How we build an evidential record.

Source hierarchy

We generally prioritise original documents, official statistics, court or government records, direct interviews and first-hand material. Secondary reporting is useful for discovery and context but should not silently become the sole basis of a serious factual allegation.

Provenance

Where practicable we retain source URLs, capture dates, original files and relevant metadata. Evidence supplied to us is assessed for authenticity, context and lawful use before publication.

Digital evidence

Original media should be preserved before editing. Working copies are separated from originals. For significant evidence we may calculate cryptographic hashes to help demonstrate that the retained original has not changed.

Open-source intelligence

OSINT can establish useful facts, but identification and attribution require caution. Reverse-image search, geolocation, chronology, metadata, archives and social-media research are treated as components of corroboration—not as licences to dox private individuals.

Uncertainty

When a dataset cannot answer a question cleanly, we say so. Absence of a national published dataset does not prove that no agency holds local or unpublished data.