https://leadstories.com/about.html

Lead Stories is an LLC registered in Colorado.

Compliant. 

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 (new hires, people leaving, freelancers...).  We have between 10-20 people at any given time.  Three are the co-founders/partners + one partner who joined later as legal counsel. Three staffers have editor roles, editing and coordinating the work of about eight to twelve fact-checkers.  Three 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.

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've grown from a two-person editorial team in 2019 to a sizeable group in a very short amount of time this year.  Our short term goal is to ensure we keep delivering the same quality of work and to put into place the proper organization, training and procedures to be able to deal with the increasing workload. Our longer term goal remains tackling online viral misinformation as quickly as possible by providing and spreading timely fact checks.

Compliant. 

Lead stories publishes about thirty fact checks per week.  

Compliant. I confirmed that Lead Stories does a large number of fact checks. 

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

A random sample of fact checks from June, July, August and September 2020 was reviewed. An example of a few of the stories are pasted below; headlines are used for brevity: 

Fact Check: 39 Missing Kids Were NOT Found In A Double Wide Trailer In Georgia -- But 'Operation Not Forgotten' Was Covered Extensively In The Media (August 2020) 

Fact Check: The King of Bahrain Did NOT Arrive In Dubai With A Robot Bodyguard (September 2020) 

Fact Check: Facebook Has NOT Banned Confederate Flag Posts

Fact Check: There Is NOT Already A Cure For COVID-19

Fact Check: Photo of 'Antifa Against Bikers' Banner is NOT Real; Antifa Did NOT Warn Hells Angels To 'Watch Out We Are Coming To Sturgis'

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.  The DNC and DCCC both have requested access and pay the regular rate of USD 350 per month.  We have reached out to the GOP and the Trump campaign but they haven't requested access so far.

Compliant. The way that Lead Stories uses Trendolizer and how that links to political parties is clear. It's not a political relationship that I believe interferes with its independence. 

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 %0.15 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. At the time of writing only the DNC/DCCC requested access and accepted the conditions but the option is open to other parties/campaigns as well (see the note on our "About" page). 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.

Compliant. This is clearly stated on its website. 

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/08/fact-check-kamala-harris-birth-certificate-does-not-identify-her-as-caucasian.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/07/fact-check-birth-certificate-does-not-prove-donald-trump-had-son-with-ghislaine-maxwell.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/05/fact-check-oldies-will-have-to-die-tweets-trump.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/06/fact-check-aoc-did-not-tweet-that-governors-should-maintain-shutdowns-to-hinder-trumps-reelection-effort.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/08/fact-check-pelosi-wants-to-remove-votes-from-soldiers-overseas-they-dont-even-live-here.html

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

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/05/fact-check-photoof-trump-with-kkk-members-is-not-real.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/04/Fact-Check-Biden-Photo-Does-NOT-Show-Him-Groping-Woman's-Breasts.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/08/fact-check-trump-very-fine-people.html

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/04/fact-check-audio-of-biden-calling-coronavirus-a-hoax-was-manipulated.html

We have checked documents, fake tweets, satirical stories, edited photographs and manipulated quotes affecting people on both sides of the political debate.  In all cases we came to the conclusion they were false or misleading using similar methods to find the evidence to prove it (document analysis, checking archiving services, pointing out the satire, reverse image searching and finding the context for the quotes).

Compliant. I have reviewed these as well as a selection from clicking around on its site. These are labeled even according to which party they are fact checking, which takes nonpartisanship to a new level. 

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

Note: we significantly expanded and updated this section compared to last year, adding more information about the tools we use and about the structure and format of our articles.

Compliant. This is a very easily understandable and public facing policy and explanation by Lead Stories leadership. 

Compliant. I reviewed facts check published between January 2020 and Sept. 2, 2020. I used the website's "hoax alert" tab, and I also was interested to see Lead Stories' use of "Blue Feed" and "Red Feed." 

Compliant. The board can see in section 1.4 the list of fact checks that I reviewed, looking at both source selection and methodology. I have added others in a October 12 review for robustness. 

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

Its website states: "As a service to readers who are only interested in reading fact checks that benefit (or harm) only one side of the U.S. political debate we offer a Red feed and a Blue feed with just the fact checks they are likely to enjoy but we hope they will also check our full feed." 

