Standards
The record comes first.
How ProPaducah sources, checks and corrects its work, and exactly where AI is and is not used.
Sourcing standards
- 01Link the record.Every guide, chart and data tool links to the public record behind it, with the page or table where possible.
- 02Proposed is not approved.We distinguish a proposal from a decision, a budget from a payment, and a reported offense from a conviction.
- 03Dates and limits travel with the number.Source dates, coverage and scope sit beside the figure they qualify, including when a chart is shared.
- 04Show the discrepancy.When sources conflict, we show the difference instead of quietly choosing a preferred number.
- 05Missing stays missing.A gap in a source stays a gap, never an invented zero.
- 06Primary sources first.Official documents lead. Summaries, press releases and personal accounts add context, not proof.
- 07Correlation is not cause.We describe what the numbers show and say plainly what they cannot tell you.
- 08Keep the original label.When we use a plain-language label, the source’s own term stays available next to it.
How we use AI
No hidden AI. When AI helps make something we publish, we say so.
Where we use AI
- Drafting explainers and scripts from linked public records
- Extracting and structuring tables from official PDFs
- Presenting The Desk, our upcoming newscast, with AI-generated anchors
- Checking our own drafts for unsupported claims
What AI never does here
- Serve as a source. AI output is never cited as evidence.
- Publish without a person checking the claims against their sources.
- Appear unlabeled. AI-presented video says so on screen.
- Create images presented as real photographs of real events.
- Imitate a real person’s face or voice.
Corrections →
What changed, why and which source supports it, logged in public.
Sponsors and independence
Sponsorship is labeled. Sponsors do not choose, review or approve coverage.
Methodology →
Each data tool states its source, period, basis and known limits.
Questions about a source or a number? Email admin@propaducah.com with the page address.