Fact-checking policy

01What we check

• Names, titles, places, dates and numbers against primary records.
• Quotes against recordings, transcripts or the speaker's own channels.
• Statistics against the original dataset, not a secondary write-up.
• Images and video for origin, date and location before they are used.

02Visual verification

User-generated and third-party imagery is checked with reverse image search, metadata inspection and geolocation against satellite and street-level references. If we cannot confirm where and when a visual was captured, we do not publish it as evidence.

Illustrative or AI-generated imagery is labelled in the caption and is never presented as documentary footage of an event.

03Who signs off

The reporter documents sourcing in the story record. The desk editor re-checks the load-bearing facts. For legally sensitive or high-impact reporting, the chief editor performs a final review before publication.

04Challenge a fact

If you believe we have got something wrong, write to the newsroom with the URL and the specific claim. We investigate every substantiated challenge and respond.