I believe this statement and its clearly-marked "red" and "blue" fact checks achieve this non-partisanship in an engaged and highly successful manner. 

Lead Stories implements its "Trendolizer" to fact check trending issues. Once it spots trends, it then uses primary sources hyperlinked and often expanded with graphs or videos in the body of the articles to fact check the claims. I chose one example (so three total) to examine sourcing from its "Red Feed" page, "Blue Feed" page and its "Coronavirus" tab. The methodologies of these three and the hoax alert one that comes next also were examined for Section 5 below. 

First example: 

On Sept. 3, Lead Stories published a fact check with the headline: "Fact Check: President Trump DID Suggest That People in North Carolina Illegally Vote Twice." Lead Stories used TV coverage of the president's statement--providing even an analysis of how well that local affiliate does--as well as statement's from North Carolina's Board of Elections to analyze/interpret the claim. 

A second example: 

On Sept. 1, Lead Stories published a fact check (hoax alert) with the headline: "Fact Check: Trump Did NOT Say Americans Are 'Going To Die' When He's Not President -- Lincoln Project Edited Video Deceitfully." It notes, "The 39-second Lincoln Project ad uses out-of-context clips from the FOX News interview." It consulted the original video and even provided context on the Lincoln Project in evaluating the claim. 

A third example: 

On Aug. 31, Lead Stories published a fact check with the headline: "Fact Check: The CDC Did NOT Admit That Only 6% Of Deaths In COVID Toll Were From COVID-19." Its sources evaluated a false claim made on Facebook and re-tweeted by President Trump. Lead Stories used the Department of Health and Human Services to explain the concept of "comorbidity" and went further to address how deaths are classified. It also explained the misinformation using a medical examiner's expertise. 

Compliant. See above as I put these all in one box. 

Compliant. See above. 

From its "Hoax Alert" tab, I reviewed sourcing under the Aug. 4 headline: "Fact Check: 800,000 Is NOT An Accurate Number Of Kids Who Vanish Every Year In The U.S.

Hoax Alert," which was being spread on Facebook. Here's the hoax post: "2000 children go missing PER DAY in the U.S. alone. That's 800,000 kids vanished every year. Being a parent and knowing that statistic or even thinking about what those poor children must experience is horrific."

Lead Stories sourced the FBI to debunk the claim. It is a clear and easy-to-read source explanation. 

Independent organization.

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

Compliant. Its About section is clear and it lists their staff as well as contact information for the staff. 

https://leadstories.com/about.html

Compliant. Lead Stories is registered in Colorado and is in good standing in the state of Colorado. A screen shot from the Secretary of State website is attached. 

https://leadstories.com/about.html

Clear. Screenshot from the site is attached. Editorial control including how it selects and checks fact for trending material is very clearly articulated and explained. 

https://leadstories.com/about.html

Clear. Names are hyperlinked with bios and contact information easily accessible. Screenshot attached. 

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)

Compliant. The website says right at the top right of its home page: "Spotted something? Let us know!" When you click there it goes to to explain how to submit tips and information. 

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

Explains Trendolizer and other trends they find to spot misinformation clearly. I examined methodologies for the fact checks noted above while also looking at sourcing. All were clear and could be repeated/replicated based on the information provided (with an Internet connection). 

Compliant. An Oct. 12, 2020 fact check about whether Jeffery Epstein is living in New Mexico actually explained that, no, he's dead, and referenced the New York Medical Examiner's office. The fact check goes on, "Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10, 2019, the New York Times reported. He was awaiting federal charges of sexually abusing underage girls and running a sex trafficking ring. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Epstein's death was suicide by hanging, US News and World Report, CNN, Fox News and many other media outlets around the world reported. The Jerusalem Post reported Epstein was buried at the IJ Morris Star of David cemetery near Palm Beach, Florida, in an unmarked grave with his family's names removed" AND it even zooms in on a the video claim to say the person does not look like Epstein. 

