<aside> đź’ˇ This page is maintained by Karen For questions e-mail [email protected]
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All web stories and social media posts published by Atmos are fact-checked by at least one member of the Atmos editorial team. Print stories and occasional long-form web features are fact-checked by an independently contracted fact-checker.
Any factual claims made in a story not attributed to a source interviewed for the story must include a hyperlinked source. Examples of acceptable sources include: academic and government sources, scientific studies, reputable publications and media outlets, and books. Writers should include these hyperlinks in the Google Docs containing their story drafts.
For print stories, writers should work the source into the text if the info is specific and coming from only from one source (for example: “According to a study published in Nature in 2019…”). Info that is common knowledge or easily attributed to multiple sources does not need sources to be worked into the text. Writers should also include hyperlink when possible for when the story is eventually published online. For sources that don’t have a hyperlink available, writers should include a photo or PDF of the relevant pages and send them by email to their editor.
Writers for both web and print should supply audio files and transcriptions for the fact-checker to check against. Print writers should also supply contacts for all original interviews in case the fact-checker needs to reach out for clarification, and should alert sources that this may happen.
When directly quoting sources, do not edit or reorder the source’s words. You can remove filler words (e.g. like, um, you know), but longer omissions should be indicated by ellipses (...). If the interview happened in a language other than English, both the original transcript and the writer’s translation should be sent. As much as possible, translations of quotes should match the original wording, editing to make it sound natural in English but not to change or compress meaning.
When fact-checking a story, all external sources noted by the writer should be verified and the story should be heavily vetted to make sure there are no facts being asserted that do not have a source attached.
The fact-checker should ensure that all names and titles mentioned in the story are correct.
Questions about any facts should be left as comments in the Google Doc for the story for the writer to review. Examples of common comments and questions might include:
“Unable to verify this specific fact in the source linked, please clarify or provide another source.”
“Missing source, please provide.”
“Inaccurate, would be more correct to say…”
In instances of conflicting information from two acceptable sources, both the writer and editor should be asked to weigh in and the editor should make a final call about which to follow.
In outlines for social posts, sources for all facts should be hyperlinked.
In designed posts, sources should be noted at the bottom of each slide or collated on the final slide of the post. In visual posts, sources should be listed at the end of the caption. Sources can be grouped together and separated by a comma or each on their own line: