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What the picker changes
  • Top topics digest — the cards score the selected period against the prior 4 weeks.
  • 12-week heatmap & outlet matrix — show the 12 weeks ending at the selected week (they slide back with the picker, they aren’t a fixed snapshot).
  • Per-topic volume / alias drift — same 12-week trailing window, anchored on the selected period.
  • Coverage gap quadrant — scores the selected period against the 12 weeks before it (not including it).
  • Anomaly cards — only show alerts the detector fired during the selected period. Quiet weeks legitimately show none.
What stays as-is
  • Outlet orientation strip / lean colours — context-only, drawn from the last 12 weeks of activity regardless.
  • Co-occurrence graph — recent-activity anchored, not picker-driven.
  • Source & topic profiles — all-time data for the topic; the picker doesn’t affect them.
Rolling 7 days is a sliding live window for “current vibes”; switch to Weekly to compare specific weeks side-by-side.
Weekly Rolling 7 days
live window
Press topic

Operating Deficit

3 articles · 2 aliases in press · peaked week of 24 May 2026 · first seen 13 May 2026

Waitaki District ratepayers are demanding a government investigation into the council's finances after proposed rate increases of up to 45 percent have sparked widespread anger over affordability and sustainability amid rising living costs.

Coverage by outlet lean Methodology →

Stacked weekly counts; colour by editorial lean. Stuff and The Spinoff lean centre-left, NZ Herald centre-right, others centre.

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Alias drift

How press outlets have named this topic, week by week.

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Recent headlines

Most recent 3 articles linking to this topic.

Sample framings

Up to 12 framings spread across outlets. Each framing is the LLM's one-line characterisation of the article's editorial angle — not a quote.

tvnz Centre

financial shortfall drives rate rise decision

District mayor concedes a 22% rate hike will be a 'tough ask'
28 May
rnz Centre

financial shortfall forces rate increases

Waitaki mayor Mel Tavendale concedes 22 percent rate hike will be a 'tough ask'
27 May
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