How Source Credibility Scores Work
Our credibility index evaluates Indian news sources across four dimensions: sentiment volatility, extreme content ratio, weekly consistency, and entity coverage diversity. Sources that maintain stable, balanced reporting score higher than those with erratic or sensationalized coverage.
Scoring Methodology
Each source receives a 0-100 credibility score updated daily. We analyze sentiment stability (do they swing wildly?), extreme content (how often do they publish highly polarizing articles?), consistency (is their coverage predictable?), and diversity (do they cover a range of topics and entities?).
30-Day Rolling Analysis
Credibility scores are based on a rolling 30-day window of coverage, ensuring the rankings reflect recent editorial behavior. A source can improve or decline based on its recent reporting patterns.
Methodology: How Credibility Scores Are Calculated
The credibility score starts at 100 and is reduced by penalties for concerning behavioural patterns. This penalty-based approach means that sources with stable, measured coverage retain high scores, while sources exhibiting erratic or sensationalised patterns see their scores decrease. Three penalty categories are applied.
Sentiment Volatility Penalty (Up to -25 Points)
Sources with wildly swinging sentiment scores are penalised. Sentiment volatility is measured as the standard deviation of daily sentiment scores across all articles. A source that oscillates between extremely positive and extremely negative coverage on a daily basis will receive the maximum penalty. Steady, consistent reporting is rewarded with a lower volatility score and therefore a smaller penalty.
Extreme Content Penalty (Up to -30 Points)
This penalty measures the ratio of articles with extreme sentiment values (very negative below 20 or very positive above 80 on a 0-100 scale). A high proportion of extreme content suggests sensationalism or highly polarised reporting. The penalty scales linearly with the percentage of extreme articles, up to the maximum deduction for sources where a large share of content falls at the extremes.
Weekly Inconsistency Penalty (Up to -20 Points)
This penalty captures how much a source's average sentiment varies from week to week. Sources whose tone shifts dramatically between weeks are penalised, as this suggests reactive or agenda-driven coverage rather than principled editorial standards. The penalty is based on the standard deviation of weekly average sentiment values across the analysis window.
Academic context: Source credibility research draws from communication studies (Hovland & Weiss, 1951), media trust literature (Tsfati & Cappella, 2003), and computational approaches to news quality assessment (Baly et al., 2018).
How to Interpret the Results
Understanding Score Ranges
A credibility score above 85 indicates a reliable source with stable, balanced reporting patterns. Scores between 75 and 85 suggest moderate credibility with some volatility or extreme content that warrants awareness. Scores below 75 indicate concerning patterns such as high volatility, frequent extreme content, or week-to-week inconsistency. The leaderboard at the top of the page shows the most and least credible sources based on the current analysis window.
What Each Metric Tells You
Beyond the overall score, each source card displays four sub-metrics. Sentiment Volatility (lower is better) shows how stable the source's tone is. Extreme Content percentage (lower is better) indicates how often the source publishes highly polarised articles. Weekly Consistency (higher is better) reflects how stable coverage is week over week. Entity Diversity (higher is better) shows how many unique people, organisations, and places the source covers, with higher values indicating broader, less tunnel-vision coverage.
Limitations
This tool measures behavioural patterns in coverage, not factual accuracy. A source may score highly on credibility while still publishing inaccurate claims, and vice versa. Breaking news sources may legitimately show higher volatility during major events. Opinion sections within a source can skew sentiment metrics. For the most representative picture, use a 30-day or 60-day analysis window rather than shorter periods that may be affected by temporary spikes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is news source credibility calculated?
We analyze sentiment volatility, extreme content ratio, weekly consistency, and entity diversity across thousands of articles. Sources with stable, balanced coverage score higher. Scores range from 0-100.
Which Indian news channel is most credible?
Credibility rankings change based on recent coverage. Our real-time tracker shows current rankings based on the last 30 days. Check the leaderboard for today's most reliable sources.
What does sentiment volatility mean?
Sentiment volatility measures how much a source's tone swings between positive and negative coverage. Lower volatility indicates more consistent, predictable reporting.