https://leadstories.com/about.html

Lead Stories is an LLC registered in Colorado.

Online, Lead Stories states: "Lead Stories LLC is Colorado company formed by Maarten Schenk (Belgium), Alan Duke (California), Perry R. Sanders (Colorado) and later joined by John C. Goede (Florida). The company is self-funded with no outside investors and relies on advertising revenue, license fees for the use of the Trendolizer™ engine and fees obtained through Facebook's third party fact checking partnership and other fact checking related consultancy work. You can check our entry in the Colorado Secretary of State business registry here (note: if the link doesn't work simply click your 'back' button and reload the page)." 

I confirmed through the Colorado Secretary of State's office Lead Stories LLC as of Oct. 24 is in good standing (see attached). 

1. Lead Stories started in 2015 and transitioned from reporting about viral content into full-time fact checking at the end of that year and early in 2016.

2. The number has grown and fluctuated this year again (new hires, people leaving, freelancers...). We still have around 70 people at any given time. Three are the co-founders/partners + one partner who joined later as legal counsel. Four staffers have editor roles, editing and coordinating the work of about ten to fifteen fact-checkers. Two other people don't directly write fact checks but collect potential misinformation for the fact checkers to work on and analyze trends in the misinformation landscape to provide intelligence about to clients. We also have one person exclusively working on website and UI design. The rest of the staff are freelancers dedicated to our work for TikTok/ByteDance in several countries.  We are training them to write fact checks meant for publication that we want to start promoting in the future.

3. Fact checking and activities related to or supporting that mission. Beside our website with fact checks we also run and maintain Trendolizer, a software webservice that detects viral content online (used by fact checkers in several countries). We also provide analysis and information about the misinformation we fact check to partners like Facebook and TikTok.

4. We want to start fully localized version of our website in several countries, applying the same process and workflow that already exists for our U.S. operation but with local journalists and writers.  We're also intending to apply for an IFCN ENGAGE grant to start a project to bring Trendolizer (including training and hands on support) to all IFCN fact checkers. 

Lead Stories is an existing signatory, and it has identified its staff as well as its activities and goals. I mark Criteria 1.2 is compliant. 

Lead stories publishes about thirty fact checks per week in English on https://leadstories.com. We're publishing a handful in Ukrainian (at https://ukrainian.leadstories.com), which may increase again in the future.

We're currently training up editors and writers to publish in several other languages with a goal to publish an additional twenty to thirty fact checks per week.

I confirm that Lead Stories has published the minimum required amount of fact checks, and Criteria 1.3 is compliant. 

We generally cover claims related to politics, current events, health, science, conspiracies, scams and the occasional entertainment story.

I reviewed 10 fact checks (noted by date, feed unique to the LS site, and headline in reverse chronological order) published over the last three months, which are listed below. Some of these will be expanded in the source or methodology sections below although I reviewed others, too. This review marks Criteria 1.4 compliant. 

BLUE FEED

Oct. 23: Photo Does NOT Show Joe Biden Sunbathing On Beach During Gaza And U.S. House Crises In October 2023 -- It's An Old Picture

Oct. 5: Attorney General Letitia James Did NOT Lose 80% Of Case Against Trump

Sept. 26: Biden Did NOT Say It Was His First 'In Person' Picket While Meeting With Striking Autoworkers -- He Was Misquoted In Online Post

Sept. 12: There Were NOT 7 Million Registered Voters In Wisconsin 2020 Election With Only 4.5 Million Eligible

Sept. 8: Increase In Nancy Pelosi's Net Worth Is NOT Proof Of Any Illegality On Her Part

RED FEED 

Oct. 4: NO Evidence Trump On September 26, 2023 Posted On 'Truth' That He'll Beat Obama In '24 And Send NBC To Firing Squad

Oct. 2: AZ Senate Did NOT Bring 'Rico Indictments Against Katie Hobbs, Adrian Fontes' And Others

