Editorial policy

A trend is not published on detection. It must be corroborated by more than one independent source, and the source must be reachable and readable — if we cannot fetch and verify the original, the trend is dropped rather than written from memory.

Single-source items stay in an emerging state and are invisible to readers. This is deliberate: an unverified item is exactly the kind of thin, unreliable content that damages both readers and the site.

Every factual assertion on a trend page carries a label, because the difference matters both to you and to us:

• Verified fact — objectively checkable and uncontested: a date, a price, a score.
• Reported statement — someone said it. We report that they said it, and name them.
• Official record — from a court order, regulatory filing, or government document.
• Unproven allegation — contested or unproven. Always attributed, always hedged, never stated as fact.
• Our analysis — our own inference, clearly marked as ours so you can discount it.

Anything naming an identifiable person or company faces a stricter test and will not publish on a single source.

• A claim we cannot trace to a named, reachable source.
• An allegation about a private individual.
• Speculation about an ongoing investigation presented as fact.
• Medical, legal or financial instruction. We report; we do not advise.
• Anything a payment was offered for — coverage is never for sale in either direction.

Position on the heat chart is computed from momentum, source count and recency. It cannot be bought, and it is not adjusted by hand. Historical snapshots are written once per capture and never rewritten, so the curve you see is the curve that happened.

Errors are corrected in place and logged publicly with the original wording, the correction and the reason. Nothing is silently edited or quietly deleted. See the corrections log.

Serious errors also get a note on the trend page itself, not just in the log.

Anyone — including the subject of a trend — can dispute what we publish via contact. We acknowledge within 24 hours and resolve within 15 days.