The Australian AI Media Tone Index
Every month, we classify every AI story at the front door of Australia’s major mastheads by tone. We compare with a fixed set of global mastheads on the same method. The number is the gap.
Australian AI coverage was 44.4% negative in August 2026. The global set was 30.9% (n = 946).
Releases
| Release | Gap | AU neg. | Global neg. | n AU / global | Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | +13.5 pts | 44.4% | 30.9% | 421 / 946 | CSV |
What we read
We review each story’s headline and standfirst. One story is one unit. We don’t analyse the body or anything behind the paywall.
How we classify
We code each story as negative, neutral or positive using a published rubric, one fixed prompt and one pinned model. Every month Will re-codes fifty stories per set blind, and we publish how often he and the model agree.
The mastheads
We compare seven Australian general-audience mastheads with seven global ones. Both lists stay fixed for the life of the method version. How we make the Index.