Beehive News is the world’s only news rating platform that assesses each news article individually – also at scale and in real time – rather than evaluating publications as a whole. It is a revolutionary way to think about news, grouping together all articles covering the same stories and providing in-depth assessments for journalistic excellence. With thousands of daily article ratings, Beehive News offers a unique way to read and compare the latest news, top stories and trending topics from award-winning publishers in the United Kingdom and the world – all in one place.

This ambitious project has a clear mission: to make rigorously reliable information easily available to readers and financially sustainable to publishers. Beehive News is also a community: our inquisitive members are active collaborators, and share that purpose.

Beehive News Ltd is an independent organisation registered with the Companies House of England and Wales, under registration number 13450907. It has been established with the sole mission of serving as a news rating platform, classified under the Nature of Business (SIC) 63990 for ‘information services activities’.

Newspapers are made of a wide range of professionals – reporters, columnists, editors, and freelancers. We don’t believe in reducing their work and all they produce to broad labels based on the publication. Those publication-level ratings are often personally unverifiable and risk replacing critical thinking with blind trust in ‘good labels’. The reality is that even the most reputable outlets publish subpar articles, while less renowned ones often have a few hardworking journalists producing excellent journalism. Political alignment can also limit what we choose to read, yet valuable insights can come from across the spectrum. Beehive News takes a different approach: we are the only news app in the world rating articles individually, using advanced technology and our Smart User Ratings to highlight quality journalism across the political spectrum, wherever and whenever it appears. We believe this is the only way to reduce polarisation, combat misinformation, and restore space for meaningful debate.

The team behind Beehive News spent years studying the signs of misinformation to build exclusive technology that assesses each news article individually- and we’re the only platform in the world doing that. Most news articles don’t present standalone ‘facts‘, but rather ‘theories‘ (or ‘narratives’) connecting facts to draw conclusions. And most ‘fake news’ published by newspapers isn’t fake – it’s real facts without context or connected by flawed logic. Beehive News is the only one asking the right question: not ‘Is this the truth?’, but ‘How much can I trust this?’ Our technology doesn’t label content right or wrong, it evaluates objective journalistic rigour, favouring articles with context, causality, strong sourcing, and contrasting angle. Ratings are almost mathematical, based on structure and process, so viewpoints can’t influence results.

But you shouldn’t trust anyone blindly – not even us. That’s why we encourage critical thinking and explain the reasons behind every rating. Our Smart User Rating system lets our well-informed readers challenge assessments, making Beehive both radically transparent and the most complete tool for navigating the news. If you disagree with any of our assessments, have comments, or would like further details, feel free to write to us at info@beehive.news.

Beehive News was originally idealised by Adrian Bono, an independent journalist specialised in Debunking, disillusioned after years working with top outlets in the UK, Europe, and the US, and Rafael Cossi, a devoted behavioural scientist who left an Associate Partner role at a top London consultancy to study the patterns of misinformation in traditional media – and fight it.

Called by the firm belief in this mission, a diverse team of consultants, independent journalists, engineers, lawyers, and philanthropists – many volunteering their time and careers – joined forces to design the Beehive News strategy. Over years, they built a rigorous, near-mathematical checklist to assess articles objectively, regardless of viewpoints. Not to decide truths, but to empower readers to question and think critically. They named it Beehive – because, like bees, its power lays not in individuals but in collective effort. It became the world’s first platform to rate news articles individually, in real time, and at scale – fully independent from media, public or political groups.

Today, the five departments that comprise our organisational structure led or co-led by five senior members of the team:

• Rafael Cossi is Head of Strategy and Co-Head of Ratings Auditing. Rafael is also a member of the Society of Editors in the UK
• Adrian Bono is Head of Media & Partnerships and Co-Head of Ratings Auditing. Adrian also who holds a Master’s degree in Fact-checking, Debunking, and Data Journalism
• Valentino Vukadinovic is Head of Technology Engineering, with Carlos Mesquita being the Senior Developer
• Wyntler Rehm Pires is Co-Head of Marketing & Design
• Nika Zagar is Co-Head of Marketing & Design

The Beehive News project does, however, transcend its team. The people in the team are merely beekeepers of a technology that thrives independently, relying both on rigorous standards and on a committed community of independent thinkers upon which its legacy is built.

