Our Methodology

How Sift20 stays accurate, objective, and efficient.

1. Source Aggregation

We don't just summarize the first link we find. Our system monitors 54 premium global news outlets, including primary wires, financial leaders, and technical journals.

Tech (8) TechCrunch, The Verge, Ars Technica, Wired, Hacker News, BleepingComputer, 9to5Mac, 404 Media
AI (7) MIT Technology Review, VentureBeat, The Decoder, AI News, OpenAI Blog, Google AI Blog, arXiv
Finance (8) CNBC, Bloomberg, CoinDesk, Yahoo Finance, Financial Times, Decrypt, WSJ Markets
Politics (5) Politico, The Hill, BBC Politics, NPR, Axios
World (10) Reuters, BBC World, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, SCMP, Japan Times, France24, AP News, Rest of World, NYT World
Science & Health (6) Nature, Science Daily, NASA, STAT News, Phys.org, New Scientist
Culture (6) ESPN, Variety, Rolling Stone, Hollywood Reporter, The Atlantic, The Ringer
Multi-Perspective Check

For every story, we require at least three independent sources to confirm the facts before it makes it to your digest.

Bias Mitigation

We intentionally pull from diverse geographical and political sources to ensure the summary reflects a global consensus rather than a single viewpoint.

2. AI Curation

We use Claude (Anthropic's AI) to process hundreds of headlines daily. The AI is governed by a strict set of constitutional rules designed for journalism:

  • No Editorializing β€” The AI is forbidden from using loaded adjectives or expressing an opinion. It extracts only the who, what, where, and why.
  • The "Noise" Filter β€” Our algorithms filter out clickbait, celebrity gossip, and repetitive fluff to ensure every story has real-world impact.
  • Weighted Distribution β€” Stories are weighted toward Tech, AI, Finance, and Politics, reflecting the interests of our readers.
  • Dual Language β€” Every digest is simultaneously produced in English and Chinese.

3. Quality Assurance

While AI handles the speed, quality controls ensure accuracy.

  • Source Verification β€” Every summary includes direct links to the original reporting so you can verify claims yourself.
  • Multi-Source Requirement β€” Stories must appear across multiple independent outlets to be included.
  • Feedback Integration β€” User reports are reviewed to refine the AI's prompting and source selection over time.

4. Radical Transparency

We believe you should never have to take our word for it.

  • Source Links β€” Every summary includes direct links to the original reporting.
  • Open Stack β€” Built with Astro, curated by Claude, deployed on Vercel. We're transparent about the tools we use because AI should be a glass box, not a black box.
  • No Sponsors β€” No paid placements, sponsored content, or advertising of any kind.
  • No Paywalls β€” The digest is free and always will be.

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