Demonstration article

This sample was written to show how Northstar Briefing presents journalism. It does not report real events and contains no real quotations, data or named sources.

Fact-checking is one of journalism's least visible crafts. Readers see the finished article; they do not see the hours spent tracing a figure to its original source, confirming the spelling of a name, or calling back an interviewee to make sure a quotation captures what was meant.

The work begins with a question asked of every factual claim: what is the evidence, and is it the best available? A checker reads the reporter's notes, recordings and documents, and goes beyond them where needed — to court filings, official records, datasets and independent experts.

What gets checked

Names, titles, dates and numbers are the obvious targets. But checkers also test characterisations — whether a description is fair, whether context has been omitted, whether a summary of someone's position would be recognised by that person.

Every sentence in a story is a claim. Fact-checking is the discipline of treating it that way.

  1. Draft: the reporter files with sources annotated.
  2. Check: each claim is traced to evidence; gaps are flagged.
  3. Response: subjects of significant criticism are given a fair chance to respond.
  4. Edit: editors resolve disputes and decide what can be published.
  5. Publication: and, if errors surface later, a visible correction.

The process has limits. Deadlines compress it, and not every fact can be independently verified. Good publications tell readers when that is the case, rather than presenting uncertain information as settled.

In an information environment crowded with claims, the slow work of checking is a large part of what distinguishes journalism from everything else competing for attention.