Aug. 30: Jared Kushner And Ivanka Trump Did NOT Pose In Room With Bone Saws On The Walls -- Photo Is Doctored

Aug. 7: Scene Of Mike Pence Carrying A Rainbow Flag In A Parade Is NOT A Real Photo -- It's An AI-Generated Image

Aug. 1: 'Lady In Green' Did NOT Hypnotize Mitch McConnell, Freezing Him With A Touch -- Sen. Capito Was Standing Behind Him With Others

Lead Stories offers access to the use of its Trendolizer engine on a commercial basis, including to political parties or government entities that request it. However we currently have no state funded or political actors among our Trendolizer clients. 

I mark Criteria 1.5 as compliant although I note that Lead Stories, which recieves some funding from TikTok owner, Byte Dance, does not explain that ByteDance is a tech company based in China. 

See the note on our "About" page: https://leadstories.com/about.html#note

The Trendolizer™ Terms of Service have a clause that reads:

"Usage of the Trendolizer Website or Service does not grant you any influence, say or preferential treatment with regards to the selection of the content we choose to write about, the content of the articles we publish or the rating or conclusions Lead Stories draws about any such content."

No individual Trendolizer™ user accounts for more than %0.1 of our average monthly company revenue.

Also see: https://leadstories.com/code-of-principles.html

We offer commercial access to our Trendolizer™ engine, including to political parties or campaigns that ask for it. All are offered the same conditions including a clause in the Terms of Service that explicitly says using Trendolizer™ does not confer any influence, privilege or say about our editorial work. Trendolizer™ fees are deliberately kept low in order to ensure individual user fees never make up more than a tiny fraction of our total budget. This minimizes the potential for users to have leverage over us by threatening to cancel their account.

I mark Criteria 1.6 as compliant as Lead Stories notes online that the usage of its Trendolizer platform does not mean that it grants anyone any influence. It's still unclear WHO uses the platform, which I will address in my summary. I do not believe it is worthy of requesting a change, as the criteria states only that editorial independence be articulated. 

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/08/fact-check-mug-shot-of-trump-in-black-pin-stripe-suit-not-his-real-mug-shot.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/08/fact-check-scene-of-mike-pence-carrying-a-rainbow-flag-in-a-parade-is-not-a-real-photo-ai-generated-image.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/07/fact-check-hillary-clinton-did-not-endorse-ron-desantis-its-a-deepfake-video.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/06/fact-check-these-are-not-real-clips-of-pelosi-aoc-biden-discussing-january-6-insurrection.html

In all these cases we apply the same technical standards of evidence and/or sourcing.

We've defended people on all sides of the political spectrum from satire-interpreted-as-news:

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/08/fact-check-candace-owens-fired-after-calling-kamala-fake-black.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/06/fact-check-michelle-obamas-mother-did-not-leave-inheritance-to-a-son-named-michael.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/04/fact-check-tucker-carlson-did-not--file-suit-against-whoopi-the-view-for-dehumanizing-remarks.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2022/05/fact-check-elon-musk-is-not-considering-buying-keystone-xl-pipeline-this-article-is-from-a-satirical-site.html

In all these cases we point out the original story appeared on a website with a satire disclaimer.

We've debunked false stories that would benefit Ukraine and Russia:

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/08/fact-check-putin-was-not-assassinated-or-hospitalized.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/07/fact-check-photo-does-not-show-remains-of-russian-soldiers-crushed-into-meat-cubes.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/04/fact-check-photo-does-not-show-ukraine-war-recruiting-campaign-aimed-at-welfare-recipients-in-the-us.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/04/fact-check-volodymyr-zelenskyy-did-not-say-he-will-no-longer-take-a-call-from-chinese-president-xi-jinping.html

For all these stories we went looking for the ultimate source of the claim and sought to confirm it.

