The Spin BinThe Bin doesn't forget.

How the Bin grades

The Spin Bin grades how a story was reported. It never grades the people in it, never guesses at motives, and never calls anyone a liar. The receipts do the talking.

Five rules

  1. No receipt, no card. Every card quotes the exact words that earned it. The grader is an AI (Anthropic's Claude), and the site checks its work: if the quote isn't found word for word in what the outlet published, the card is thrown out automatically.
  2. Same rules for everyone. Left, right and center outlets get the same deck and the same standard. The count of cards by outlet lean is public on the outlets page so anyone can check.
  3. Grade the reporting, not the people. "This story has no named source" is a grade. Judging the person in the story is not.
  4. Say so when a story checks out. When a second outlet confirms a binned story, it gets the Confirmed Later stamp, in public.
  5. Fix mistakes in public. Pulled cards and corrections are logged on We Binned It Wrong.

Where stories come from

The network's own news sites write a story up only when two separate outlets report it. Stories that wait for a second outlet and never get one come here. The Bin also reads the headlines of 217 outside Texas newsrooms to see whether a stuck story was confirmed later, and to line up how different outlets wrote the same story. Readers can send in stories with Bin It.

What never reaches the grader

Before anything is graded, every story goes through a free first sort, the same kind of rules the network's own news sites use. These are set aside and never published: stories about another state or country with no Texas angle, sports scores, schedules and game previews, obituaries, weather forecasts, horoscopes and lottery numbers, and a second copy of a headline already in the Bin. A story also gets a full day to find a second outlet before the Bin looks at it, because most do. Once the article is read, a story that names no Texas place is set aside too.

The verdict: what kind of story is it?

Every story gets one verdict, and the verdict needs a receipt just like a card. It decides where the story lands. Only junk goes public: a straight report of a real event that nobody else happened to pick up stays off the site.

Unsupported Claim
The central claim rests on unnamed sources, rumor, a few social posts, or nothing at all. Goes in the Bin.
One-Sided Attack
Goes after a person, group, business or ballot measure, and only the attacking side is heard. Goes in the Bin.
Spin Job
The facts may be real, but loaded words, framing or missing context push the reader to a conclusion. Goes in the Bin.
Clickbait
The headline promises something the story never delivers. Goes in the Bin.
PR Rewrite
A press release, campaign handout or company announcement with a byline put on it: the story adds nothing the release didn't say. An official announcing real news (an appointment, a vote, an arrest, a closure) is not a PR rewrite. Goes in the Bin.
Filler
No news in it: a travel piece, event plug, evergreen explainer, listicle, roundup, holiday post, or something written to fill space or catch searches. Goes on the Filler Pile.
Rehash
Old news, or another outlet's work, dressed up as new. Goes on the Filler Pile.
Real News
A real, specific, checkable event reported straight. Nobody else ran it, but nothing is wrong with how it was reported. Stays off the site.

Each story also gets a junk rating from 0 (solid reporting) to 10 (nothing under it). A story the Bin can't read the text of is never graded and never published: a headline alone can't earn a receipt.

The deck

Source problems

Nobody Else Bit
One outlet ran it. No second outlet picked it up before the clock ran out. This card comes from the record itself, not the AI.
Trust Me Bro
The key claim rests only on unnamed or anonymous sources.
"Experts Say"
Credits "experts", "officials", "critics" or "studies" without naming them.
Press Release in a Trench Coat
Reads as a press release or handout with a byline on it: the only source is the group being promoted.
Their Own Mouthpiece
The only source is the person, campaign or group the story is about.
Telephone Game
Cites another outlet that cites someone else; nobody in the chain saw it firsthand.

Headline problems

Headline Lies About the Body
The article walks back, softens or contradicts what the headline claims.
Question Mark Cop-Out
The headline asks a question the article answers "no" or never answers.
Bait and Snooze
A big hook up top, and nothing inside that delivers it.
Buried the Lede
The most important fact sits far down the article, below lesser material.

Filler problems

Reheated Leftovers
Old news presented as new: the events described are clearly from well before the publish date.
Word Salad
A long piece wrapped around one small fact.
Slow News Day
Nothing actually happened: no decision, no event, no new fact.
Social Media Is Upset
A handful of social media posts treated as a movement or as news.
Listicle Landfill
A numbered list standing in for reporting.

Spin problems

Lean Machine
Loaded words (slams, blasts, extremist, radical, controversial, scheme) doing the work facts should do.
Missing Half
A dispute where only one side was quoted or asked.
Number Without a Neighbor
A big number with nothing to compare it to: no total, no last year, no per-person figure.
Correlation Cosplay
Two things happened, so the story implies one caused the other.
Rage Bait
Built on fear or anger words instead of facts.
Study Funded By
Reports a "new study" or "report" from an advocacy group or interested party as if it were neutral.
Breaking Broke
Labeled BREAKING or "just in" when nothing about it is breaking.
Timing Is Everything
An attack on a candidate or ballot measure dropped in the final weeks before a vote, on a single source. Only dealt in Election Mode.

Wildcards

Dumpster Fire
Three or more cards on one story. This card comes from the record itself, not the AI.
Quietly Fixed
The outlet changed the meaning of the story after publishing, with no correction or update note. This card comes from the record itself, not the AI.
Confirmed Later
A second outlet ran it after all. The story survived the Bin, and the Bin says so. This card comes from the record itself, not the AI.

The Translation on each ticket is the headline rewritten as what the story actually establishes. What's actually established lists only facts the story states, each with the words it rests on.

The Memory Hole and the noise filter

Everyone on the Watch List is read on a schedule, every two hours (every half hour in Election Mode). Each post or episode is saved the first time the Bin sees it, and its page is sent to the Internet Archive, so the proof sits with a neutral third party.

A post counts as deleted only when it's missing from the feed twice in a row and its own page answers "not found". An episode counts as pulled when it disappears from the show's own episode list. A change counts as a quiet edit only when the meaning changed:

These never count: spelling, punctuation, spacing, capitals, formatting, and fixed or swapped links. A post deleted and put back almost word for word is marked "reposted with fix" and stays out of the Memory Hole. Small edits go to a private log only.

Stories in the Bin are read again a day later and three days later. If the headline's meaning changed, or a number or a "not" in the story changed, and the page carries no correction or update note, the story gets the Quietly Fixed card with the before and after words.

Where the leans come from

Outlet leans are AllSides Media Bias Ratings, checked on each outlet's own AllSides page. An outlet AllSides hasn't rated shows as "Not rated". The Bin never borrows a parent network's rating. Most local Texas outlets are not rated, which is why "Not rated" is often the biggest count.

Right of Reply

Once a week, every outlet the Bin graded, and everyone on the Watch List with a new Memory Hole entry, gets one email at the address published on their own website. It lists the grades and links a form. Whatever they write is published next to those items, word for word.

Election Mode

From 21 days before an election until 3 days after, the Watch List is read more often, and single-source attacks on a candidate or ballot measure can earn the Timing Is Everything card.