What is Signalwaves?
Signalwaves is a news-intelligence app that shows the same story from 385+ sources across every political camp, source tier, and world region, side by side — so you can see how coverage diverges before forming an opinion, instead of relying on one outlet or one algorithmic feed.
The 5 source tiers
Every article Signalwaves tracks is classified into one of five tiers:
- Official voices — governments, ministries, and multilateral institutions speaking in their own words.
- Wire services — Reuters, AP, AFP-style agencies reporting facts fast, with minimal interpretation.
- Editorial desks — newspapers and broadcasters with a named editorial team and analysis.
- Platform / aggregator signals — search trends and platform "trending" lists (a measure of attention, not journalism).
- Community signal — forums and social posts from people without institutional affiliation.
Full breakdown: the 5 source tiers explained.
The divergence score
Every topic gets a 0–100 divergence score from how polarized its classified coverage is: 0–30 is consensus (sources broadly agree), 30–60 is mixed, and 60+ is contested — the same event reported very differently depending on who's covering it. Reader emotion (concerning, hopeful, curious, outrageous) is classified per article and feeds into this score.
See today's most contested stories →
Get the app
Signalwaves is free, requires no account, and does not sell user data.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare news coverage across different sources?
Signalwaves does this automatically: pick any story, and it shows how 385+ sources — wire services, editorial desks, official voices, independent outlets, and community signal — are covering it right now, grouped by how they frame it. You can also browse /compare for today's most contested stories without installing anything.
Is there an app to check media bias?
Yes — Signalwaves classifies every source into one of 5 tiers (official, wire, editorial, platform, community) and tags each article's likely reader emotion (concerning, hopeful, curious, outrageous), so you can see not just WHAT is reported but how differently it's framed depending on the source.
How do I escape a filter bubble?
The most reliable method is seeing the exact same story reported by outlets you don't normally read, side by side — not a different story from "the other side," the identical event. Signalwaves is built around exactly this: every topic shows the opposing camps' real headlines next to each other, so you see the gap directly instead of guessing at it.
What does Signalwaves' "divergence score" mean?
It's a 0–100 score computed per topic from how polarized the classified coverage is. Below ~30 is "consensus" (sources broadly agree), 30–60 is "mixed," and above 60 is "contested" — reported very differently depending on who's covering it. See today's contested stories at /compare.
Is Signalwaves free?
Yes. No account is required, and no user data is sold. The app is available on iOS and Android.