Fact-Checking Policy
The verification method behind everything we publish, written out step by step.
Verification is the point of this newsroom, so the method should be visible rather than implied. This page describes what we actually do before a claim reaches a reader.
The method
- Locate the primary source: the document, the recording, the register entry or the person who was there
- Establish origin and date for any image or video, including reverse-image checks on viral material
- Confirm numbers against the institution that issued them, and label provisional figures as provisional
- Seek comment from anyone facing a significant allegation, and carry their response in the story
- Have a second editor re-check each verifiable claim before publication
How we describe certainty
We distinguish between what is confirmed, what is reported by others and what is claimed but unverified. Attribution appears in the sentence that carries the claim, not in a note at the bottom.
Viral claims
When we check a circulating claim, we state the verdict early, show the evidence, and avoid amplifying the original falsehood in the headline. We do not republish manipulated media without a clear label.
Report a claim
Send anything you want checked to our newsroom, ideally with the link, the date you saw it and where it was circulating.