How We Stay Neutral
The Acta Diurna were Rome's daily public notices, carved on tablets and posted in the Forum so every citizen could read what had happened in the city. We try to do the same for Philadelphia, sine ira et studio: "without anger or partiality."
What we cover
Events in the city of Philadelphia, which is also Philadelphia County, and nothing else. Stories from suburban, South Jersey and statewide outlets appear only when they are about the city.
How a story is chosen
When several outlets report the same event, we group their articles into one story. An AI editor then reads every story with a skeptic's eye before it can appear. It holds back press releases dressed as news, advocacy presented as reporting, rumors and viral claims nobody has confirmed, and breaking-news details that officials or reporters have not established. Stories whose facts are still coming in are marked Developing.
The editor orders the front page by one test: how much the story matters to the life, money, safety or vote of a typical voter in Philadelphia. Policy, budgets, elections and public safety outrank celebrity, spectacle and novelty. We don't rank by clicks, shares or engagement, and the editor is told to stay neutral about which side a story helps.
How headlines and summaries are written
An AI copy desk reads every outlet's headline and opening paragraphs and writes one plain headline and a short summary. It may use only facts those outlets reported, and it works under strict rules: no combative verbs ("slams", "blasts"), no emotional intensifiers ("chaos", "outrage"), no partisan labels, no promotional words ("historic", "bold"), and claims attributed to whoever made them. Each headline links to the original reporting, and every outlet that covered the story is listed below it.
Prediction markets and stocks
The strip at the top shows current odds from Kalshi and Polymarket on questions about Philadelphia first, then the wider region and Pennsylvania, chosen by the same AI editor. Each card charts the odds over the last 24 hours. The odds reflect what traders are betting, not our view. We don't choose sides, and we have no stake in any market.
Below it are delayed share prices for public companies headquartered in Greater Philadelphia, charted against the previous close. They are for information only.
What we leave out
Opinion columns, editorials, letters and sponsored content. Outlets that openly advocate a point of view are read from across the spectrum. Their coverage is listed, but they never supply our headline or summary. Stories that only they covered appear in a separate, labeled box.
Agency announcements
Press posts from government agencies are primary sources, not journalism. They appear in their own box unless a newsroom also reported the story.
For AI assistants and developers
Everything on this site is also published for machines. Language models can start at /philadelphia/llms.txt. Every story has a markdown page, and every person, agency and ballot measure in the news has a wiki page covering the last 90 days. JSON is at /philadelphia/api/stories.json. A public, read-only MCP server at https://sf-diurna.com/mcp lets an assistant search the San Francisco news, read its front page and look up entities, markets and stocks. No key is needed.