How stories are ranked
The front page is ranked by how important a story is, the same for everyone. These are the principles; the exact weights are not published, so the ranking cannot be gamed.
The same front page for everyone
Nobody gets a front page tailored to their behaviour. You change what you see only by your own choices, such as hiding an outlet or a section.
Coverage comes first
A story counts for more the more outlets report it, the more independent they are from each other, and the faster coverage spreads. Outlets with a strong record count a little more.
News ages
A story's score halves at a steady rate as it ages, so recent events come first unless an older one stays far more important.
Readers count, but never alone
We count how readers open, share and follow stories to their publishers, once per visitor and day, without cookies, and compare it with how prominently each story was shown. It is one factor among several; clicks alone never decide.
Readers' votes
Signed-in readers with a verified email address can vote on whether a story deserves more or less prominence. A vote says nothing about whether a story is true: stories that are false or misleading are reported to editors, which is a separate path. For now votes are collected and do not change the order of stories. If editors ever give them a weight, this page says so, and votes will stay bounded, smoothed and open to editors' correction. How a reader voted is private.
Some things count against a story
Headlines written to bait clicks, coverage that is mostly copies of one text, and stories reported by a single outlet with a weak record rank lower.
Editors can intervene, within limits
Editors may raise or lower a story for a few hours, for example when an emergency needs to be seen. Every such change is limited, has a stated reason and is recorded.
No social media ranking
The ranking does not use likes or views from social networks today. If it ever does, their influence will be capped, and it works without them.
Your choices stay yours
Hiding an outlet or a section removes its stories from your pages without changing their place for anyone else.