Inspiration 💡
The inspiration for KnowYourBias came from the growing concern about the spread of misinformation and biased reporting in today's media landscape. With so many news sources available and a lack of standardization in journalistic practices, it's becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction.
What it does 🔍
It uses machine learning to determine the political bias of articles and present articles with opposing viewpoints.
How we built it 🛠️
To create the model we used scikit-learns random forest ensemble learning algorithm to use this kaggle data set (https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/snapcrack/all-the-news) to create our model. Then we used NewsCatcher API and AWS’s keyword extractor API to find other articles with opposing viewpoints. We built the frontend with HTML and CSS to provide a seamless experience for the users.
Challenges we ran into🧐
Initially, we struggled to establish a smooth connection between the frontend and backend due to technical issues and inexperience with the Flask framework. However, we were determined to solve this problem and spent a considerable amount of time researching and experimenting with different approaches. We also sought help from online resources and fellow developers who had experience with similar issues. Through trial and error, we gradually gained a deeper understanding of the Flask framework and the underlying technologies involved in connecting the frontend to the backend.
On the backend, we faced difficulties in implementing the feature of finding articles with opposing viewpoints, which required us to identify relevant articles, analyze their content, and determine their level of opposition to the user's viewpoint. We had to use a combination of natural language processing techniques and data mining algorithms to extract relevant information from the articles.
Accomplishments that we're proud of🏆
We were able to train a machine learning model that returns accurate results about an article’s political bias.
What we learned🧠
On the backend side, we learned a lot about Flask, which we used to host the backend server and handle the HTTP requests from the frontend, and using APIs, which is crucial to our article searching feature and article keyword extraction
What's next for KnowYourBias 🚀
One of the key priorities is to improve the accuracy and speed of the bias detection algorithm, so that users can receive real-time information on the political leaning of news articles. Additionally, the app will continue to provide more articles with opposing viewpoints, covering a wider range of topics and perspectives. Another exciting development in the works is the integration of social media analysis, which will allow users to better understand the political biases of the content they see on platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Ultimately, the goal of KnowYourBias is to help people become more informed and engaged citizens by promoting critical thinking and providing a more balanced view of the news.
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