Our standards · Project Blue USA

Who we are

We distill the news and get to the bottom of it. We read across many independent sources, separate fact from spin, and publish only what the evidence shows. Some outlets spread fake news; partisan media on every side spin it, Democrats' included. We are not another spin outlet. When the facts hurt Democrats we publish them, and when they help we publish those too. The same rules apply to everyone.

Project Blue USA is independent. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by any political party (including the DNC), candidate, campaign, PAC, government or company. We take no money from parties, candidates, campaigns, PACs or governments, and no one outside our editors can edit or approve what we publish. Our news stories, fact checks and the record entries on officials' pages meet our five-source, two-person rule, with sources tagged so you can check them yourself. Official records link to the original. Automated feed posts (outlets' headlines and AI news briefs) are labeled and are not checked by a person.

Every key claim: at least 5 independent sources

A key claim is any fact you could rely on: who did or said what, a vote, a number, a quote, a legal status, a cause and effect, an item on an official's record. The checker, not the writer, decides what counts as a key claim; when in doubt, it is one.
Each key claim needs at least 5 independent sources, and we aim for 6. The numbers next to sentences open the sources behind them: outlet, owner, date, a link and an archived copy where we have one, and what each source confirms.
Independent means different owners (outlets under one parent company count once), different websites, original reporting (a wire story reprinted 40 times counts once), and not resting on the same single person or document.
Where it exists we include the original record (the vote, the filing, the court record, the full video or transcript), and a source outside the political lean of the others. If none exists, we say where we looked.
Never a source: Wikipedia (we use what it cites), AI chatbots, anonymous posts and forums, sites that copy others, and members' own posts.
Fewer than 5 independent sources means we do not publish it as fact. We fact-check only claims that are already spreading, and we never repeat a new rumor to debunk it.

Official records

Roll-call votes, financial-disclosure forms, executive orders and similar records come straight from the government source and link to it. In news stories and fact checks, anything we say about a record (what it means, why it matters) is a key claim and needs 5 sources.

Two people check news, fact checks and official-page records

This covers news stories, fact checks and the entries on officials' pages (record items, promise ratings, net-worth ranges and stock trades). A writer gathers the sources. A different person, the checker, opens every one and can block publication. The person who publishes is never the writer.
After a check, any change to a fact goes back to the checker.
Claims about crime, corruption, health or private life need a senior editor as well. We never speculate about anyone's health, family or private life.
Some work is done by one editor and is not checked by a second person: the short explanations on vote pages, issue pages, the Leadership Hub's posts, holders, rules and events, and matching an imported filing or lobbying registration to an official. Each is labeled or links its source. Leadership statements do need a second editor.

Accusations

Every accusation shows its current step, and we never describe it as further along than the evidence shows: allegation, under investigation, finding by an official body, charged, decided by a court, or dismissed, acquitted, pardoned or reversed. Each step needs its own sources. When we report that someone said something, that is separate from whether what they said is true. We ask the person named for a response and publish it.

Fact-check verdicts

True: The claim is accurate and nothing important is missing.
Mostly true: The claim is accurate but needs a small clarification or added detail.
Mixed: The claim has accurate and inaccurate parts of similar weight.
Mostly false: The claim contains an element of truth but leaves out or distorts facts that would change the impression it gives.
False: The claim is inaccurate, and five independent sources show what is actually true.
Unproven: We could not confirm or disprove the claim with five independent sources. Failing to confirm is never the same as False.
Missing context: The facts stated are accurate, but leaving out other facts creates a misleading impression.
Misattributed: The words or actions are credited to the wrong person or source.
Altered media: The photo, video or audio was edited, staged or generated in a way that changes what it appears to show.
Satire: The claim began as satire or parody and is being shared as if it were real.
Outdated: The claim was once accurate but is no longer true.

Zero-spin writing

Neutral verbs: “said,” “voted,” “reported.” Never “slammed,” “admitted” or “destroyed.”
Analysis and opinion are labeled and kept apart from facts, and the facts inside them are still checked.
Every number comes with its source, its time period and what it is compared with. Headlines never go further than the evidence.
Where we do not know something, we say “Not disclosed,” “Not found” or “Unconfirmed.” We never fill a gap with a guess.

Corrections

Every fact page has a “Report an error” button. Corrections to news stories, fact checks and the record items on officials' pages are dated and say what changed. They appear at the top of the story, or at the top of the Record section on an official's page, and in the public corrections log. Earlier versions are kept on file.

AI and bots

AI research agents help us watch the news and trace rumors back to where they started. AI is never counted as a source. In news stories, fact checks and the entries on officials' pages, AI is never the checker and never publishes: those keep the 5-source, two-person rule above.
The one exception is AI news briefs in the Brays feed. AI writes them and they publish on their own, but only after our code has opened at least 3 independent sources (different owners, different websites) and a separate AI check has read each one and confirmed it states everything the brief says, including how far any accusation has gone (alleged, investigated, charged or convicted). Briefs name only public officials, candidates and other public figures. Every brief is labeled as written by AI and not checked by a person, and lists those sources.
Our automated feed accounts also post new official records (House votes, executive orders and House financial-disclosure filings) linked to the original, and headlines exactly as outlets of every political lean wrote them, credited to the outlet. Those headlines are the outlets' own reporting; we have not checked them. These automated posts, and the posts announcing our own polls, campaigns, stories and Blueprint chapters, appear in every feed.
No bot may pose as a person here. Outside bots are not allowed and are marked “Bot” or removed. Our own automated accounts carry a visible “automated” label.

Money and pressure

We take no money from parties, candidates, campaigns, PACs or governments, and nothing in the news or fact checks is paid placement. Complaints, threats and mass-email campaigns do not change a fact; only better evidence does. Writers and editors step aside from stories about anyone they work for, donate to or are related to.