First, we don’t handpick stories – every available article from each publication is assessed in real time, avoiding sampling bias. Second, Beehive News features content from across the political spectrum and applies the same rigorous checklist and technology to all articles. Our only commitment is to journalistic quality: we believe disagreement fosters growth, and any journalistic opinion is valid if it’s responsible, evidence-based, and follows best practices. Third, ratings aren’t influenced by our team – they’re generated by objective, near-mathematical algorithms and enriched by our Smart User Rating system. We also track political diversity in user engagement to help maintain balance. Still, none of our team is affiliated with media groups, governments, or political parties, and we don’t take policy positions on the issues we assess. Lastly, Beehive News is voluntarily regulated by IPSO and follows the impartiality and fairness standards set by the IFCN and the EU Recommendations 2022/1634, as well as our own Beehive News Charter.

Ultimately, it’s up to our community of independent thinkers to judge our success. We facilitate this by grouping all articles on the same story side by side in our app, so users can easily compare assessments across different outlets and political perspectives. If you have any comments or feedback on those, please write to us at info@beehive.news.

Beehive News rating technology was developed over years of studying how misinformation appears in the media and how to identify it systematically. This led to the world’s only article-level rating platform, assessing thousands of articles daily in real time. While we stand by our rigorous process, we’re also committed to transparency and accountability. This includes addressing valid corrections and complaints in a timely and responsible manner. If you believe an assessment is unfair or incomplete, please email us at info@beehive.news.

We consider all complaints, except those that: (i) are solely opinion-driven, lacking evidence or credible sources to support claims; (ii) are vague or don’t specify issues with our methods or conclusions; (iii) concern publishers rather than our own work; or (iv) repeat previously resolved issues. If a valid issue is found, we will amend the rating – publishing updates in our Complaints & Corrections section. To date, no assessments have been contested by publishers or users.

Beehive News is also a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation. If you think that we have not met the standards under its Code of Practice, and we are unable to resolve your complaint, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk.

You do. And every other member of our community. By choosing to contribute as little as 99 pence a month, Beehive News members fund the community and uphold its unrestricted independence and neutrality. To help publications improve the quality of their reporting, Beehive News may also provide performance insights and independent advice to publishers and media regulators at a fee. Apart from this, Beehive News is a self-funded independent organisation.

That independence was made possible from the very beginning by the work of individuals – including strategy advisors, independent journalists, software engineers and lawyers – who donated their time and expertise to bring the project to life. They dreamt of a world where storytelling isn’t a tool for manipulation, but a means to discuss ideas, expand knowledge, and build a fairer society. None of them were affiliated with media conglomerates, the State, politicians, or political parties, nor have they ever had any commercial, financial, or institutional ties to them. More importantly, they had and have no influence over the output of Beehive News ratings, which are carried out exclusively through our unique technology.

If you’re also interested in supporting the Beehive News project more directly, write to us at info@beehive.news.

Our mission at Beehive is ambitious. Building and maintaining this platform has a cost, and we’re committed to staying fully independent and neutral. That’s why, for unlimited access to our in-depth article-level ratings, we ask for a minimal contribution of 99 pence per month – less than a pound, and less than many spend on coffee daily. By choosing to contribute, you access the only platform in the world rating thousands of individual articles daily. Your support helps reward high-quality journalism and offers a new way to fund rigour and accountability in the news industry. By promoting highly rated articles, we help publishers monetise excellence and discourage misinformation. When you join Beehive News, you’re not just a reader – you become an active member of a movement for better information.

Rest assured: Payments are securely processed via Apple Pay or Google Pay. None of your payment information is seen, collected or stored by Beehive News or third parties.

We also offer free subscriptions to professors in media literacy, students in need, and members of vulnerable communities. If you believe you qualify, please write to info@beehive.news, we usually reply within 24 hours.

