Our Editorial Standards
Readers trust us because we earn it, one accurate story at a time.
Facts first
Every factual claim in a CCN story traces to a public record, an on-the-record source, or a linked report from another news organization. If we cannot verify it, we do not publish it.
Who approves a story
A CCN editor checks and approves our stories before they appear. The one exception is short straight news written by our AI agents from another outlet’s reporting: those may publish after two separate automated fact checks compare every claim against the original report. Each one says so at the bottom of the story.
Some stories always wait for a human editor, no matter what: opinion and commentary, anything that accuses a person of a crime, stories involving children, stories about a death, and stories about lawsuits.
Opinion is labeled
Commentary carries an Opinion label and is kept separate from news reporting.
We credit other outlets
When we build on someone else’s reporting, we say so and link to the original.
How we use AI
We use AI tools to monitor public sources, prepare drafts and check facts. When AI assisted with a story, the story says so, and it tells you whether a CCN editor or our automated fact checks approved it. AI-made images are always labeled as illustrations.
Corrections
When we get something wrong, we fix it and add a dated correction at the bottom of the story. We never quietly change the record.