When a story breaks, newsrooms race to cover it. This signal measures momentum: every new article adds to a story's score, and each one's contribution fades as it ages, so only stories gaining coverage right now score high. Repeat updates from the same outlet count progressively less, so one busy newsroom can't make a story look viral. The score is relative: we compare every story's momentum against all the stories we're tracking today, which also means a score can ease off when other stories heat up.
SCORING RUBRIC (0–10)
Viral Among the fastest-growing stories right now 9–10
Surging Growing faster than most of today's stories 7–9
Building Picking up new coverage at a steady pace 4–7
Quiet Little or no new coverage right now <4
Your weight (30%) sets the maximum this signal can contribute — up to 30 points of your final 100. The 0–10 score determines how much of that maximum the article earns.
Score (7 out of 10) → 70% earned
70% of 30 pt max = 21.0 pts
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