Sources & Method
How claims on this site are sourced, and what counts as evidence.
Writing about wrongdoing carries a responsibility to get it right. These are the rules every article on this site follows.
Fact, allegation, and opinion are kept separate
- Fact: something documented in a court record, an official filing, a public statement, or credible reporting. Facts are linked to their source.
- Allegation: something someone has claimed that hasn't been established. Allegations are described as allegations ("has been accused of," "according to"), never as fact.
- Opinion: the author's own view and analysis. Opinion is written as opinion ("in my view," "I think").
What counts as a source
In rough order of weight:
- Court records, government filings, and official documents
- Statements from the institution itself (press releases, published policies, financial disclosures)
- Reporting from established news organizations
- First-hand accounts, used only with the person's consent and identifying details removed unless they ask otherwise
Where an article draws on another publication's reporting, it credits and links to that publication rather than restating its claims as this site's own.
Names
Most articles don't name individual churches or people. They're about patterns, not targets. When an article does refer to a named person or institution, it only says what the cited sources say.
Images
This site doesn't use stock photos of churches presented as real places, and doesn't republish other outlets' photos. If an image matters, the article links to it at its source.
Updates
If an article is revised after publication, the change is dated at the top of the article. Substantive corrections are also logged on the Corrections page.