Fact-Checking Policy

The principle

Every factual claim Riverdale Standard publishes is checked against a source before publication, and the story tells the reader what that source is. This applies to a sentence about a ceasefire, a sentence about a quarterly result, a processor’s core count, a study’s sample size, a transfer fee, an opening weekend, a visa rule, a recall’s model years or a patch’s release date. The desks use different material; the requirement is the same. A claim we cannot check is either left out or labelled as unverified, and it is never promoted to fact by being repeated.

What counts as a source

Sources are ranked, and the rank decides how much weight a claim carries. At the top are primary documents and direct observation: the official statement, the court record, the filing, the paper and its data, the official result, the recall notice, the specification sheet, the patch notes, the thing on our own desk. Next are on-the-record statements from people in a position to know, identified by name and role. Below that are statements from spokespeople and press releases, which are useful for what an organisation claims but are not evidence that the claim is true. At the bottom are secondhand accounts, social media posts and anonymous claims, which can point us to a story but cannot carry one on their own.

A single source is enough for a fact that the source is uniquely placed to know and has no reason to misstate. A contested or consequential claim needs a second, independent source or a document. Two sources repeating the same press release are one source.

World news

A government’s action is checked against the text of the order, the law or the statement as issued, not against a summary of it. Election results are checked against the electoral authority’s published count and are reported as provisional until it is final. Casualty figures are reported with their source and the time they were given, and figures from parties to a conflict are labelled as such. A treaty, a sanction or a ruling is checked against the document. Where the only material available is from one side, the story says so.

Business and technology

A business story is checked against the filing, the earnings release or the transcript of the call, and where they disagree the filing wins. Results are checked for the period they cover and whether figures are reported or adjusted. Guidance is reported as guidance. A share price move is checked against the exchange record with the time stated. A product claim is checked against the manufacturer’s own documentation, and where it concerns performance or battery life it is reported as the manufacturer’s claim until independently measured. Prices are checked against the seller’s listing in the region named, with the currency stated.

Science

A science story is checked against the paper, and we say whether the paper is peer reviewed, a preprint or a conference abstract. We report the sample size, the method, the funding source where stated, and the limitations the authors acknowledge. A finding in mice is reported as a finding in mice. A correlation is not reported as a cause. A press release about a study is checked against the study, because the two often disagree.

Sports, entertainment and gaming

Results, standings, statistics and disciplinary decisions are checked against the official league, federation or governing body record. Transfer fees and contract terms are reported as confirmed only when a party confirms them; otherwise they are reported as reported, with the source. Box office, chart positions, streaming figures and sales numbers are reported with the source and the period, and estimates are labelled as estimates. Release dates, ratings and platform availability are checked against the publisher’s or studio’s own announcement.

Lifestyle, travel and auto

Lifestyle claims about products, practices and trends are checked against the underlying evidence and reported as claims where that evidence is thin. Travel stories are checked against the carrier’s or authority’s current notice, and entry rules against the issuing government’s own page, with the date. Auto stories are checked against the recall notice as published by the regulator, the manufacturer’s specification, and homologation or safety-test records where they exist. A fuel figure or range is reported with the test cycle it came from.

Numbers

Every number is checked twice: once against its source, and once for arithmetic and context. Percentages are checked against the base they are drawn from. A change is reported with both the old and the new figure, so that a reader can see the size of it. Currency figures are reported in the currency of the source, with a conversion only where it helps and with the date of the rate. Billions and millions are checked, because a slipped order of magnitude is the error that travels furthest. A statistic that sounds remarkable is treated as probably wrong until confirmed, because remarkable numbers are disproportionately errors.

Quotations and images

Quotations are checked against the recording, the transcript or the written statement. Spoken quotes may have false starts and filler removed, but not meaning. Cuts inside a quotation are marked. We do not quote from memory, and we do not reconstruct a quote from a second person’s account of it. A photograph is checked for what it shows, when and where it was taken, and who took it, before it is used. Images circulating on social media during a disaster, a match, a launch or a protest are not published until the origin is confirmed. Where an image is not of the thing described, the caption says what it is.

Before publication

A second person reads every story before it goes out. Their job is to ask where each claim came from and whether the story shows it, whether the headline is supported, whether the people and organisations criticised were given a chance to respond, and whether anything has been assumed rather than checked. Stories carrying serious allegations, naming private individuals, reporting on active legal matters, or describing health or safety risks get a further review. A story that cannot pass this stage waits.

After publication

Publication is not the end of checking. Readers, sources and subjects find things we missed, and the corrections policy explains how those reports are handled and how fast. Developing stories are re-checked as new material arrives, and where an earlier detail is superseded the update says so. The corrections log is reviewed for patterns, and rules on this page have been added because of what it showed.

What we ask of readers

If you know a story is wrong, tell us, with the link and the evidence, at support@riverdalestandard.com. If you know it is right but incomplete, tell us that too. A reader who was at the match, who has read the full judgment, who works in the industry we are describing from its press releases, or who lives in the country we are writing about from a distance is doing the same work we do, and we would rather hear from you before publication than after.