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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.
Week of 17 Aug 2026
This week
Press topic

Smartphone Ban For Children

5 articles · 3 aliases in press · peaked week of 12 Jul 2026 · first seen 15 Jul 2026

The proposed policy debate in New Zealand over whether to ban or restrict smartphone use by children and young people under the age of 16, including discussion of "dumbphone" alternatives and related legislative or regulatory options.

The stories behind this signal

across press, releases & commentary · links open at the source

Sample framings

Up to 12 framings across outlets and orientations — each a short phrase the extractor generated to characterise the piece's editorial angle (not a quote). Filter by lean to see how each bloc is spinning the story; click through to read the original.

odt Centre

act leader proposes smartphone restriction

SH1 south of Kaikōura reopens after flood damage
15 Jul
stuff Centre-left

proposed social media restriction through device limits

Under 16? Here are some ‘dumbphones’ you may be forced to use
17 Jul
+3 more framings Create a free account to see them all →

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.

Alias drift

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

Free account Create a free account to watch this topic — get alerted when framing shifts, when an MP adopts new language, or when discourse and press diverge. Create a free account Log in

Recent headlines

Most recent 5 articles linking to this topic.

How the public reacted

Social-media signal on the same topic, drawn from the social lens. Engagement is likes + 2×shares + 3×replies, the same weighting used across the digest cards. View on /social →

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