Editorial Policy

Our mission

Factual Media is an evidence-first publishing desk for markets and beats that need credible news — not pay-to-play coverage and not a blast wire.

We do not sell editorial placement. We do not favour affiliates, promoters, advertisers, or our own commercial relationships.

• Substance beats hype. Verified developments, accountability, and public-interest news outrank noise.
• Promo and affiliate signals sink in the queue unless there is real news value.
• Every publish is human-approved. Ingest and AI tools suggest; editors decide.

Surfaces (how to read this site)

Payment for syndication does not buy editorial placement, brief slots, pins, or other merit features.

Editorial independence

• Factual Media is editorially separate from any single company, project, product, wallet, or partner brand.
• Staff must disclose affiliations on any story where they are connected to the subject.
• Affiliated or sensitive stories require a second editor review before publish.
• Sponsored or partner content is always labelled and never mixed with news copy as if it were reporting.

How a story moves through the desk

1. Intake — Stories arrive from confidential tips, staff compose, partner submissions, or configured ingest sources. Nothing goes live automatically.
2. Screening — Tips and raw intake are triaged in the screening queue. Tip handlers forward vetted items to screeners.
3. Rank — Category and evidence shape priority (promo sinks; verified activity rises).
4. Review — An editor claims the story. Fact-check, security, and background passes run where required.
5. Verify — Claims are mapped to evidence tiers (see below). Unsupported claims are flagged or cut.
6. Publish — An authorised editor publishes. Editorial surfaces update after deploy.
7. Distribute — Daily or weekly briefs may go to configured channels (Telegram, X, and others). Social posts link back to full articles on site.

Evidence tiers

We prefer primary sources. Social posts alone are not enough for strong claims.

Beats & special rails

Every beat uses the same evidence bar. These notes are how we apply it. Only mature / 18+ has a separate public policy page (age gate and legal bright lines).

Blockchain & digital assets

Blockchain and digital-assets coverage, when those desks are live. Prefer primary records and verified on-chain artifacts for strong claims. Promo, affiliate, and hype posts sink unless there is deliverable news value. Not financial advice.

Politics & civic

Affiliation disclosure is mandatory where staff or partners are connected to a campaign, party, or advocacy group. We do not publish advocacy dressed as news. Election and civic claims need primary or cross-confirmed sources.

Legal & crime

Highest caution. No unverified accusations without an evidence packet. Prefer filings, court records, and named official statements. We state what is alleged vs what is established.

Science & health

Prefer primary literature, regulators, and named institutions. No miracle cures, unverified medical claims, or “breakthrough” framing without the underlying record.

Conflict, war & crisis

Rumor discipline first. Attribute claims; label unverified battlefield or casualty figures. We do not amplify unverified atrocity claims.

Graphic imagery. Documenting war, atrocities, and human-rights abuses often means graphic images — that is evidence, and we will not let an algorithm bury it. Automated screening never auto-rejects newsworthy graphic violence or gore; it flags such images for a human editor, who decides publication with a graphic content rating and a reader interstitial. The single absolute exception — refused automatically, no override — is sexual content involving minors / CSAM.

Gaming

Studios, platforms, esports, and player economies. Leaks and promo culture are common — same promo-sink rule. Distinguish rumor, official announcement, and verified shipment.

Media & culture

Music, TV, film, and creators. Reviews and criticism are labelled as such. Sponsored or partner entertainment content is always labelled and never mixed with news copy as if it were reporting.

Local & community

Town, city, and community desks when we run them. Same evidence bar; prefer primary local records and named officials over anonymous social posts.

Sports

Teams, leagues, and competitions when we cover them. Same promo-sink and affiliation rules as gaming and media.

Business & markets (non-chain)

Earnings, filings, corporate actions, and traditional markets. Prefer primary filings and named company statements. Not investment advice.

Technology (general)

Products, platforms, and infrastructure outside blockchain-specific coverage. Shipping and verified capability outrank vaporware.

Mature / 18+

Nudity and adult-oriented editorial are welcome on gated rails only, never mixed into open editorial surfaces as town-square news. See the mature content policy.

Newsroom roles (summary)

Permissions are enforced in the desk and API — not honour system.

\*Junior editors publish standard stories; sensitive publishes may need senior sign-off.

Staff sign in with Proton Mail and a desk PIN. Roles and permissions are configured centrally.

AI on the desk

We use AI as a research and drafting assistant, not as publisher.

• AI may suggest flags during fact-check, security, and background reviews.
• AI may gather labeled intake from named sources that desk configured, and may draft a first version from criteria an editor supplies (topic, sources, angle). The editor must review, edit, and verify before save or publish.
• If a source already posted a photo, the desk may use that URL and credit the source. If there is no licensed or official image, the desk may generate an illustration — labelled as such, never as a photograph of the event.
• AI-assisted pieces carry internal disclosure metadata on the draft.
• No AI output publishes without human approval.

Syndication & partner outlets

Partners may publish under their own Factual Media outlet (e.g. `factualmedia.news/{outlet}`) after desk screening.

• Partner posts are reviewed to the same evidence bar before they appear on their outlet.
• Free desk credits may apply during pilot; usage and limits are tracked in admin finance tools.
• Paying for syndicated placement puts the story on that partner’s outlet only — not on network editorial surfaces.

Walls

• Wall of Truth — Verified positive claims and documented delivery, with sources.
• Wall of Shame — Documented false claims, scams, or debunked narratives. We state facts, link evidence, and avoid defamation.

Both are desk-curated editorial surfaces. Every entry requires editor approval and a mandatory evidence appendix. Partners may nominate strong, under-covered cases — good or bad — but the desk decides. Placement is never for sale: no pay-to-shame, no pay-to-truth.

Where a wall entry relates to a fuller story, we link out to the full article. The public archive stays free; a subscription only affects how quickly new entries appear.

Confidential tips

• When a vertical desk is live, that desk may offer a confidential tip form. Contact details are hashed — not exposed on the desk. General contact: Apply / contact.
• Tip handlers review intake in the Tip inbox, then forward to screening. Source identity is not published without consent.
• Tip rewards (if offered) are at editor discretion for actionable, original leads that pass verification.
• Staff must not trade on non-public tip information.

Corrections

When we get it wrong, we fix it in the open.

• Substantive errors receive a public correction on the article — we do not silent-edit claims that readers already saw.
• Send corrections via the site footer link or staff channels.

What we do not publish

• Pay-for-coverage on briefs, pins, walls, or other editorial surfaces
• Unverified accusations without an evidence packet
• Pure affiliate or hype posts with no deliverable news value
• Stories where the only source is a promoter account
• Sexual content involving minors, CSAM, or non-consensual intimate imagery (never — age gates do not apply)

Markets we serve

Factual Media is publishing infrastructure for any category. Verticals expand over time; every surface uses the same editorial bar.

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Factual Media — same bar for everyone.