As our "How we work" page (https://leadstories.com/how-we-work.html) explains, we pick viral stories and claims to debunk without taking political slant into account. That means we will sometimes debunk false claims or stories hurting the reputation of the very same people, causes or ideologies that we have debunked claims from. In all cases our methodology is the same (as described on our "How we work" page) and we try to put in enough original sources, quotes, evidence etc. to allow readers to repeat the fact check for themselves so they can see how we came to our conclusion.https://leadstories.com/how-we-work.html

It is clear from the examples shared by Lead Stories as well as the 10 fact checks I reviewed that it demonstrates a commitment to nonpartisanship and fairness. Its use of the Blue Feed and the Red Feed (alongside others related to War and Deep Fakes) is a smart way to show fact checking related to political issues concentrated in political silos. I also believe that its How We Work section is easily understood, and any reasonable person could understand both Trendolizer as well as how a piece might be selected for review and then verified or debunked. 

Given all of this, I mark Criteria 2.1 compliant. 

https://leadstories.com/how-we-work.html

Although Trendolizer seems to be the star of Lead Stories' show, its "How We Work" section notes there are a number of ways it selects items to fact check including Google Trends, Facebook, TweetDeck, CrowdTangle, and through reader tips. Each of those gets an explanation online. After each of those, the staff explained that items are selected that can be checked, that may be harmful, that may go viral, and that are relevant to a U.S. audience. 

Additionally: "Generally we prioritize stories related to current events and new and never before seen claims but we also tackle older claims sometimes, especially if they have a tendency to keep coming back periodically (think old hoax articles that keep getting reposted to new sites by financially motivated spammers or fake quotes attributed to a politician that keep showing up whenever that person is in the news). We do not take political slant into consideration when choosing what to check. We check claims that harm (or benefit) people, causes and groups all over the political spectrum. We do sometimes check claims that originated on satire websites or that are satirical in nature but only in cases where it seems significant numbers of people believe it is real." They include a policy on satire. 

This is a thorough explanation. As such, I mark Criteria 2.2 compliant. 

For Criteria 2.3 I reviewed "Scene Of Mike Pence Carrying A Rainbow Flag In A Parade Is NOT A Real Photo -- It's An AI-Generated Image" published Aug. 7. 

A doctored image of Republican presidential candidate Mike Pence was shared on X/Twitter by a Trump supporter. 

This shows Lead Stories is fact checking stories among Republicans. As such, I mark this criteria compliant. 

To assess Criteria 2.4 I reviewed the Oct. 23 post Photo Does NOT Show Joe Biden Sunbathing On Beach During Gaza And U.S. House Crises In October 2023 -- It's An Old Picture. 

It turns out that the president was not sunbathing during the start of the most recent conflict in the Middle East. This demonstrates both political parties are reviewed, and I mark this criteria compliant. 

https://leadstories.com/code-of-principles.html (Under the nonpartisanship and fairness section)

I confirm that under its section on nonpartisanship and fairness, Lead Stories states: "None of our writers or editors are members of political parties, currently support any parties or candidates for office or have made donations to political organisations while under our employ and we ask them to refrain from doing so. We also ask that they refrain from advocating for or against any policy positions on any issues (save for transparency and accuracy in public debate). We verify this by checking FEC records and social media." 

As such, I mark Criteria 2.5 compliant. 

I reviewed the post published on Sept. 12 headlined There Were NOT 7 Million Registered Voters In Wisconsin 2020 Election With Only 4.5 Million Eligible. 

This item debunked the claim that 7 million people were registered to vote in Wisconsin when there were only 4.5 registered voters, which was a claim circulated by a right-wing outlet. 

The sources used included the Wisconsin Election Commission (both a database and spokesperson were consulted) as well as a University of George political science professor who referred Lead Stories to another database of Wisconsin voters.  

As such, I mark Criteria 3.1 compliant. 

I reviewed the Sept. 1 fact check headlined Chief Justice John Roberts Did NOT Request $780 Million For Security Of Supreme Court Justices. 

