Trust is built through verifiable claims and visible corrections, not through an assertion that every article has been checked.
Separate reporting from interpretation
Tell readers what the source establishes and what the publication is inferring. A company announcement can support the fact that the company made a claim; it does not automatically verify the claimed performance. A fundraising story should distinguish a target, an agreement and a completed transaction. These distinctions are especially important when a fluent draft makes uncertain information sound settled.
Link the evidence that matters
Use precise source pages rather than a generic company homepage when a specific announcement or document is available. Check that a link supports the associated claim and that its date matches the event being described. Several articles repeating the same press release are not independent confirmation. Record the origin of important numbers so an editor can revisit them without reconstructing the entire research process.
A challengeable source trail
Claim
State the fact or inference precisely.
Evidence
Link the material that supports it.
Disclosure
Describe the reporting actually performed.
Correction
Record material changes visibly.
Describe the work honestly
An AI-assisted article should not imply that a reporter conducted an interview, visited a facility or tested a product unless that happened. Images need the same honesty. Label contextual photography and generated illustrations appropriately. The reader should be able to tell which parts of the story come from public materials and which parts are the publication’s own analysis.
Make correction a visible process
Provide a clear way to flag an error and retain dated notes for material corrections. Updating an article should improve the record rather than erase the fact that a consequential claim changed. A useful editorial system also learns from the mistake by improving its verification checklist. The long-term aim is not an impossible promise of perfection; it is a publication whose evidence and correction practices can withstand a reader’s scrutiny.
Sources
- Google Search Central — source and reference material ↗ Google Search Central · Primary source
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