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I am working on https://news.r1b.solutions https://news.r1b.solutions out of frustration with Google News. Goals include: * Wire services only * Fast, minimal

by r1b 9y ago

I am working on https://news.r1b.solutions https://news.r1b.solutions out of frustration with Google News. Goals include: * Wire services only * Fast, minimal interface * Global perspective I am currently focused on adding wire services from non-western countries.

RubyPinch 9y ago
If you don't mind me asking, how are you getting the data? just site scraping each source?
- r1b 9y ago
  It comes from Twitter! It is v expensive to directly subscribe to each wire service - also difficult to maintain scrapers for each. Many services already post links to Twitter - for the ones that don't it is easy to create an account driven by a scraper & maintain the common interface. You can check out the code here: https://github.com/r1b/news-wires https://github.com/r1b/news-wires
ilamont 9y ago
I would like this, if only to eliminate the fluff and click bait that dominates unfiltered Google News. For the service you are developing, is there a way to control the topics shown, or eliminate certain subjects or keywords from the display? One comment about using wire services from other countries: Many of them are government-sponsored or otherwise controlled by the government/ruling political parties, and therefore can be quite biased in their presentation of local or regional news. Xinhua, Taiwan's Central News Agency, and Voice of America are examples.
- r1b 9y ago
  Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Filters are on the ROADMAP.md - I am interested in allowing users to create different "views" of the firehose (e.g via presence / absence of keywords) that function in a similar way to Google Alerts. I am aware of the bias that exists in many wire services & I appreciate the reminder. Some would say that there is a significant (western) bias in the services already that I have made available! I am still struggling to find a way to present a global perspective while still making people aware of these prejudices. One of my favorite wire services I have encountered is the Non-Aligned Movement News Network (http://namnewsnetwork.org/v3/index.php http://namnewsnetwork.org/v3/index.php), which was established to publish news that is not controlled by the interests of major world powers.
joe_the_user 9y ago
Good luck - I'm now looking for something like this. You need categories something like google news has/had I'd say.
howard941 9y ago
I like it. Simple and clean. Consider appending a 20-30 word plain text snippet from the first sentence of the linked article to the entry.

by r1b 9y ago

RubyPinch 9y ago

If you don't mind me asking, how are you getting the data? just site scraping each source?

r1b 9y ago
It comes from Twitter! It is v expensive to directly subscribe to each wire service - also difficult to maintain scrapers for each. Many services already post links to Twitter - for the ones that don't it is easy to create an account driven by a scraper & maintain the common interface. You can check out the code here: https://github.com/r1b/news-wires https://github.com/r1b/news-wires

ilamont 9y ago

I would like this, if only to eliminate the fluff and click bait that dominates unfiltered Google News. For the service you are developing, is there a way to control the topics shown, or eliminate certain subjects or keywords from the display? One comment about using wire services from other countries: Many of them are government-sponsored or otherwise controlled by the government/ruling political parties, and therefore can be quite biased in their presentation of local or regional news. Xinhua, Taiwan's Central News Agency, and Voice of America are examples.

r1b 9y ago
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Filters are on the ROADMAP.md - I am interested in allowing users to create different "views" of the firehose (e.g via presence / absence of keywords) that function in a similar way to Google Alerts. I am aware of the bias that exists in many wire services & I appreciate the reminder. Some would say that there is a significant (western) bias in the services already that I have made available! I am still struggling to find a way to present a global perspective while still making people aware of these prejudices. One of my favorite wire services I have encountered is the Non-Aligned Movement News Network (http://namnewsnetwork.org/v3/index.php http://namnewsnetwork.org/v3/index.php), which was established to publish news that is not controlled by the interests of major world powers.

joe_the_user 9y ago

Good luck - I'm now looking for something like this. You need categories something like google news has/had I'd say.

howard941 9y ago

I like it. Simple and clean. Consider appending a 20-30 word plain text snippet from the first sentence of the linked article to the entry.