Editorial policy

Where our news comes from

Everything we publish starts with a source someone else produced: a news outlet, a government or police agency, a school district, an event listing, or a public community post. We name the source on every item and link to it. If a source can't be named and linked, we don't use it.

We summarize; we don't republish. A summary is a few sentences meant to tell you whether the story is worth your time. The full reporting stays with the outlet that did it.

How we use AI, and how we tell you

Newshound is run largely by software, and most of the writing you see is done by AI. We say so:

• Story summaries carry an AI-summarized label next to the source name.
• Newsletters are drafted by AI from the stories and events we collected for that issue. Some are written in a conversational first-person voice. That voice is AI-generated. It is not a local reporter, and it doesn't claim to have been anywhere or seen anything.
• Police blotter entries and other public records are shown as the agency published them. AI does not rewrite them.

The checks every story goes through

• Is it local? For town editions, each candidate story is scored on how local it is. Stories about your town and nearby come first. Statewide stories only fill in when there isn't enough local news, and stories plainly about somewhere else are left out.
• Is it on topic? For topic and named-subject editions, each story is checked for whether it is actually about that subject. When we're unsure, we leave it out. A quiet day beats filler.
• Does the newsletter match the sources? Before a newsletter is saved, each section is checked against the material the writer was given. Sections with claims we can't find in that material, or that contradict it, are flagged for review.

These checks are automated and they are not perfect. They reduce errors; they don't eliminate them. That is why stories and blotter entries carry a “Report an issue” link, and why you can always email the editor.

What we never do

• Fabricate facts, quotes, sources or events.
• Invent reporters or bylines, or present AI writing as a human journalist's work.
• Impersonate a real person, outlet or agency.
• Paraphrase or embellish arrest and police records. An arrest is an accusation, not a conviction, and the record is shown as published.
• Publish a full article we didn't write.

Advertising and conflicts of interest

Some of our pages and newsletters carry ads. Every ad is labeled Sponsored and is kept separate from news. Advertisers can't buy, change or remove coverage, and paying for an ad doesn't make a story about you more or less likely to appear.

If we ever cover something we have a financial stake in, we'll say so on the item.

Who answers for this

The Newshound editor is responsible for this policy and for what we publish. To ask a question or report a problem, email [email protected]. To fix or remove something, see Corrections.