Needle News
Needle News is a map-based local news search engine that helps you explore what's happening in the places you care about — with geographic context built in.
Mission
To help people rediscover the value of local news and feel more connected to real communities through location-based storytelling.
What it is
Needle collects stories from local news sources, processes them with AI, and places them on a map so you can browse news spatially instead of endlessly scrolling headlines. Needle is designed to complement traditional news — giving people a new way to discover stories happening nearby, far away, or in places they care about.
Features
- A map interface for exploring local news by location
- AI-assisted story geotagging (with clear transparency that it can be imperfect)
- Coverage that makes rural and smaller communities easier to discover
- Links directly to original publishers, so readers can support the source