Compliant. A fact check of a Donald Trump tweet claiming Kamala Harris is to blame for a high incarceration rate of Black men in California explained that she was not California Attorney General in 2010, the year Trump claimed she was California's Top Cop. The claim was repeated by Pence in the VP debate. Lead Stories explained its methodology/sourcing saying, "The chart, which was credited to the Prison Policy Initiative and based on figures from the 2010 Census, showed California's incarceration rate for African Americans as 3,036 per 100,000 people. The rate for whites appeared as 453 per 100,000 people.

In his post, Trump is clearly trying to imply that Harris should be held responsible for the relatively high rate of incarceration among African Americans in California in 2010.

That's not a fair suggestion.

Harris did not become attorney general until January 2011."

Compliant. In a March 2020 story headlined, "Fact Check: Overview Of Claims Made During Biden's Argument With Michigan Autoworker Over Guns" the methodology explains how the fact check site went to his campaign site as well as documented news reports to look at the heated enhance caught on video as well as his policy on guns. It notes (part of the fact check) here: "Biden wants to ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, according to his campaign website. In 1994, Biden, then a U.S. senator, spearheaded the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and pushed it through the Senate. According to CNN, the legislation "banned the manufacture of 19 types of semiautomatic firearms and criminalized the possession of high-capacity magazines." It expired in 2004.

After that back-and-forth, Wayne referenced the "viral video" - likely that of Biden and Beto O'Rourke, the former Texas representative and one-time presidential candidate. Lead Stories has already fact checked that video, in which Biden was heard saying he was "coming for" O'Rourke to possibly join his administration if he's elected. Critics on the right have claimed that he was saying he was coming for their guns, but that is not what he said in that video.

Biden has called for universal background checks and an assault weapon ban. He has never said he plans to confiscate guns. His campaign website details his gun safety plan. In it, he supports "buyback" programs for assault weapons, a practice that has helped to reduce gun-related deaths in other countries, including Australia. According to The Washington Post, the buyback program would be voluntary, not mandatory." 

This is clearly a thorough and robust examination of the issue. 

Compliant. A Sept. 1 fact check under the headline "Fact Check: Joe Biden Did NOT Fall Asleep During Live TV Interview -- Video is Faked" 

Lead Stories found a tweet from the original video shooter who said it had been doctored. 

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."

Compliant. This is a very user-friendly site that encourages participation from the public. 

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

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

Compliant. It has a clear corrections policy, and it also states in stories when it has reached out for even more clarifying information that stories will be updated. 

Its corrections policy notes not just how it corrects errors but it also notes the nature and context for why it may need to correct, encouraging readers to contact them about any of the ways it might make a mistake or a story may need an update. All below pasted from its website on this section. 

'Lead Stories aims to get correct information out as soon as possible after we detect a piece of trending content that contains a falsehood. This means that sometimes we will publish an initial version of a story as soon as we have enought facts and evidence needed to prove something is not real, with updates to follow later.

In some other cases reality catches up with us: that celebrity death hoax where we concluded the person was still alive might need an update when they actually die a few years later. Science may make new discoveries, so at some time in the future there *really* may be a proper study that actually confirms something which hasn't been "scientifically proven" yet today.

Unfortunately sometimes we also make mistakes (although we try our best to avoid them and we have editors who are supposed to catch them before publication). A source might provide incorrect info to us, contradicting information from a more reliable source may appear, someone might make a mistake in their math or logic, something may get formulated incorrectly (by omitting a word or phrase or by messing up the order...), there could be a copy-paste error, a quote could be misheard...

And sometimes we just make typos or mess up grammar.'

We received several emails indicating our writer misinterpreted a meme he fact checked, in response we updated the article and corrected the erroneous interpretation:

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/05/fact-check-murder-hornet-not-same-as-cicada-killer.html

This article was caught after an internal review because it initially focussed on the "sneakily" part of the claim but then also made absolute statements about the other part of the claim (what the bill would or would not do) without providing evidence for that.  The story was rephrased to make it clearer it was not certain yet if the bill really would have the effects that were being claimed.

https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2020/04/Fact-Check-The-US-Not-'Sneakily'-Enacting-Bill-During-Coronavirus-Outbreak-Allowing-Officials-To-See-All-Private-Messages-Listen-To-All-Calls.html

Compliant. It is a clear and concise policy that they clearly are following. 

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

Compliant. Clear and engages readers to hold them accountable as a current signatory of the IFCN. 

N/A to this section.