Documentation

How NewsFacts works, how to read what it publishes, and the exact rules behind every label. For the principles and limits in brief, see the methodology; site operators should start with our bot.

• How NewsFacts works

  The six steps between a news story being published and a change appearing in the NewsFacts record: discovery, capture, checking, comparison, labeling and review.

• How to read a change record

  What each part of a record page means: the dates, the version list, the orange and green markings, the tags, and what a record can't tell you.

• Change labels and tags

  The exact rule behind every NewsFacts label and tag, including Headline rewritten, Substantive edit, Numbers changed and No update notice on page.

• Versions, fingerprints and citing

  What a saved version is, how its SHA-256 fingerprint is made, how permanent links work, how to cite a record, and the RSS feed of new changes.

• Review and publication

  Why every change is checked by a person before it is published, which changes are kept but not listed, and the edits NewsFacts can't see.

• For newsrooms and publishers

  What NewsFacts collects from a news site, what a record shows, how to dispute a record, and how the update-notice tag is decided.

• Frequently asked questions

  Answers to common questions about NewsFacts: what a recorded change means, which outlets are followed, how fast changes are caught, and how to report a mistake.