Editorial Standards & AI Disclosure

TheCRPulse uses artificial intelligence in its reporting process. This page explains exactly how, and what we do to keep our journalism accurate and accountable.

Where AI is used

• Monitoring: software watches public feeds — city and county press releases, National Weather Service alerts, council agendas — and flags newsworthy items.
• Research: an AI system gathers primary sources and assembles a research packet where every fact is tied to a source URL. Facts it cannot verify are labeled unconfirmed and excluded from drafts.
• Drafting: an AI system writes a draft using only the verified facts in the research packet. It may not introduce information from anywhere else.
• Fact-checking: a separate AI pass re-verifies every claim in the draft against its sources and flags anything unsupported for the human editor.

Where humans are required

A human editor reviews every AI-assisted story — the draft, the research packet, and all fact-check flags — before publication. Editors edit, request changes, or reject drafts. No story is published without explicit human approval. Sensitive stories, including crime stories involving minors or unverified allegations against private individuals, receive additional mandatory review.

Transparency

• Every AI-assisted story carries an “AI-assisted, human-reviewed” badge.
• Every story lists all sources used in a visible Sources section.
• Errors are corrected publicly under our Corrections Policy.

What we never do

• Publish AI-generated content without human review.
• Invent sources, quotes, or facts.
• Publish unverified allegations against private individuals.
• Reveal the identity of anonymous tipsters.