How We Select
Positive News

Our editorial mission

Positivity Pulse publishes curated positive news stories with one purpose: to provide a counterweight to the systematic overrepresentation of negative events in mainstream media, without misrepresenting reality.

We are not a propaganda operation or a feel-good fantasy. We are a curation service applying a consistent editorial standard to real journalism from real outlets — specifically selecting stories that are factually accurate, genuinely positive, and underrepresented in standard news feeds.

What qualifies as a positive story

We define "positive news" as stories that document progress, recovery, achievement, kindness, or constructive human activity. Specifically, a story qualifies as positive for our feed if it meets all of the following criteria:

• Factually accurate: The story is based on verifiable facts, published by a credible source, and free of significant factual errors at the time of curation.
• Genuinely constructive: The story describes something that went well, improved, was solved, or created value — not something that merely has a positive framing applied to a neutral or negative event.
• From a credible source: The original article must be published by an outlet with an established journalistic or scientific reputation. We do not source from content farms, aggregators without original journalism, or sources with a history of fabrication.
• Not misleadingly selective: We do not publish isolated positive data points that would create a false impression when the full picture is considered. If a headline says "cancer rates drop" but the story only applies to one subgroup and overall rates are rising, it does not qualify.

What does not qualify

The following categories of content are explicitly excluded from the Positivity Pulse news feed regardless of tone:

• Satire or opinion pieces presented as news
• Stories that are factually disputed or require significant correction
• Promotional content or press releases without independent journalistic corroboration
• Stories that are positive in headline only but contain primarily negative content
• Content that misrepresents the severity of ongoing negative events by cherry-picking positive sub-data
• Content from outlets with active misinformation histories

Source standards

We source stories from a curated list of outlets evaluated for:

• Journalistic standards and editorial oversight
• Track record on corrections and accuracy
• Independence from single-entity funding that could compromise editorial decisions
• Geographic and thematic diversity to avoid systematic blind spots

For each of our seven supported languages, we maintain a separate source list curated by native speakers with knowledge of the local media landscape.

The curation process

Stories enter the Positivity Pulse selection process through automated sourcing from our curated outlet list. They are then scored by our positivity algorithm — which evaluates language, framing, and content structure — and the highest-scoring candidates are reviewed before publication to Today's Positive Pulse.

We intentionally maintain a daily limit of three headline stories rather than a high-volume feed. Volume optimisation for engagement is exactly the mechanic that makes mainstream news harmful. We optimise instead for quality and genuine positive impact per story read.

Community content policy

The community Pulse feed — where users share wins — is subject to a separate moderation policy:

• All posts are subject to automated filtering for prohibited content before publication
• Human moderation reviews flagged content within 24 hours
• Posts that contain misinformation, hate speech, harassment, or graphic content are removed
• Users may report posts using the in-app reporting function
• Repeated violations result in account suspension

We do not remove posts simply because they discuss difficult topics — losing a job, a difficult relationship, a health challenge — when they are framed as personal wins or progress. The community feed is about real life, not manufactured cheerfulness.

Editorial independence

Positivity Pulse's editorial selection is not influenced by commercial relationships, advertising, or the preferences of business customers. Our B2B customers do not have input into what is published in the news feed.

Corrections

If a story we published is subsequently found to contain significant factual errors, we remove it from the feed and, where relevant, note the correction. We do not silently edit published stories. To report an error, contact us at hello@positivitypulse.app with "Correction" in the subject line.

Last updated

This editorial policy was last reviewed and updated in April 2025. We review it at minimum annually.