Sources & credibility
Where do I find original material no one else is using?
Press releases are everyone's. The credible move is the primary source underneath them: filings, datasets, public records, traffic signals — read before the press picks them up. We show creators where the original material lives in their beat and how to turn it into a story that sounds like someone who did the research, because you did.
19 articles in this pillar
Guide
NewRead SBIR and STTR Awards as Research Records
Use award data to investigate a technical question while separating awarded funding, research goals and demonstrated commercial results.
Guide
NewRead an arXiv Preprint Without Turning It Into a Verdict
A preprint reporting worksheet for checking versions, methods, comparisons and limitations before translating a research claim for readers.
Guide
NewRead a Nonprofit Form 990 Before Writing the Story
Compare a nonprofit tax return with its narrative, reporting period and related records. Use a worksheet that avoids misleading expense comparisons.
Guide
NewUse FOIA Logs to Find Questions, Then Find the Records
A FOIA log shows what someone requested. Use this worksheet to follow a request into released records without treating it as proof of an allegation.
Guide
NewRead Job Postings as Evidence of a Question Worth Asking
Track changes in role descriptions without treating advertised positions as confirmed hires, team size or a guaranteed product roadmap.
Guide
NewUse Google Trends to Investigate Interest, Not Invent Demand
A comparison worksheet for checking search terms, geography and time windows before turning a Google Trends chart into an editorial claim.
Guide
NewBuild a Human Source Network You Can Report From
An interview worksheet for finding firsthand knowledge, agreeing attribution and checking accounts without treating people as quote suppliers.
Guide
NewRead Lobbying Disclosures Without Inventing a Motive
A reporting worksheet for matching lobbying clients, issues and reporting periods while keeping spending totals separate from individual bills.
Guide
NewRead Patent Applications Without Inventing a Product Roadmap
Use patent records to investigate a technical problem, with a worksheet that separates a published application from a product promise.
How-to
NewHow to Read a Federal Court Docket for Your Beat
Track complaints, responses, motions and orders without treating allegations as findings. Includes a docket log and free-access limitations.
How-to
NewHow to Check a Health Story Against ClinicalTrials.gov
Compare a study announcement with its registered outcomes, record history and results. A reporting worksheet that keeps the clinical limits visible.
How-to
NewHow to Read Defense Contract Awards Without Inflating the Number
Separate contract ceilings, obligations and payments before writing the headline. A source worksheet for defense and government-contracting creators.
How-to
NewHow to Turn Congress.gov Records Into a Reportable Story
Follow bill text, actions and cosponsors without confusing attention with passage. A bill-tracking worksheet for political creators.
How-to
NewHow to Read Earnings Calls for Stories Beyond the Results
Compare the question, the answer, and the filing. A practical worksheet for finding a business story in an earnings call without guessing at motives.
Guide
What FEC Filings Tell Political Creators That Press Releases Never Will
The campaign press release is the story they want filed. FEC and Congress.gov records hold the one they don't. Three public-record cross-joins to run before you write.
Guide
Every niche has primary sources. Most creators have never used one.
A secondary source reports what happened. A primary source is where it happened. A repeatable method for finding the database, filing, or dataset your niche comes from.
Guide
Wikipedia Traffic Spikes Are a Newsroom Early-Warning System
A sharp Wikipedia pageview spike usually leads the news by 24 to 72 hours, not follows it. How creators read the readership tell to find story leads before they trend.
Guide
What SEC Filings Tell Content Creators That Press Releases Never Will
A reproducible method for finance-adjacent creators to mine 8-K, DEF-14A, and 10-Q filings on SEC EDGAR for story leads that beat the press release and the earnings call.
Concept
What is content provenance?
Content provenance traces published content back to sources, creator, tools. C2PA covers images/video; source-driven verifier patterns cover AI text.