To review this claim, which was posted to Twitter and removed, but shared in other posts, and debunked, Lead Stories explained that that $780 million figure is a federal judiciary number that provides security to all federal courts, not just nine SCOTUS justices. The source used to show this budget item was the 2024 Congressional budget summary for the federal judiciary. 

As such, I mark Criteria 3.2 compliant. 

To assess Criteria 3.3, I reviewed the Oct. 5 fact check Attorney General Letitia James Did NOT Lose 80% Of Case Against Trump. This post, which appeared on Twitter, is false, and the sources used to make that judgment include a Columbia University law professor, who explained that 80 percent of the case was not over. Lead Stories used other news stories, but the law professor was the most impartial and notable of the sources and, as such, I mark this criteria compliant. 

I reviewed the Sept. 8 post headlined Increase In Nancy Pelosi's Net Worth Is NOT Proof Of Any Illegality On Her Part to assess Criteria 3.4. This claim was made in an Instagram post, which claimed that her net worth increased by $140 million, which must have happened illegally. 

Lead Stories explained: "Although it may be true that Pelosi's net worth has increased sharply since 2007, when she became the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, such an increase does not prove her gains were ill-gotten. In addition to her congressional salary, Pelosi and her husband have multiple sources of income, including stocks, real estate and other investments." It used the following sources to assess this item: OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics through the use of financial disclosures, figures; an OpenSecrets researcher; and a Congressional disclosure report. That disclosure noted shares of stocks among them Apple, Disney and Netflix. 

As such, I mark Criteria 3.4 compliant. 

Independent organization.

The link to our company registration is on our "About" page: https://leadstories.com/about.html

Lead Stories' About page clearly articulates its status as an independent organization. I mark Criteria 4.1 as compliant. 

https://leadstories.com/about.html

In the Code of Principles, section 4 explains that: "Applicants that are independent organizations have a page on their website detailing each source of funding accounting for 5% or more of total revenue for its previous financial year."

Lead Stories site, under Company Information notes, "The company is self-funded with no outside investors and relies on advertising revenue, license fees for the use of the Trendolizer™ engine and fees obtained through Facebook's third party fact checking partnership and other fact checking related consultancy work." It goes on to list its main funding sources including ByteDance, Trendolizer subscriptions, and Facebook. 

As such, I mark Criteria 4.2 as compliant. 

https://leadstories.com/about.html

This organization structure is clearly labeled and linked online. (Attached is what it looks like.) As such, I mark Criteria 4.3 as compliant. 

https://leadstories.com/about.html

Biographies of staff are clear. I have included one as an example. As such, I mark Criteria 4.4 compliant. 

Every page on our website has this note in the sidebar:

Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, deceptive or inaccurate stories (or media) making the rounds on the internet.

Spotted something? Let us know!.

The "Let us know" links to our contact page: https://leadstories.com/contact.html (that link is also present under "Contact" in the footer)

Note that on our contact page we explicitly say we will ignore abusive or threatening emails and ask people to send those to hatemail@leadstories.com if they feel they must send them anyway. Funnily enough this works and the amount of such emails to the other inboxes listed on the contact page is much lower

First, the IFCN may wish to share that hatemail@.com may be a good way for some folks to get out their feelings. Second, I confirm that the contact page exists, and, if you want to bypass the hatemail email, you are eligible to contact the Lead Stories staff: 

alan@leadstories.com

maarten@leadstories.com or 

Need to get hold of one of our reporters? Email reporters@leadstories.com with their name in the subject line.

Because of this, I mark Criteria 4.5 compliant. 

https://leadstories.com/how-we-work.html

I reviewed for sourcing above the post published on Sept. 12 headlined There Were NOT 7 Million Registered Voters In Wisconsin 2020 Election With Only 4.5 Million Eligible, and this also is an excellent post to review for methodology. 

This item debunked the claim that 7 million people were registered to vote in Wisconsin when there were only 4.5 registered voters, which was a claim circulated by a right-wing outlet.

