstream media (Geo News, The News International), English-language press (Express Tribune)

🇵🇭

PHILIPPINES

National press (Philippine Daily Inquirer), investigative media (Rappler), mainstream press (Manila Bulletin, ABS-CBN News)

🇵🇱

POLAND

Public media (TVP World), reference press (Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita), English-language media (Notes from Poland)

🇸🇦

SAUDI ARABIA

State media (Al Arabiya, Arab News), pan-Arab press (Asharq Al-Awsat), local press (Saudi Gazette)

🇸🇬

SINGAPORE

National press (The Straits Times), public media (Channel News Asia), online press (TODAY, The Independent Singapore)

🇰🇷

SOUTH KOREA

National agency (Yonhap News), English-language press (Korea Herald), progressive press (Hankyoreh), conservative press (Chosun Ilbo)

🇹🇼

TAIWAN

English-language press (Taipei Times, Taiwan News), national agency (Focus Taiwan), analytical press (CommonWealth Magazine)

🇹🇷

TURKEY

Mainstream press (Hurriyet, Daily Sabah), public media (TRT World), independent press (Bianet)

🇺🇦

UKRAINE

State agency (Ukrinform), independent press (Kyiv Independent, Ukrainska Pravda), online media (Babel)

🇦🇪

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Official agency (WAM), national press (The National, Gulf News, Khaleej Times)

🇬🇧

UNITED KINGDOM

National press (The Guardian, The Times), public media (BBC), tabloids (Daily Mail)

🇺🇸

UNITED STATES

Mainstream (NYT, Washington Post), cable news (CNN, Fox News), independent media (AP, Reuters US)