Orbit looks for sources that are useful for the dashboard you asked for.

Useful usually means direct, current, readable, specific, and supported by enough source text to back up the dashboard. A page can mention the topic and still be a weak source. A tag page, search page, short recap, social discussion, old article, or broad topic hub may not contain enough concrete information. A lower search result may be much better if it contains a live timeline, an official update, a direct report, or a relevant livestream.

Some of this sorting is helped by custom ML models and classifiers trained for Orbit's source work. They help recognize things like evidence-rich passages, real live-update pages, noisy article text, useful media, and pages that look more like hubs than direct coverage. The visible score is still only a reading aid, but it is informed by more than simple keyword matching.

The short version

The strongest sources usually have several of these qualities:

• direct coverage of the requested topic
• clear title and page focus
• enough readable body text
• useful live updates or timestamps
• recent publication or update time
• official, primary, or well-established source context
• a different domain from other selected sources
• useful media, maps, streams, status pages, or trackers

Weaker sources often have one or more of these problems:

• mostly navigation or links
• little readable text
• broad topic or tag pages
• old coverage on a live topic
• duplicated coverage from the same publisher
• community discussion when reported or official information is needed
• side-angle coverage when direct coverage exists
• noisy page text such as ads, share prompts, subscription text, or page furniture

Automatic and supplied sources

Some dashboards use automatically found sources. Others use URLs supplied by the user.

When Orbit finds sources automatically, it searches around the requested topic, removes duplicates, reads candidate pages, and ranks the useful ones. When you supply URLs, Orbit still has to read those pages and decide how much usable evidence they contain.

Supplying a URL does not guarantee that the page will become a strong source. The page may fail to load, return non-HTML content, require login, rely heavily on JavaScript, block automated access, or contain very little readable text.

What source scores mean

A source score is a usefulness score for the current dashboard. It is not a percentage of truth.

A high score usually means the source is especially helpful for this topic. It may be direct, fresh, detailed, well-structured, from a strong source type, or useful as an official page, live source, video, tracker, or map.

A lower score does not automatically mean the page is wrong. It may mean the page is less central, older, thinner, more duplicated, less readable, or more of a side angle.

What affects source order

Source order can be affected by:

Factor	What it means
Topic match	The page is clearly about the requested topic
Directness	The page covers the event itself, not only a reaction or side story
Freshness	The page is recent enough for the type of story
Readable text	The page contains usable paragraphs, headings, or live-update entries
Live structure	A live page has real entries, not just the word "live"
Source type	Official and curated sources can be especially useful
Domain context	Some domains have stronger factuality or reliability context than others
Variety	Multiple independent domains are better than many near-duplicates
Media value	A direct stream, tracker, map, or official status page can be valuable
Noise	Boilerplate, ads, link lists, and page furniture make a source less useful

These factors work together. A famous publisher can still have a weak page for a specific topic. A smaller or less familiar source can still be useful if it is direct, current, and evidence-rich.

Source labels

The Sources panel may show labels such as reputation, factuality, bias, tier, or mode.

Label	How to read it
Reputation	Domain-level reputation context when Orbit has enough signal to estimate or read it
Factuality	Broad source-level context when available
Bias	Broad source-level context when available
Tier	Whether the source looks official, curated, community-based, or another category
Mode	How the source entered the dashboard, such as selected source, search backfill, prompt source, or URL-based scoring

These labels are helpful context, not final judgments. A high-factuality domain can publish a weak page. A lower-prior source can publish a useful direct update. Always judge the page itself.

Why source diversity matters

Five pages from one publisher are not the same as five independent sources.

If one newsroom publishes a live blog, an analysis page, a topic page, and a recap, those pages may share reporting, assumptions, and editorial framing. They can still be useful, but they should not crowd out every other source.

A stronger source list usually includes a mix of:

• official or primary pages when available
• direct reporting from more than one publisher
• live pages when the story is changing
• media or tracker sources when they add direct value
• local or specialist sources when they have direct knowledge

Live sources

Live pages are valuable when they contain real updates.

A strong live source usually has:

• separate update entries
• timestamps or a clear sequence
• meaningful headlines or bodies
• recent updates for active stories
• enough text to understand each development

A weak live source may only have a "live" label, a generic headline, a page-level timestamp, or a thin list of links. Orbit may rank that lower than a normal article with better evidence.

Official sources

Official sources can be very important, especially for:

• launch schedules
• service incidents
• government statements
• company announcements
• emergency notices
• event pages
• status pages

Official does not always mean complete. Official pages may omit context, disagreement, criticism, or independent confirmation. On important topics, compare official sources with reporting from independent publishers.

News and reporting sources

Reported articles and live blogs are useful when they provide context, chronology, and corroboration.

Look for:

• clear sourcing
• recent updates
• direct coverage of the event
• concrete details rather than vague recap
• correction or update notes when the story changes
• agreement across independent publishers

Be more careful with commentary, predictions, rumors, or articles that cover only a secondary angle.

Search backfill

Sometimes a source appears because it adds useful context from search results even though it is not as strong as a fully read page. This can happen when a search result supplies a helpful corroborating clue, timing, official link, or direct source candidate.

Treat search backfill as lighter support. Open the source before relying on it.

Interactive sources

Some sources are useful because they let you follow the event directly.

Examples include:

• YouTube livestreams
• status pages
• official event pages
• launch trackers
• live maps
• social feeds
• discussion streams

These sources may not have long article text, but they can still be central to a dashboard.

Why source lists change

Live topics change quickly. A source list can change because:

• a newer article appears
• a live blog adds more entries
• an official page updates
• a source becomes stale
• another source becomes more direct
• one page fails to load on a later run
• the topic shifts from breaking news to analysis or confirmation

Use the source list as a current reading guide, not a permanent ranking of publishers.

How to judge a source list

A strong source list usually has:

• several independent domains
• direct sources near the top
• recent sources for live topics
• official or primary sources where relevant
• enough article text, live entries, or media to support the dashboard
• clear score details that match what you see when you open the pages

Be cautious when:

• one publisher dominates the list
• top sources are mostly topic hubs
• sources are old for a fast-moving story
• important claims rely on one page
• sources disagree
• the dashboard includes precise numbers, locations, or times

A practical reading workflow

1. Open the highest-ranked source.
2. Open another source from a different domain.
3. Compare the exact fact you care about.
4. Check timestamps.
5. Look for uncertainty in the wording.
6. Use official sources for direct status, but use independent reporting for context.

Remember

Source order is a reading aid. It helps you decide which links to open first and where to be careful.

The best source lists are direct, current, varied, and easy to check.