The Machine

RuntimeWire publishes with an AI-native editorial pipeline: software does the reading, humans do the judging. This page renders that pipeline as a physical machine you can watch — every inbound story is a ball.

What you're watching

  • Ingest. Stories drop in from RSS feeds, X and social, and vouched researchers.
  • Triage. Off-thesis stories are dismissed early and land in the DISMISSED pocket.
  • Enrichment & scoring. Survivors are scored for newsworthiness.
  • Dedup. Stories we already covered drop into the DUPLICATES pocket.
  • Breaking fast lane. Big, time-critical news skips the queue.
  • The curator's window. The gate opens on a cycle and picks the strongest stories; the rest eventually AGE OUT.
  • The desk. Picked stories are held at the writer, then the editor — some get sent back for more depth.
  • Publish. Finished stories drop through the ring onto the front page tray.

The counters mirror the real pipeline's proportions; the ball physics is honest theater. Read how the newsroom works, the editorial policy, or the live numbers on the In Public dashboard.

One intake, two paths

Every inbound story is typed at intake. Routine, verifiable news rides the Wire — the automated path the board simulates. Stories that need original reporting become Original Investigations and leave the board entirely: humans work them at reporting speed.

Path one — the Wire (automated, supervised)

  • Triage, scoring, and dedup, then the curator's window — the gauntlet above.
  • An AI writer drafts from a research brief; an AI editor challenges, fact-checks against live sources, and kicks thin stories back for depth.
  • Automated packaging: hero art, audio narration, and distribution queues.

Path two — Original Investigations (human-reported)

  • Human reporting: documents, interviews, and tips.
  • Evidence preservation before publication.
  • Reproduction and testing of claims wherever possible.
  • Legal and standards review when the story calls for it.
  • Requests for comment — subjects get a real chance to respond.
  • Independent verification and manual distribution — never automated feeds.

Both paths end the same way: editorial review, featured selection, and publication to the same front page. Per-product numbers are on the In Public dashboard.