Source context methodology

What the signals mean

Source type describes the publisher's primary format. Ownership describes its disclosed institutional or funding structure. Geographic base identifies where the publisher is headquartered. Standards published means Plotted verified a public editorial, ethics, or corrections document at the linked evidence URL.

A source can publish standards and still make mistakes. A source without a verified standards link is not automatically unreliable. Political leaning and article-level truthfulness are deliberately not inferred from these facts.

Diversity summaries

Story cards count linked articles and then use reviewed profiles to show how many publisher home countries or ownership models are represented. Multiple feed names owned by one publisher count as one publisher. Unknown profiles are included in the source count but never guessed into a country or ownership category.

Review and provenance

Profiles are curated from publisher disclosures and authoritative institutional records. Every reviewed profile carries a review date and evidence links. Changes are versioned with the application so the displayed methodology and source facts change together. Missing coverage is labeled Profile pending.

What Plotted does not claim

• No article is assigned an AI-generated bias or accuracy score.
• Source diversity does not prove that a story is complete or correct.
• “Profile pending” means the source has not completed this review process. It is not a negative rating.