How InSight Crime Gets Facts Right

Thorough fact-checking is crucial to InSight Crime’s work. Errors can have severe repercussions for reporters, the organization, and the subjects of our reporting.

Here are some of the things we do to get facts right.?

We keep organized records. Our fact-checking practices start before writing. Our journalists keep careful notes from sources and we save and share information relevant to our investigations on internal searchable databases. We also use tools to transcribe and store interviews, allowing quotes to be quickly verified and translated.?

We care about the basics. Once the story is ready, an editor or fact checker will highlight all the statements that need verification. We keep a close eye on basic information including the names of our sources, their titles, and pronouns. We also check place names, locations, dates, times, quantities, and calculations.

We go to the original source. We prioritize using high-quality primary sources for fact-checking. When primary sources are unavailable, we triage facts using at least three reliable and independent secondary sources. We assess the credibility of both our primary and secondary sources to consider potential motivations and biases. And we cite our sources and provide links to primary information used in our writing.

We check and check again. When a human source has given us information important to our analysis, we will double-check the facts with them before publication. We often use open-ended questions to check whether the source’s characterization of an issue matches what the journalist has recorded. This also allows our sources to add information that may have been missed in the first interview.?

We always look to improve. While we work hard to eliminate errors, we are not perfect. We monitor feedback from sources and readers post-publication so we can learn from their feedback. When errores happen, we are open with our readers. We correct the mistake and highlight changes or additions in a disclaimer included in the article.?

To explore our authoritative, fact-checked analysis of organized crime in the Americas, visit our website and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.?