Editorial Standards
The ethical guidelines, fact-checking procedures, and conflict-of-interest policies governing HeadlineCrunch.
Guiding principles
HeadlineCrunch is a neutral, source-linked news-intelligence platform. We use precise, neutral language; distinguish reporting from opinion; attribute allegations to those making them; and never present predictions as facts. We do not invent facts, sources, quotations, or statistics, and we avoid inferring motive without evidence.
Fact-checking procedures
- Source-weighting: Original reporting, official records, court documents, transcripts, datasets, and direct statements are weighted above aggregation. Wire-service republications are not counted as independent confirmation.
- Attribution: Every substantive assertion links to its source. Quotations are attributed verbatim or closely paraphrased to the speaker.
- Verification flags: Clusters surface “Broadly Reported,” “Coverage Differences,” and “Unresolved or Disputed” blocks so readers can see what is established, contested, and open.
- Corrections: Every story page has a “Report an Error” button. Material corrections display what changed, when, why, and whether they affected the AI comparison.
Neutrality and framing analysis
Our framing analysis describes how outlets cover a story — emphasis, tone, selected facts, and notable absences — without judging the outlets’ intent. Opinion and editorial content is labeled as such and summarized as an argument rather than reported as fact. “Not mentioned” means a fact appears in other credible reporting and is absent here, not that it was concealed.
Conflict-of-interest policy
HeadlineCrunch is editorially independent. Sponsors and partners cannot influence clustering, framing analysis, outlet ratings, or story prominence. Ownership and funding details are disclosed on the Ownership & Funding page and maintained in the admin dashboard. Outlets may submit corrections to their profiles and any third-party ratings.
Source and outlet standards
Sources are configurable and approved by editors. Each outlet profile records ownership, parent organization, headquarters, geographic focus, funding type, whether it separates news from opinion, and its corrections and editorial-standards policies. Third-party reliability and viewpoint ratings, where shown, are attributed to their provider and dated.
Privacy and personalization
We collect only what is needed to provide personalized feeds, alerts, and newsletters. Personalization never creates an ideological filter bubble — additional perspectives and sources remain clearly available. Saved stories are private to each user.
Copyright and excerpts
We do not republish full articles. We display headlines, short lawful excerpts, and AI-generated summaries, and link to the original publishers. All coverage links point to the original source.
AI disclosures
AI-generated summaries may contain errors. Each story page carries an AI notice explaining how the analysis was produced and directing readers to the original reporting. Earlier summary versions are preserved in an internal audit history.
Review cadence
Clusters are re-evaluated as new articles arrive, and the trending monitor flags clusters reaching five or more articles within 60 minutes. Administrators review flagged and high-risk clusters and can merge, divide, rename, or archive them.
Contact
For corrections, source suggestions, or inquiries, use the “Report an Error” button on any story page or contact the editorial team through the admin dashboard.
Demo Content: this prototype is populated with illustrative data and these standards are illustrative policy, not a live, legally binding document.