At Beehive News, we believe that even the most reputable newspapers can publish flawed articles, and lesser-known outlets can sometimes produce excellent journalism. That’s why we rate each article individually. However, we also recognise that some publishers demonstrate a stronger institutional commitment to factuality and journalistic rigour. To decide which new outlets to promote on our app, we consult independent sources like Media Bias Fact Check, NewsGuard, and Poynter. Once on the platform, we monitor how publications perform over time – and those that consistently score poorly may be removed. To ensure access to quality information remains democratic, we also only promote sources that provide at least some content without paywalls, While our assessments are critical and rigorous, our goal is to support – not discredit – publishers striving to inform responsibly. That’s why we proactively engage with them to discuss results and explore ways to improve.
If you are a publisher and you would like to discuss feedback, or if you are a reader and would like to suggest news publications, please write to us at info@beehive.news.

Currently, Beehive News rates high-circulation UK-based newspapers such as the BBC, Full Fact, The Independent, The Guardian, Reuters, Sky News, and the Daily Mail. To minimise regional bias, Beehive News also rates Politico, from the US, The Walrus, from Canada,  Al Jazeera, covering the Middle East, Haaretz, from Israel, the Sixth Tone, from China, the Hindu, from India, the Dawn, from Pakistan,and The Daily Post, from Nigeria. As part of our efforts to amplify independent voices, we also partner with The Oxford Student, from the University of Oxford, Perspectives, from the University of Warwick, and the Bath Time Magazine, from the University of Bath

Our methodology has two parts: the ratings and the auditing process.

Ratings are based on a detailed checklist that assesses whether a news article follows rigorous journalistic standards in three core areas: bias & fact base, context & completeness, and quality of writing. To stay objective, we prioritise process over content. News articles rarely consist of facts, but rather theories connecting facts. Consider scientific theories we trust: even if we haven’t verified them, we rely on them because they follow best practices– like logical structure, peer review, evidence, and openness to challenge. We apply this logic to journalism. For example, we look at whether opposing views are fairly represented, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions, regardless of which views those are. Algorithms focus on the framework upon which an article is built, not on what it defends. This makes ratings almost mathematical and free from human bias. The Smart User Rating System lets readers further refine results, giving more weight to those who read more frequently and engage with diverse viewpoints.

The auditing process follows equally high standards. A random sample of publicly relevant articles is regularly selected and reviewed by our independent Ratings Auditing team. Their job is not to question the verdict, but to verify whether the system’s reasoning aligns with our checklist – evaluating its accuracy, clarity, and sophistication. For instance, if the system flags an article as overly emotional, auditors check whether that label is properly defined and evidenced. Auditors have no access to the algorithm and cannot modify results.

Beehive News is dedicated to dignifying citizens, and empowering them to develop their own critical filters when assessing information – not just verifying facts, but recognising other forms of bias and misinformation in the media. Given the significant time and resources required, effectively fighting misinformation can hardly be achieved by individuals alone. It demands the collective effort of independent organisations. Beehive News plays a disruptive role as the world’s only news rating tool that assesses news at the article level and at scale. Those thousands of daily assessments are transparent and accurate, explaining to readers, in detail, the strengths and potential pitfalls of every news article. We believe this gradually empowers them to evaluate the news independently, and become less reliant on Beehive News overtime. Beyond this, we aim to directly equip audiences with the skills to independently identify signs of misinformation, both within and outside the platform, reducing dependence on third-party tools. For this, we share learnings and other media literacy resources in our Insights section.

Beehive News has faced resistance from ideological extremes, political camps, and parts of the news industry. For those with deep trust in their preferred newspapers, questioning felt destabilising. Others, often hostile to all mainstream media, rejected any external guidance that acknowledged it. Politically, in a polarised landscape, any challenge is often mistaken for opposition. Though Beehive’s only loyalty is to objective logic, it has at times been labelled left-leaning by the right, and right-leaning by the left. And whilst some parts of the media embraced Beehive News as a tool to elevate good journalism, others felt threatened.

Yet Beehive News endures, held up by intellectually free people who value rigour over the comfort of echo chambers. It endures because it does not claim to define truth. Rather, it offers tools to evaluate it: to identify gaps, test narratives, and promote best practices. It is technically rigorous, ethically grounded, and unassuming.

But Beehive News only has an impact if readers actively engage with it—reading, questioning, and contributing to its assessments. Reaching the objective yet complex reality that lies beyond simplistic narratives is an ongoing collective practice. If we stop questioning, power remains unchallenged. But if we act together, we make space for a more honest world. For today’s readers, and tomorrow’s citizens.