How we source

Orbit reads public news feeds (RSS) published by established news organizations and official sources, including national, international and local outlets and government agencies such as the Federal Reserve. We use only what publishers make available in those feeds: the headline, the publisher's own short summary, the link and the date. We do not copy full articles or get around paywalls.

• A story qualifies only when at least three different outlets are reporting the same event.
• We cover finance, economics, business, technology, entertainment, sports, science and lifestyle. In entertainment and sports we report confirmed announcements and results only, never gossip or rumors. We do not yet cover politics, elections, crime or health, which need more review than we can provide today.
• We skip opinion columns, sponsored content, product deals and live blogs.

1. Related reports from several outlets are grouped into a single event.
2. An AI system drafts the brief using only facts stated in those sources. It is instructed never to add facts, figures, names or quotes of its own.
3. Every sentence must cite at least two sources. Software checks this automatically and removes any claim supported by only one source.
4. Direct quotes are rare and kept under 15 words.
5. When outlets disagree on a fact, figure or interpretation, we show each reading under "Where sources differ" and do not pick a side.
6. Stories involving accusations, deaths or injuries, conflicting numbers or thin sourcing are flagged for extra review.

No brief is published automatically. An editor checks each draft against its sources, confirms key facts such as figures and names, chooses a photo, and approves or rejects it. If a fact can't be confirmed in two sources, it is cut, or the story is not published.

Briefs use two kinds of photos, and the caption always says which. Photos of the subject show the real person, team, place or event a story is about. They come from Wikimedia Commons under free licenses that allow our use, and are credited with the photographer and license. Illustrative photos from Unsplash show the setting of a story: a place, an object or a scene. People may appear in them as part of a scene, such as a crowd or fans at a distance, but they are not the people in the story. We never use close-up portraits as illustrations, and stories involving accusations, deaths, injuries, job cuts or lawsuits get illustrative photos without people. All photos are shown in black and white.

Each brief lists its sources by outlet and original headline, with a link to the full article. Paywalled sources are marked. We want readers to visit the newsrooms doing the reporting.

We correct errors promptly and openly. See Corrections.