About News Literacy

News Literacy is an academic research platform that brings clarity to the news by synthesizing coverage from dozens of sources across political, regional, and cultural dimensions into objective, fact-based analysis.

Our Mission

In an era of information overload and increasing polarization, News Literacy exists to help readers see the full picture. By aggregating news from 40+ outlets—spanning the political spectrum from left to right, across multiple countries and media types—and applying rigorous analytical methods, we separate verifiable facts from editorial framing.

Every story on News Literacy is presented as a neutral fact sheet alongside a transparent bias analysis, so readers can understand not just what happened, but how different outlets chose to tell the story.

Founder

FH

Francine Hardaway, Ph.D.

Serial Entrepreneur · Communications Strategist · Co-founder, Stealthmode Partners

Francine Hardaway, Ph.D., is a serial entrepreneur, communications strategist, and co-founder of Stealthmode Partners, an accelerator and advocacy organization that supports entrepreneurs—especially in technology and healthcare.

She has more than four decades of experience in business and innovation. Before co-founding Stealthmode Partners in 1998, Hardaway owned and led multiple companies, served as Director of Worldwide Press Relations for Intel, and was Chief Marketing Officer of Innovative Environmental Products. She has also been involved in founding industry organizations such as the Social Media Club Arizona and the Arizona Software Association, and acted as an Entrepreneurial Fellow at the University of Arizona's Eller Entrepreneurship Center.

Hardaway is known for her work mentoring and investing in startup companies, helping them secure funding and develop effective positioning and marketing strategies. She has written on entrepreneurship and technology trends for publications including Fast Company and Huffington Post, and maintains an active presence in thought leadership and digital communities.

Her career reflects a long commitment to bridging technology, communication, and entrepreneurship while supporting founders across diverse industries. Dr. Hardaway currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona with her 4 dogs (who do most of her creative and editing work for her).

The Technology

News Literacy combines several technologies to deliver its analysis:

  • Automated Collection: RSS feeds from 40+ sources are parsed daily, with full respect for each publication's terms of service and robots.txt directives
  • Story Clustering: TF-IDF vectorization and agglomerative clustering group articles covering the same event from different outlets
  • AI-Powered Analysis: Large language models synthesize neutral fact sheets and perform detailed bias analysis for each story cluster
  • Transparent Attribution: Every claim is traced to its source, and all original articles are linked for reader verification

Contact

News Literacy is designed for educational and research purposes, demonstrating techniques for media literacy and cross-spectrum news analysis. For inquiries about the project, research collaborations, or methodology questions, please reach out to the project team.