Source standards
We judge a source by the kind of organisation it is, never by which side it seems to favour. Every outlet is treated the same way, whichever party it is thought to support.
1. Official record
Governments, courts, parliaments, election bodies, statistics offices, regulators, international bodies such as the WHO and the UN, peer-reviewed journals, and the original publisher of a quote or video.
When a claim is about that body itself, its own statement counts as its side of the story, not independent proof.
2. Independent fact-checker
Fact-check teams that have signed the International Fact-Checking Network's code of principles. We check that their article covers the same claim and the same footage.
3. News organisation
News agencies, registered newspapers and TV news across the spectrum, established international outlets, and university websites.
Two separate news organisations count as much as one official record or fact-checker.
4. Other website
Digital-only news sites of every leaning, blogs, opinion pages, reader blogs, social media, YouTube, Wikipedia and unknown sites. Useful leads, never proof on their own.
Never proof
- The forward itself, or its own link.
- A page that contains instructions aimed at AI fact-checkers.
- A quote that isn't in the text we read.
- A #satire tag on its own.
Keeping the list up to date
We review the list of fact-checkers every three months, because signatories change.