Standards and Practices
This page describes how Daily Watch Reports conducts its journalism — the methods reporters use, the verification steps required before publication, our policies on attribution and plagiarism, and how we approach artificial intelligence tools in the newsroom.
Reporting Methods
Original reporting at Daily Watch Reports begins with direct sourcing. Reporters are expected to speak or correspond directly with the people involved in a story before publication, including subjects of criticism or unfavorable coverage. Reaching out to a subject and being told “no comment” or receiving no response is documented. That outcome does not delay publication of a story that is otherwise ready, but the attempt — and its result — is reflected in the article.
We cover events, decisions, and documented facts. We do not speculate about motivations beyond what sources explicitly state. When context is necessary to understand a fact, we provide it. When context is contested, we say so.
Reporters take notes contemporaneously during interviews and events. Recorded interviews are transcribed accurately; quotes are not cleaned up, shortened, or otherwise altered in ways that change meaning. If a quote is condensed for space, the condensation does not remove context that would alter how a reader understands it.
Verification Before Publication
No claim of fact goes into a story unless the reporter has independent confirmation. “Independent” means a source other than the one being relied upon — a second interview, a corroborating document, an official record, or first-hand observation. One source is not sufficient for a contested or significant claim.
Data and statistics are traced to their original source. If a statistic appears in a press release or secondary report, the reporter locates the underlying study, dataset, or official filing and verifies that the number is accurately represented. We do not publish a number we cannot source directly.
Every completed story is edited by a second editorial staff member before publication. The editor’s role includes checking that all factual claims are attributed, that the sourcing is adequate, and that the story reads fairly to all parties mentioned. See also our Fact-Checking Policy for the full pre-publication checklist.
Attribution and Plagiarism
Plagiarism — the use of another writer’s words, sentences, or unique structure without attribution — is grounds for immediate dismissal. There are no degrees of plagiarism here. Lifting a phrase from a competitor’s story, even a single distinctive sentence, without attribution is the same offense as reproducing paragraphs wholesale.
When we build on the reporting of other outlets, we credit them explicitly: “as first reported by [outlet]” or “according to a [outlet] investigation.” Competitive jealousy is not a reason to obscure where a story originated.
Wire service content used under license is clearly attributed. Excerpts of public statements, transcripts, and official documents are attributed to their source.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Daily Watch Reports uses AI tools in a limited and defined capacity. The rules are straightforward:
- AI does not write article prose. No published sentence in a news story, feature, briefing, or opinion piece is generated by an AI language model. Writing is done by the named journalist.
- AI may assist with research tasks. Reporters may use AI tools to help organize background research, summarize lengthy documents for initial orientation, or identify publicly available sources — provided that any information used in a story is independently verified against primary sources.
- AI use is disclosed when material. If an AI tool played a substantive role in the research or production of a specific story, that is noted in the article. Routine use of general productivity tools (spell check, grammar checking) does not require disclosure.
- AI-generated images are labeled. We do not use AI-generated images to illustrate news stories. If an AI-generated image appears in any other context, it is labeled as such.
This policy reflects a specific position: AI is a research tool, not a journalist. The editorial judgment, the sourcing relationships, the accountability to readers — those belong to the humans whose names appear on the work.
Headlines and Social Promotion
Headlines must accurately reflect the contents of the story. We do not write headlines that overstate a finding, create false urgency, or omit material context that would change how a reader understands the story. This standard applies equally to social media posts, newsletter subject lines, and push notification copy. We recognize that promotional copy is the first thing most readers see; that makes accuracy there more important, not less.
Questions About Our Methods
Readers with questions about how a specific story was reported are welcome to write to [email protected]. We will explain our sourcing and methods when we can do so without compromising source confidentiality.