As I noted above, the sources included a database of Wisconsin voters with a link to the database. Lead Stories writes: 

"Here's how we broke down the numbers:

First, click on the spreadsheet titled, "2020 General Election (EL-190F) Election Statistics Report 2021-05-10.xlsx."

The total number of registered voters for that election can be found by adding together the "open registrants," "late registrants," and "Election Day registrants" columns. The total is approximately 3,915,589 voters.

As the columns imply, the figure above refers to voters who had registered before Election Day (and remained registered) as well as those who registered on Election Day."

That is an excellent and user-friendly way to walk a lay person through what may, at first, appear to be a complicated data sheet. As such, I mark Criteria. 5.1 compliant. 

For this item, I reviewed the Sept. 26 fact check headlined Biden Did NOT Say It Was His First 'In Person' Picket While Meeting With Striking Autoworkers -- He Was Misquoted In Online Post.

Biden was misquoted in a social media post, and Lead Stories explains its methodology by showing videos and marking the moments (at minute and second markers) where Biden made note of his time on the picket line: 

Videos from several news outlets posted to YouTube on September 26, 2023, recorded these words. A fluctuation in the bullhorn's volume was also captured. I have bolded the material taken directly from the Lead Stories site. 

These links are cued to play at the moment these words are spoken:

ABC News eight seconds in

CNBC Television 2:47 minutes in

CNN four seconds in

As such, I mark Criteria 5.2 compliant. 

For Criteria 5.3, I reviewed the Aug. 28 fact check headlined Indictments Against Trump Do NOT Carry 'Potential Death Penalty'. 

An Instagram claim made a point that Trump could face the death penalty for his indictments. He will not. 

Lead Stories first explains in its method that 1) New York, where one of his two state indictments is from, does not have the death penalty. 2) A federal indictment of conspiracy against rights (18 USC 241), which it links to, could levy the death penalty. But, its methodology moves further to include an email to a Columbia law professor, who explained that the death penalty would not apply because even if Trump were found to have committed conspiracy because no death happened in his alleged actions committing conspiracy of rights no death penalty.  It continues explaining other methods connecting with other legal experts identifying why Trump would not face the death penalty, even if found guilty. 

As such, I mark Criteria 5.3 compliant. 

To assess Criteria 5.4, I reviewed the Aug. 4 fact check headlined Study Does NOT Show 'Vast Majority Of Humanity' Vaccinated For COVID-19 By 'Shedding' Of Vaccine From Vaccinated To Unvaccinated.

Here, a social media post misrepresented a University of Colorado study about Covid vaccines. 

Lead Stories' first step was to contact the lead author of the study, who is an immunology professor, who said the post, "does not properly reflect the findings of our study." Next, the Lead Stories fact checker, who is former an Emmy Award-winning journalist, explained that the bad concept that is frequently the subject of viral hoaxes, has its own place in CDC myths online. Lead Stories links to the page to try to clear up those myths. (I've attached a look at the page Lead Stories shared.) 

It's a clear methodology on a Covid issue that is the subject of frequent misinformation. As such, I mark Criteria 5.4 as compliant. 

For the final criteria in the Methods section, I reviewed the Sept. 7 fact check headlined Biden Did NOT Appoint FEMA Director Before Maui Fires, Did NOT Confirm He Knew They Would Occur. 

A viral claim insinuated that Pres. Biden knew the Maui fires would happen and had appointed someone who had already been in Hawaii. The guy was in Hawaii, but not because he knew fires would happen. Here's how Lead Stories tackled this one. 

They used transcripts of Biden's official remarks. 

They used records of the man's employment at FEMA as well as meeting records/an agenda of why he had been in Hawaii before the Maui fires. They used a White House statement announcing the man's appointment nearly two weeks after the fires broke out. 

The methodology is clear, it follows a timeline, and anyone would be able to understand it. As such, I mark Criteria 5.5 compliant. 

