Fact-Checking Policy

The principle

Every factual claim Cumbernauld Media publishes is checked against a source before publication, and the story tells the reader what that source is. This applies equally to an election result, a battery’s capacity, a study’s sample size, a transfer fee, a film’s opening weekend, a fare rule, a recall and a game’s release date. The desks use different material; the requirement is the same. A claim we cannot check is either left out or labelled as unverified, and it is never promoted to fact by being repeated.

What counts as a source

Sources are ranked, and the rank decides how much weight a claim carries. At the top are primary documents and direct observation: the official result, the court record, the filing, the published paper and its data, the specification sheet, the recall notice, the schedule, the release notes, the box office return, the device or vehicle we have used ourselves. Next are on-the-record statements from people in a position to know, identified by name and role. Below that are spokespeople and press releases, useful for what an organisation claims but not evidence that the claim is true. At the bottom are secondhand accounts, social media posts and anonymous claims, which can point us to a story but cannot carry one.

A single source is enough for a fact the source is uniquely placed to know and has no reason to misstate. A contested or consequential claim needs a second, independent source or a document. Several outlets echoing one press release still count as a single source.

World news and business

A story about a government, an election, a court or a conflict is checked against the official statement, the count as published by the electoral body, the judgment as issued, or the statement from the organisation on the ground, and the story says which. Casualty figures and turnout figures are attributed to whoever produced them, with the date. A business story is checked against the filing, the earnings release or the transcript, and where they disagree the filing wins. Results are checked for the period they cover and whether figures are reported or adjusted. Central bank decisions are checked against the statement as issued, not a summary of it.

Technology, auto and gaming

A product claim is checked against the maker’s own specification and documentation, and where the claim concerns performance, range, battery life or capacity it is reported as the maker’s claim until independently measured by us or by a source we identify. Prices are checked against the seller’s listing in the market named, with the currency stated. Release and availability dates are checked against the official announcement and distinguished from pre-order dates and regional rollouts. Recalls are checked against the regulator’s notice, including the model years and markets it names. A game’s features are checked against the publisher’s release notes and, where we can, against the game itself.

Science and lifestyle

A science story is checked against the paper, and we say whether it is peer reviewed, a preprint or a conference abstract, what the sample size was, whether the subjects were people or animals or cells, and what limits the authors stated. A finding in a press release is checked against the paper it describes, because the two often differ. Health and lifestyle claims are checked against the underlying research or the guidance of the relevant public body, and a single small study is not reported as a settled result.

Sports, entertainment and travel

Results, statistics and disciplinary decisions are checked against the official league, federation or governing body record. Transfer fees and contract terms are reported as confirmed by the clubs or as reported figures, and the story says which. Box office, chart and viewership numbers are reported with the source and the period. Release dates, tour dates and schedules are checked against the official announcement. Fares, routes, entry requirements and advisories are checked against the carrier, the airport or the issuing government’s own published page, and the story gives the date it was checked.

Numbers

Every number is checked twice: once against its source and once for arithmetic and context. Percentages are checked against the base they come from. A change is reported with both the old and the new figure so a reader can see the size of it. Currency figures are reported in the currency of the source, with a conversion only where it helps and with the date of the rate. Millions and billions are checked, because a slipped order of magnitude is the error that travels furthest. A statistic that sounds remarkable is treated as probably wrong until confirmed.

Quotations

Quotations are checked against the recording, the transcript or the written statement. Spoken quotes may have false starts and filler removed, but not meaning. Cuts inside a quotation are marked. A quote taken from a document is reproduced exactly. We do not quote from memory, and we do not reconstruct a quote from a second person’s account of it. A translated quote says it was translated.

Images

A photograph is checked for what it shows, when and where it was taken, and who took it, before it is used. Product and vehicle images are checked against the shipping product where we have one, because press renderings sometimes show features and colours that never shipped. Images circulating on social media during a disaster, a match, a launch or a protest are not published until the origin is confirmed. Where an image is not of the thing described, the caption says what it is.

Before publication

A second person reads every story before it goes out. Their job is to ask where each claim came from and whether the story shows it, whether the headline is supported, whether the people and organisations criticised were given a chance to respond, and whether anything has been assumed rather than checked. Stories carrying serious allegations, naming private individuals, reporting on health, moving on market-sensitive information or touching active legal matters get a further review. A story that cannot pass this stage waits.

After publication

Publication is not the end of checking. Readers, sources and subjects find things we missed, and the corrections policy explains how those reports are handled and how fast. Developing stories are re-checked as new material arrives, and where an earlier detail is superseded the update says so. The corrections log is reviewed for patterns, and rules on this page have been added because of what it showed.

What we ask of readers

If you know a story is wrong, tell us, with the link and the evidence, at support@cumbernauld-media.com. If you know it is right but incomplete, tell us that too. A reader who was in the stadium, sat through the hearing, read the full paper or drove the car is doing the same work we do, and we would rather hear from you before publication than after.

Last updated: September 2026