Evening: sentiment slips back to -0.043 as World News dominates 45% of headlines
Since this morning, headline sentiment weakened (from -0.036 to -0.043) while World News kept nearly half of coverage and the biggest attention gap sits in sports searches with minimal news pickup.
News Sentiment Meter
The collective emotional tone of headlines across major news sources, scored from −1.00 (very negative) to +1.00 (very positive).
The sentiment meter is Neutral at -0.0434 (47.8%), but it moved more negative since the previous edition (-0.007, from -0.0364 to -0.0434). Today’s mix is pulled down by negative-leaning categories with meaningful volume: World News is 45.1% of coverage at -0.016 and Technology is 19.3% at -0.0537, while Crime (5.7%) is sharply negative at -0.2689.
Sentiment trend
Overall news sentiment across the last 21 measured snapshots.
What the internet is searching for
Top Google search trends by volume. The second bar shows how many of today's scraped headlines actually mention each topic — a big gap means the public is searching for something the press hasn't covered.
Coverage by category
Share of today's headlines by topic.
Sentiment distribution
How today's headlines spread across the emotional range.
Which topics are positive, which are negative
Average sentiment score per category. Bars left of centre skew negative.
The words carrying today's news
Most frequent meaningful terms across every headline analysed.
Sentiment shift What moved since the morning edition
The evening snapshot is more negative than the prior edition: sentiment is now -0.0434 versus -0.0364 this morning (delta -0.007). The total article capture is also lower (2,898 headlines analyzed now vs 3,088 captured in the prior-edition comparison), suggesting the tone shift isn’t simply from more volume.
The distribution shows more downside weight than upside: 961 negative headlines (495 negative + 466 very negative) versus 811 positive (524 positive + 287 very positive), with 1,126 neutral. The biggest negative “pressure points” in the category mix are Crime (-0.2689) and Military (-0.2593), even though they are smaller shares (5.7% and 2.8%).
Biggest move The coverage explosion: World News is nearly half the feed
World News is the clear center of gravity: 1,308 of 2,898 headlines, or 45.1% share, with a slightly negative average sentiment (-0.016). That scale alone means small tone shifts inside World News can move the overall meter.
The most frequent headline words align with that: “trump” appears 180 times, alongside geopolitics markers like “iran” (56), “china” (54), and “israel” (48). Even without a deeply negative average, this concentration tends to keep the overall reading from turning positive when paired with strongly negative smaller categories.
Quiet signal Quiet mismatch: people are searching NFL names that news barely mentions
The largest press-attention gap is in sports searches where public demand outruns headline pickup. “baker mayfield” shows 2,000+ search traffic but only 1 headline mention in the scraped news set, and “alvin kamara” has 1,000+ search traffic with 0 headline coverage.
By contrast, other sports queries do convert into headlines: “inter miami vs columbus” has 20,000+ traffic with 39 headline mentions, and “chris moore” has 5,000+ traffic with 38 mentions. The signal is not ‘sports in general’—it’s specific player-interest spikes that the headline set is not reflecting evenly.
Deep dive Deepdive: Technology is big volume, but it’s net negative today
Technology is the second-largest category at 558 headlines (19.3% share) and it is negative on average (-0.0537), making it a meaningful contributor to the overall -0.0434 reading.
The source mix helps explain the tone dispersion inside the same day. Forbes.com is one of the most positive sources by average sentiment (0.2253 across 75 items), while several high-volume sources are meaningfully negative, including bbc.com (-0.2875 across 49) and dailymail.co.uk (-0.2901 across 88). With Technology at scale, which outlets dominate the feed matters as much as which topics do.
Context Context: today reverses yesterday’s brief lift
Today’s -0.0434 is a clear drop from Sep 26’s -0.0175, returning sentiment to the more typical negative-leaning range seen through much of the history (for example Sep 24 at -0.0423, Sep 22 at -0.0462, and Sep 18 at -0.0492). The series shows the system often oscillates around the -0.03 to -0.05 band, with Sep 26 standing out as a short-lived improvement.
On today’s volume, the positive/negative balance is also consistent with that range: 961 negative vs 811 positive, with the largest single bucket still neutral (1,126). In other words, the dip looks like a reversion toward the prevailing tone rather than a new extreme.
Signal vs noise
Signal — what actually matters
- Evening sentiment slid to -0.0434 (down from -0.0364 this morning) The change_since_previous_edition shows a -0.007 move, indicating a measurable tone shift within ~12 hours.
- World News dominates attention: 1,308 headlines (45.1% share) With nearly half of all 2,898 headlines and avg sentiment -0.016, small changes in this category can move the overall gauge.
- Technology is a large negative contributor: 558 headlines at -0.0537 At 19.3% share and a negative average, Technology meaningfully drags the combined sentiment (-0.0434).
- Public demand mismatch: 'baker mayfield' 2,000+ searches but 1 headline mention Google trends show high traffic with minimal headline_coverage (1), a classic attention gap.
- Another press gap: 'alvin kamara' 1,000+ searches with 0 headline coverage Headline_coverage is 0 despite 1,000+ trend traffic, indicating interest not reflected in the scraped outlets.
Noise — loud but low value
- Source-level sentiment swings can look like story shifts Outlet averages range from forbes.com at +0.2253 (75 items) to dailymail.co.uk at -0.2901 (88) and bbc.com at -0.2875 (49), which can change the meter without a single dominant topic change.
