RUSH Grader

The RUSH Grader is being rebuilt alongside a new grading engine. The grades you see on articles across RUSH are still live. Grading your own links will return soon.

UNDER RECONSTRUCTION The RUSH Grader will return for use soon. Thanks for your patience. Have an idea for it? Suggest an improvement.
RUSHGRADE
THE RUBRIC
How the RUSH Grade works

Every article is read in full and checked in four areas. Each area gets a letter, and the overall RUSH Grade runs from A+ to F. The grade is set by the most serious problem we can verify, not by an average of impressions, and every problem we count quotes the article's own words.

HONESTY 35%
Honesty

Does the article say things it never supports? We look for causes, motives and verdicts stated as fact in the writer's own voice, numbers that don't add up, and parts of the story that contradict each other.

ASupportedCUnsupported claimsEMisleading
HEADLINE 25%
Headline Accuracy

Does the body back up what the headline claims? A headline that goes further than the story, or quotes words the story never contains, loses points.

AAccurateCOverstatedEContradicted
BIAS 25%
Bias & Fairness

Are people accused of wrongdoing given a chance to respond? Are whole groups described with sweeping labels? Opinion has to be labeled as opinion.

AFairCOne-sidedEHit piece
PERSUASION 15%
Persuasion Tactics

Is the reader being informed or pushed? We flag alarm language and loaded verdicts the reporting doesn't earn.

AInformativeCLoadedERage bait
  • Graded blind. The grader never sees the outlet's name or its bias rating. The article is judged on its own words.
  • Checked against the text. Before a problem counts, RUSH confirms the quoted words are really in the article and checks whether they belong to the writer or to someone being quoted. Small issues are shown as notes and don't change the letter.
  • No hiding behind one good section. The overall grade can't be more than one letter above the weakest area. Undisclosed opinion tops out at a B, and a D or worse in Bias & Fairness tops out at a C.
  • Quoting isn't claiming. A claim made by someone the article quotes isn't held against the writer. What the writer says in their own voice is.
  • Mistakes happen. The grader is AI and can misread an article. If a grade looks wrong, tell us and we'll check it.
  • Full grades for the stories RUSH tracks. Articles attached to RUSH events get the full RUSH Grade. Other articles get a quick check that labels what kind of piece they are.
Every article is also labeled by type: NewsAnalysisOpinionUndisclosed OpinionReviewInterviewPress ReleaseSponsored Opinion is fine when it's labeled. It's graded on honesty, not on its point of view.

The RUSH Grade is in beta and still improving. Suggest an improvement.

Every grade comes from the same RUSH engine that grades the articles across this site, and every graded article is saved, so anyone who looks up the same URL sees the identical RUSH Grade. Outlet bias ratings come from independent raters (AllSides, MBFC, Ad Fontes); RUSH never assigns its own political ratings, and the grader never sees them.