Last updated: September 28, 2026
Acceptance of these terms
By accessing or using Political Water Cooler (the "Site"), you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site.
What the Site does
The Site aggregates headlines and brief excerpts from publicly available news sources, links out to the original publishers for the full article, and displays our own independently generated "Clearwater Score" — a rating intended to characterize a source's (and, separately, an individual article's) political lean. These ratings combine a licensed third-party dataset (Media Bias/Fact Check) with our own automated, AI-assisted analysis of source content.
Editorial independence and the nature of our content
This is the most important section of these terms, and we want it stated plainly rather than buried:
- Our lean scores, labels, badges, and any accompanying commentary or reasoning represent our own good-faith editorial assessment and the output of an automated, AI-assisted methodology. They are opinions about how content reads and compares, not verified statements of objective fact about any person's or organization's intent, character, or motives.
- Our methodology is disclosed on the Site's rankings pages, including — where available — the actual sample of articles behind a given score, so readers can evaluate our reasoning for themselves rather than take a number on faith.
- Scores change over time as our review process re-runs, as sources publish new content, and as our methodology improves. A score reflects our assessment at a point in time, not a permanent judgment.
- If the Site publishes content addressing specific public figures (for example, comparing a sitting elected official's voting record to their public statements), the same principle applies with even more force: any characterization is a sourced, good-faith editorial comparison of publicly available votes and statements, not an assertion that any individual acted in bad faith, and every such comparison links to the underlying primary source (the actual vote record, the actual quoted statement) so readers can verify it directly.
- We provide a mechanism for flagging content we may have miscategorized, and we review and correct genuine errors.
Content ownership and attribution
Headlines and brief excerpts are used under fair use for the purposes of commentary, criticism, and news aggregation. Full articles remain the property of their original publishers, who are credited by name on every listing, and every headline links directly to the original source.
Third-party links
The Site links to third-party websites we do not control. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or practices of those sites.
No warranty
The Site and its content are provided "as is," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including as to accuracy, completeness, or fitness for a particular purpose. Political lean assessment is inherently a matter of editorial judgment, not an exact science, and reasonable people can disagree with any given rating.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Political Water Cooler and its owner/operator will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Site.
Prohibited uses
You agree not to misuse the Site — including attempting to disrupt its operation, scrape it at a rate that degrades service, or use it to violate any applicable law.
Governing law
[Placeholder — Erik to specify the state whose law governs these terms, typically wherever the business is organized.]
Changes to these terms
We may revise these terms from time to time. Continued use of the Site after a revision means you accept the updated terms.
Contact
Questions about these terms can be sent to contact@politicalwatercooler.com.