- Outlier headlines overstate the day’s emotional reality Individual extremes reach +0.9217 and -0.9628, but the largest bucket is neutral (1,126) and the overall score is near-flat at -0.0434.
- Celebrity/entertainment spikes are not driving overall sentiment Entertainment (4.0% share, +0.0204) and Culture (4.9%, +0.0288) are positive but too small to offset World News + Technology volume.
Source leaderboard Who is framing the day brightest and darkest
Most positive outlets
Most negative outlets
Company Pulse The companies driving coverage
Headline mentions over the last 7 days of news snapshots, with average tone. Full profiles on Company Pulse.
Jobs Hiring and layoffs
23 WARN layoff notices covering 1,268 workers were dated this week in California, Texas and Washington. See the Layoff Tracker and Hiring Tracker.
- BM Administrative Services (WA): 321 workers, layoff
- Microsoft (WA): 277 workers, layoff
- DNS Farm Services LLC (WA): 238 workers, layoff
- 2EZY LLC (WA): 120 workers, closure
- Capstone Delivery Inc. (CA): 106 workers, closure
In the filings What companies are telling the SEC
Share of 8-K, 10-Q and 10-K documents mentioning each theme in the week of Sep 14, 2026, against the same week last year. From the Pulse Index filing mentions index.
Follow the story Best sources on today's trends
inter miami vs columbus 20000+ searches
- Columbus Crew vs. Inter Miami: What to know for Sunday Night Soccer MLSsoccer.com
- See highlights of Columbus Crew vs. Lionel Messi, Inter Miami soccer The Columbus Dispatch
- Will Lionel Messi Play for Inter Miami vs. Columbus Crew? Sports Illustrated
chris moore 5000+ searches
- Ravens' Chris Moore: Good to go for Brazil CBS Sports
- Chris Moore (ankle) active for Sunday FantasyPros
- Chris Moore (ankle) a limited participant Wednesday FantasyPros
mystics vs dream 5000+ searches
- Preview: Mystics play Dream in Game 1 of playoff series on Sunday Bullets Forever
- Analysis | The Mystics are back in the playoffs. Thriving in the paint could keep them there. The Washington Post
- Atlanta Dream hosts playoff game against Mystics FOX 5 Atlanta
street fighter movie 2000+ searches
baker mayfield 2000+ searches
alvin kamara 1000+ searches
- Alvin Kamara Fantasy Week 3 Start or Sit: A Name You Know, Not a Profile You Need Yahoo Sports
- Why Alvin Kamara Isn’t Playing As Much For Saints In Week 3 Heavy.com
- Who Should I Start? Alvin Kamara or Tyson Bagent Fantasy Football Calculator
Watch list What we're tracking next
- Whether the Baker Mayfield search spike gains headline coverage beyond 1 mention
- Whether Alvin Kamara moves from 0 headline mentions to any coverage if the trend persists
- If World News stays near 45% share or broadens, given 'iran' (56) and 'china' (54) word frequency
- Whether Technology sentiment improves from -0.0537 or deepens, given its 19.3% share
- If the overall score drifts back toward Sep 26’s -0.0175 or stays in the -0.04 to -0.05 band
The extremes Today's most positive and most negative headlines
Most positive
- +0.92 Honoured, but surprised: Why Shai Bolton took his medal off right after winning the Norm Smith theage.com.au
- +0.91 The nation’s best pastrami? Find it at Langer’s Deli, this year’s L.A. Times Gold Award winner latimes.com
- +0.90 Welcome to the great deflate! How growing number of celebs are 'ditching fillers' from their faces to achieve a more natural appearance dailymail.co.uk
- +0.90 DatingGame, set … match? Can a dating coach help you win at love? theguardian.com
- +0.87 It’s 172 years old, but this iconic train station is charming and efficient smh.com.au
- +0.87 It’s 172 years old, but this iconic train station is charming and efficient theage.com.au
Most negative
- -0.96 Clavicular's charges shows the real danger of MAGA manhoodMAGA manhood is a real danger to womenAmanda MarcotteLong before his arrest for rape, the looksmaxxing star built a brand based on contempt fo salon.com
- -0.94 5 men arrested near UK air base used by US in Iran war on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act thestar.com
- -0.93 Vile fraudster, 27, who tortured cats gets largest-ever penalty in state's history after sleuths from France led police to his door dailymail.co.uk
- -0.93 Family tragedy as mom and her daughter, 28, die from cancer just 10 hours apart dailymail.co.uk
- -0.93 Two killed, four injured in horror school-holiday crash involving learner driver theage.com.au
- -0.93 Two killed, four injured in horror school-holiday crash involving learner driver theage.com.au
Pulse Index works by measuring attention rather than trying to summarize events: it tracks keyword-level signals across YouTube transcripts, RSS feeds, websites, and trending searches, then compares what people seek (search traffic) with what outlets publish (headline coverage and sentiment). When those signals diverge—like 2,000+ searches for “baker mayfield” with just 1 headline mention, or 1,000+ for “alvin kamara” with 0—it’s a prompt to watch for either late-breaking coverage or a topic that remains mostly inside fan communities rather than the broader news cycle.