We link to our contact page (https://leadstories.com/contact.html) and sollicit tips on every page on our website:

"Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, deceptive or inaccurate stories (or media) making the rounds on the internet.

Spotted something? Let us know!."

The contact page has this note:

"Tips & information

Have a tip about something we should look at? Additional information that could change the conclusion of a fact check? Email tips@leadstories.com and let us know.

We are most interested in viral claims/stories/videos/images/posts (no matter the political slant) that are false (or very misleading), harmful to someone and relevant to a U.S. audience. If your tip is about something else it is unlikely we will write a fact check about it. You can read more about how we decide what to fact check here."

That last sentence links to our "How we work" page (https://leadstories.com/how-we-work.html) where we explain (among other things) how we select claims to check. It also has this note:

"Reader tips are judged by the same criteria listed above: if we get sent claims that are uncheckable, harmless or not very widespread there is very little chance we will follow up on them. Conversely, a concrete, harmful and viral story will get our attention."

What can and cannot be factchecked as well as Lead Stories' approach to fact checking is clearly articulated on its site. As such, I mark Criteria 5.6 compliant. 

Our corrections policy is here: https://leadstories.com/corrections-policy.html

Our stories with corrections are here: https://leadstories.com/corrections/

I confirm that Lead Stories has a robust corrections policy. It also explains how and why it may make minor or major corrections. 

As such, I mark Criteria 6.1 compliant. 

I verify that the policy meets IFCN standards. Criteria 6.2 is met. 

We did not receive any valid correction requests.

There were a few instances where a fact check needed to be corrected  shortly after publication because a headline or introductory paragraph negated the explicit claim in the source material rather than the implied claim the fact check was actually about.  This is because we usually try to stay very close to the wording of the original headline or claim, which works fine for explicit claims but which sometimes confuses editors when the claim is implicit.

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/03/fact-check-uk-gov-report-does-not-prove-92-percent-covid-deaths-were-in-fully-vaccinated.htm

There was a government report with a section where the 92% figure appeared, but the fact check is about the impied causality and the relative sizes of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated groups. 

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/01/fact-check-cdc-does-not-show-more-than-16000-people-who-have-died-within-days-of-covid-vaccination.html

There were 16K deaths *after* vaccination but the fact check was about whether they happened *because* of it.

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/01/fact-check-nearly-quarter-million-voting-attempts-in-arizona-did-not-fail-in-november-2022-election.html

There were a quarter million error messages but the fact check was about whether this impacted the counting of any votes.

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/02/fact-check-pfizer-does-not-have-patent-for-tracking-vaccinated-humans-worldwide-via-microwave-graphene.html

This correction did not change the conclusion of the fact check (Pfizer does not have this patent) but it fixes an erroneous assertion that said the word Pfizer was not in a document (based on a failed Ctrl-F search).

In all these cases it was internal review that spotted the issue.

This is clear online and in the stories submitted, which is why I mark this section compliant. 

I note this is how it is explained online, and all bolded words are pasted verbatim: 

Corrections

Articles that are corrected for any of the reasons listed below reasons will be listed on our "Corrections" page.

If it turns out we had wrong or incomplete information in a part of a story and the correct information was available at the time of publication (we will also make a note in the updates section after fixing the mistake).

If the addition of new information or a review of the existing information warrants changing the conclusion of a fact check we will also alter the title of the story (and possibly the main image caption) because the conclusion of each fact check is part of the headline and the reason for the conclusion is usually in the caption (as you can read on our "How We Work" page).

If spelling, style, grammar, transcription, math, logic or copy-paste mistakes affect the conclusion of a story (they also warrant a note in the updates section after fixing).

Note: some of the older stories on the "Corrections" page are actually just updates that wouldn't be included anymore under the current version of this policy.

https://leadstories.com/code-of-principles.html

This is clearly labeled. I mark this criteria compliant. 

N/A