Over the years, there have been many attempts to map the news. With the advent of AI and its ability to automatically detect locations mentioned in news articles, we're now seeing a resurgence in News Maps.
The latest of these is Needle, which uses a large language model (LLM) to "best estimate general locations of stories posted in the past day, and pin them on the map." Using the map, you can zoom in on any location in the world to explore the latest news. According to Needle's 'About' page each story location is determined based on a hierarchy: if a specific place is mentioned, the story is pinned there; if only a city is named, the pin is placed randomly within city limits; and if only a country or region is referenced, it's placed somewhere within that broader area. However, as the creators note, AI isn't perfect - so a story’s location on the map doesn’t always mean it’s truly tied to that place.
One major drawback of Needle at the moment is its limited range of news sources. The creator notes that the map is currently "limited to mostly Canadian sources of news." This is especially apparent in places like London, where today's top stories include how King Charles misses Canada and how a Canadian female soccer player has signed with a London team.
However, there is a filter option to select news sources by the "United States" - so if you're American, you may be able to sidestep the map’s Canadian bias. Needle is also looking to expand its news source database and anyone can suggest new sources by emailing Needle.
Other filter options allow users to refine the stories shown on Needle by category, including Politics, Sports, Business & Economy, Technology, and Environment & Climate.